From a very young age, Aylin Fowill (37) from Quilme came to Las Grutas every summer to vacation because her grandparents lived in this resort, where they had a bakery. Her father, born in San Antonio Oeste, moved to Buenos Aires to study in his youth, met Aylin’s mother in the big city and stayed there.
About 12 years ago, Aylin ran into who is now her husband and decided to settle because of these payments. One thing leads to another, inevitably. This is why life is a succession of decisions.
Being around here, he began to glimpse more clearly that gastronomy could well be a path to travel at work. Even health problems, such as the obesity he suffered, paid for this option. We talked about all this with her until we got to her latest creation: a rice restaurant, a place that opened this summer that has her crazy happy.
Q – How are you doing with the rice shop?
R – It is very original to think of a proposal of this type, at least for our region. The idea is to publicize the different types of rice and combine them with local products to be able to show our version of each dish. I want to value that noble product that is rice, to be able to tell a little about its history and, from my position as cook, complement it with the products of Río Negro, offering tourists and local residents an experience that makes them feel attracted. for both products.
We opened on January 9 and the truth is that we thought it would take longer to generate acceptance. At the beginning we mainly sold the dishes on the menu that do not have rice. This led us to think that perhaps the proposal was not going to catch on with the public as much as we expected. However, we continue to promote it, we add some dishes to the menu, and today the main sale is rice. So we are happy that we have achieved acceptance from our customers.
Q – How did you get into gastronomy?
R – I started as a girl, very much as a baby, with the walker in my grandparents’ bakery. When I was growing up, I did the bread deliveries, painted alfajores and made biscuits. Then, after finishing high school, I moved away from the kitchen and went to study marine biology. One fine day, my friend sends me a message telling me that there were some courses that the province offered for free, the “Emprender” workshops. I signed up and started cooking. I started my business and when I could I went to Buenos Aires to train until I could raise the money to study. I enrolled in the pastry course, then I continued with bakery and finally with cooking. I am currently still studying: my next goal is to receive a degree in gastronomy.
Q – How is healthy incorporated into your kitchen?
R – I am an enemy of ultra-processed foods, I use all top-quality products and I avoid industrialized foods as much as possible. I also believe that the ideal is a conscious diet. My main function besides cooking is to inform the customer about what they are eating, what ingredients are in their dish and how each one gets there.
Q – How do you mix the healthy, exquisite and natural?
R – Healthy does not have to be associated with tasteless or boring. Natural products are exquisite in themselves, and must be revalued. What happens is that the industry with its colorings and flavors has been displacing the original flavors, we have reached the point that an orange candy has more orange flavor than the fruit itself. It is then that we begin to not know how to truly distinguish that the flavor of that candy is not orange. That is where you have to re-educate the senses, to identify the natural from the artificial.
Q – How is this purpose of re-educating the senses assumed?
R – For a self-awareness. I had a very bad relationship with food. He suffered from obesity. Throughout the treatment process for my disease I was realizing how poorly I was eating, the chemical processes that many foods are subjected to in order to ensure their sale. It was at that moment that I began to incline my diet and that of my business to the awareness of knowing what one consumes and why it is healthier to eat bread that lasts three days than one that lasts three months.
Q – Do you think that this type of diet is gaining more ground?
R – Yes, I think that people are increasingly aware that food influences health, quality of life and development. We eat at least four meals a day, imagine if it is not important to know what we consume. There are many diseases and pathologies triggered by the misuse of food, so I am very pleased that this type of diet is gaining ground. A clear example of this gained ground is the frontal labeling law.
Q – How do you select the products you use?
R – It is extremely important to link with local producers that allow certain inputs to arrive fresh at the rice farm. The fishermen, the workers of the sea who bring me the edible algae; Link up with regional and local suppliers that can guarantee visible traceability of each input that I then have in the preparation of each dish. Thinking about how a healthy ecosystem is generated around the “Arrocería” proposal is to understand that food is the basis of life. That it is a means to grow as people and as a society. We must understand that food is a system that connects people, organizations, companies and administrations, whose decisions influence how food is produced, distributed and consumed. The food system is the backbone of the territory, a catalyst for various economic sectors, the important thing is to achieve that it is also a provider of health and well-being. This is the process that I try to generate around the proposal and in my way of approaching the profession.
Q – Your challenges from now on?
R – This year my goal is to focus entirely on my professional training and my role in the Cocina Patagonica Foundation, which is growing day by day. I will also be a workshop leader in the Emprender workshops. I feel that both roles enrich me professionally and that being able to bring gastronomy to the people and that everyone has access to learn about it and about the resources of Río Negro gives me great satisfaction.
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