Chef Maria Garza

Born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, María developed a passion for food at an early age. Shortly after moving to Canada, she started teaching culinary workshops and founded The Cultural Kitchen. In her role with Farm Boy, she worked in the test kitchen doing product and recipe development for 6 years, before moving to the Marketing team to continue developing recipes for publication as well as photography and food styling.

Local food, community and the environment are at the top of the menu for María. “Local food is very important because buying local means we contribute to the local economy and it helps to build community; and of course, buying local means the product is very fresh. I wish everyone knew our local farmers are doing everything to ensure their animals are healthy. Ontario pork is high quality and farmers are committed to minimizing environmental impact; and finally, pork is a healthy and delicious protein!”

As a chef, María has a lot of experience with different cuts and cooking styles, but her favourite cut is pork shoulder. “My absolute favourite way to enjoy pork is cooking the shoulder long and slow. Using a flavourful braising liquid gives the meat delicious flavour and the long cooking time and low temperature allows for the fat to render so the meat becomes very tender. I love to cook pork this way and then enjoy it in tacos!”