At the Table With…Julieta Ballesteros

TLK: Dish you crave from your abuela: 

JB: Cinnamon rolls – she’d used to make that for breakfast when I was growing up. But when it comes to her desserts, flan was always my favorite.

TLK: Secret ingredient to make a dish pop: 

JB: The main ingredient that you need to put into every dish is your soul. After that, salt and fresh herbs!

TLK: Favorite Latin restaurant in the U.S.: 

JB: Asia de Cuba in New York City used to be my favorite but it closed last year. 

TLK: Favorite Latin restaurant in the world:

JB: To be honest, my restaurants – Crema and China Latina.

TLK: Favorite city to eat: 

JB: New York City has the best restaurants in the world!

TLK: Secret to a perfect dinner party: 

JB: Good cocktails, good food and good friends.

TLK: Biggest food indulgence: 

JB: Foie gras. I even fill tacos with it!

TLK: Favorite vegetable: 

JB: Mushrooms, but asparagus and pumpkin are close runners-up.

TLK: Best food memory: 

JB: Holiday dinners with my family. I grew up in Monterrey, Mexico, but my grandmother on my dad’s side is from Virginia, so we’d have traditional American Thanksgiving dinners. There’d be turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes — all the classic dishes. We’d spend Christmas with my grandmother on my mom’s side, who is 100 percent Mexican but always made all different kinds of dishes on Christmas. My favorites were bread pudding with this whiskey-based sauce, fettuccine alfredo with lots of cheese and bacon, and picadillo stuffing. That’s stuffing with ground beef and pork, raisins and dates. Everything was so good! Oh, and we’d also have pastries like sugar cookies and brownies.

TLK: Ideal breakfast, lunch and dinner: 

JB: For breakfast, waffles with eggs, bacon and maple syrup. For lunch, I’d like a burger and fries. But for dinner, I’d have to eat something healthier, so I’ll say steamed vegetables with grilled salmon or ribeye. And pecan pie for dessert.

TLK: Favorite Latin cocktail: 

JB: I really love mojitos.

TLK: Favorite kitchen gadget: 

JB: A good knife. Keep it simple.

TLK: Perfect song to cook to: 

JB: Anything relaxing, like something you would listen to in a lounge.

TLK: Most adventurous food you eat: 

JB: Pig ears, pig feet and pig intestines. They taste best when braised. I also love this really traditional Mexican dish that you can’t get in the States: Escamoles, which are ant’s eggs. You sauté them with garlic and butter and then eat them in a taco with a little bit of guacamole. They have the consistency and richness of foie gras. They melt in your mouth like butter.   

TLK: Favorite fusion: 

JB: What we serve at China Latina of course! Latin American-meets-Asian cuisine.

TLK: Tip for at-home cooks:

JB: Be passionate! Take the time to learn about the ingredients your cooking with and browse the markets for the best products. The more enthusiastic you are, the better your food will be.  

In celebration of the opening of China Latina, Ballesteros has shared one of the restaurant's recipes with us — a wasabi infused guacamole.  A whole different kind of spicy!

Wasabi Guacamole

• 5 to 6 Hass avocados, pitted
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 /4 cup spanish onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup red onion, chopped
• 1 to 1 1/2 green peppers, minced (for less heat, remove seeds and veins)
• 1 to 1 1/2 pickled jalapeños (with 1/4 cup of vinegar from the can)
• 2 tablespoons of cilantro, chopped
• 1 teaspoon of wasabi paste
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• juice of 1 lime
• salt

Click here for the full recipe.