Celebrating HerStory: Meet Natalie Fernandez, Executive Chef
Each March we celebrate Women's History Month, a time of reflection and a moment to recognize how the women of the past generations who've paved the future for both women and men today. This year's global theme is "Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories" encouraging recognition of women who actively work at storytelling, devoting their lives to producing art and reflecting the human condition throughout time.
Cooking is the ultimate form of art. It incorporates all the senses -- sense, smell, and taste are the obvious, but sight and taste are equally important to producing incredible, innovative masterpieces. But to be an expert culinarian, passion must come through in each dish. Like artists with a paintbrush or photographers with a camera, chefs use their tools to capture a moment in time and create emotion with a single bite of food.
This Women's History Month at FLIK, we're honoring the female Executive Chefs who lead the charge in the kitchen and have such a strong impact on the culture at FLIK. Join us throughout the month to learn about their incredible stories (and some recipes to boot!)
Meet Natalie Fernandez, Executive Chef
Chef Natalie is the Executive Chef at one of our schools in NYC with FLIK Independent School Dining. Hear the story about her signature dish:
"This was considered back in the days as peasant food because it was prepared with all the scraps that were left over. I remember in my family's home in the Dominican Republic, neighbors would share ingredients and make this dish in the yard, on top of a pit; this is one of those dishes with many moving parts, but the end result felt like comfort and home when it hit the belly. Now, this dish has become one of our most popular dishes especially on cold days, sick days, or just recovering from a hangover day."
Natalie Fernandez’ Dominican Sancocho
This Dominican meat and vegetables stew takes some time, but wow is it worth it!
Ingredients
| 1 lb. ox tail |
| 1 lb. chicken thighs or whole chicken (cut into pieces) |
| 1 lb. pork (for stews, cut into small pieces) |
| 1 lb. smoked ham (or smoke turkey bone for non-pork eaters cut into small pieces) |
| Juice of 2 limes |
| Handful of both cilantro and parsley |
| ½ tsp. oregano (dry, ground, powdered) |
| 2 tbsp. minced garlic |
| 6 cobs of corn (cut into 1/2-inch) |
| 1/2 lb. potato (cut into 1/2- inch pieces) |
| 1/2 lb. pound auyama (kabocha squash cut into 1-inch pieces) |
| 4 green plantains (peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces) |
| 1/2 lb. name (yam, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, 0.23 kg) |
| 1/2 lb. yautia (malanga, taro root cut into 1/2-inch pieces) |
| 1/2 lb. yuca (cassava, cut into 1/2-inch pieces) |
| Salt/pepper to taste |
Instructions
- Place the ox tail and pork chunks, meat in a large bowl and season with lime juice, cilantro, parsley, oregano, garlic, salt. and pepper do the same in other bowl with chicken and smoked ham bones or turkey.
- Coat meat with the seasoning. Marinate for at least half an hour, better an hour.
- In a large soup pot, heat the oil over high heat, add the seasoned meats, and stir (be careful with hot oil splattering).
- Cook stirring until browned. Add the remaining meats (chicken, ham bones, or turkey) and corn, and cook. Stirring for a couple of minutes. Lower heat to medium and pour water until covered. Simmer until it breaks the boil. Once the water breaks the boils, add kabocha, chopped plantain, and root vegetables (Yam, taro root, cassava).
- Simmer covered over low heat until the last ingredients you added are cooked through, it should have thickened a bit too. If it dries too much, add water as necessary, or simmer uncovered to reduce if it is not thick enough for your taste.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat and serve (this goes great with sides of white rice, avocado, and banana)
Continue the Women's History Month celebration by listening to our Spotify playlist, featuring 50 songs dedicated to sharing the stories of women and the women dedicated to breaking the mold.
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At FLIK Hospitality Group we believe in great food, great service, and great people. Our wellness first approach ensures our food supports healthy and delicious choices, specially curated by our team of culinary experts and registered dietitians. At FLIK, we believe in seasonality in sourcing our ingredients and providing a customized approach to the culinary and hospitality needs of each client. Our dedication to providing quality hospitality service is unparalleled in the industry.
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