The Argentine chef Juan de la Cruz Torales achieved significant recognition in Australia after his notable participation in the cooking contest MasterChef of that country. With a unique life story, she impressed both the judges and the audience with her dishes inspired by Argentine and Latin American cuisine. But its story, which came to light in recent days, began to take shape many years ago. And the past, the present and, trust, the future, intertwine in this fascinating journey.
Juan was born in Mendoza and because he is the seventh male child, he is a presidential godson: “Legend has it that the seventh male child becomes a werewolf, so by decree to all the seventh male children in a row and from the same father and mother, so that they are not killed because they would become werewolves, the President sponsored them to provide protection. I was godson of Raul Alfonsinbut in reality when the presidents change, your godfather changes, so until now I had about 30,” he ironically in dialogue with Teleshowfrom the other side of the world.
In his homeland, some went to play tag, others went hide-and-seek, and others went to a field with a ball, but Juan couldn’t, and somehow he had to spend his time at home. “I was asthmatic and my mother didn’t want me to get agitated.then while she was cooking for the entire troop, I loved watching her,” recalls the protagonist of our story.
Thus, while his mother cooked for the rest of the eight siblings, he showed his curiosity. He “I would go up to the pot when I was making filling for empanadas or bolognese, and I would start spooning. I told her that I lacked salt or paprika, and then my mother understood that I had a taste for cooking.”. The praise became the proposal to be a teacher and student for a while: “I became the official tester, I learned how to make the empanadas and that’s how I started.”
During his adolescence, other concerns began to appear. Before starting her degree in Social Communication at the age of 17, she was part of the reality show PopStarsin the edition in which the group was formed Mambru. “I got quite far and shared a room with Milton,” she recalls about one of the winning participants. Even, one of his older brothers, Diego, also has a past in front of the camerassince it was part of the third edition of Big Brother in Argentina. Therefore, it was not surprising that his thesis in his degree dealt with reality shows.
Juan gathered his concerns into a project that stood out above the rest: A movie trip. A program that was broadcast in Santiago del Estero and Córdoba, where she along with a friend visited different regions of the world in search of the locations of the most acclaimed films. “We showed what it looked like in real life and in the movies. And that led me to travel to a lot of places: Aisa, the Galapagos Islands, New Zealand…”, she lists. When he arrived in Australia, the mileage meter suddenly stopped as his nomadic spirit found fertile land to settle. “Was a sum of things… there was little money in Argentina and a lot of job offers in that country, which made me get a temporary job”. What started as a job turned into a ten-year job, which allowed him to complete the paperwork and become an Australian citizen.
Ten years after his arrival, one afternoon while he was walking around a food fair, a stand caught his attention. When he approached to see what was happening there, the roles were exchanged, and it was those on the other side of the counter who were attracted to his figure: “They told me that my profile was suitable for the show and they took a photo of me.” The show was MastercheF, world classic of cooking reality shows and was the first step in its call. They began to call him for different auditions and he was among the 22 – out of 45,000 applicants – who started the competition.
The challenge faced the cameras again and he immediately thought about looking for a difference that would allow him to stand out from the rest of the contestants. And there nostalgia appeared in the form of memories: his native Mendoza, his childhood curiosity, his maternal teachings: “After 10 years in Australia, I understood that I missed three things. Mainly, family and friends; The second is how passionate and warm we all are, and the third is the food, which is what makes you get together with people who enjoy cooking.”
His knowledge of Australian gastronomy made him realize that it had a marked influence from Asia and Europe, but that South America was an unknown dimension beyond some Peruvian food restaurants. He set the goal of entering the contest to make a goal come true that seemed like a feat: “My goal is to put Argentina and South America on the gastronomic map”.
The Australian edition of the reality show is one of the most popular in the world, with reach to some 180 countries and the participation of the most prominent juries. That is why he felt the need to make an effort and make known the flavors that accompanied him as a child and that escape the common places: “I wanted to show that not only do we have barbecue, but also that in the North we have spectacular food, different empanadas all over the country. country, that we cook the best pizzas in all of South America, that all of Latin America has incredible food,” he says enthusiastically. This objective underwent a change due to a problem that arose in private: “My girlfriend has celiac disease, we found out recently and I had to change all my recipesso the challenge is to show classic Argentine recipes, but in a gluten-free or allergen-free version.”
His debut was dreamed of. With the burden on their shoulders of offering the best of the region’s gastronomy, He opted for a humita with chipa and quiquirimichi. The balance was highly positive. “You have made your family proud.”, the production of the cycle congratulated him, through his Instagram account. And she also dazzled the jury. Made up of the French chef Jean-Christophe Novelli -winner of 4 Michelin stars-, the gastronomic journalist Sofia Levinthe finalist of the first edition of the cycle Poh Ling Yeowand the winner of the fourth edition Andy Allenin the first two weeks of competition the outstanding Jamie Oliver, which amazed the Argentine credit: “Mega star of world cuisine, guest jury and mentor. It was incredible to meet him, the most humble and good-natured guy,” Juan goes out of his way to praise him.
Regarding the humita, Jamie stated that “it’s definitely made from the heart”while Sofia Levin expressed: “That’s the food I would travel to your country for.. The sweetness of that humitas corn is simply beautiful. There’s also the smokey stuff there. Incredible. I want to spoon into this dish again and again. “I absolutely love it, well done,” highlighted the journalist.
For his second participation he chose to cook fried empanadas, which he recognizes as one of his highest moments in the competition: “Seeing Jamie putting chimichurri on an empanada and saying that it’s the most perfect thing he’s ever tried and that I’m the contestant to beat… Imagine the pride they say that. For me it was already a win,” he says in the hours before a new repechage event, since despite creating a dish full of praise, the pressure of the kitchen caused him to have burns on his arm and part of his face with the hot oil. Furthermore, in that instance of the competition, the work was group work, and because the rest of his team was not up to par, he must revalidate his continuity in the competition this Sunday.
“I feel the pressure and the next steps are to finish healing from my burns. We had a challenge that was to cook for thousands of people in a market in which only the team that won got immunity and those of us who lost have an elimination round this Sunday,” Juan explains, and he is hopeful: “God willing we do it.” “The fact that I have to cook allows me to show what is Latin, depending on what ingredients we have to do it with.”
Beyond the result, he feels that he has already achieved a goal, that he has already closed a circle: “I was here when Covid happened and I couldn’t travel. My old man had a stroke. He was hospitalized for a long time and it was bad, it didn’t look like he was going to survive. So every time he could, we would make a video call and he would tell me that he was waiting for me and that he was holding on, and that when I can I will go see him. As soon as the borders opened, I flew to Argentina,” he recalls, detailing the long-awaited reunion.
“He was at a point where he couldn’t chew much, it was quite complicated. So the last time I was able to cook him it was a humita that he loved. “He enjoyed it and we cried together,” he gets emotional. Yes, the same dish that he presented in the first competition program and that earned him a pampering of his heart and soul: ““It represented a closing of the story, a tribute to my old man who died a year ago.”, he gets excited. Because, at the end of the day, family, friends and food are what we miss most when we are far away and what unites us most physically and spiritually. And against this, there is no distance that opposes it, no matter how extensive it may be.
