In the most recent edition of MasterChef Junior (11), one of the most charismatic and promising faces was Marcelo, a chef of just 9 years old with an unbreakable love for his Cuban roots. With his time on the contest, Marce, as he is known, showed that age does not prevent him from having a great passion for cooking and an overwhelming personality.
Originally from Havana, he made it clear from his presentation that his Cuban identity is something he wears with pride. “I am happily Cuban,” he said with a smile that radiated confidence. Two years ago, he moved with his family to Valencia, where he continues to develop his culinary skills, always with his eyes on his native country.
“I have the true Cuban flavor in my blood,” said the mini chef in an interview with OnCuba.
You say it with great conviction, why?
Because it comes from two roots: the hospitality industry and the artistic one. The hospitality part comes to me above all from my family. My uncle is one of the best chefs I know; my grandmother is a great pastry chef; my father has always worked in gastronomy, especially in the bar and the kitchen; and my paternal grandfather is a super chef.
On the other hand, the artistic part is inspired a lot by my maternal grandfather, José Amador López Santander, better known as Pepe López. He is a great musician who is very famous in Cuba.
In my family we have two restaurants: one in Havana and another in Trinidad. In the restaurant in Havana there was a super big stage. I was always between the kitchen, the bar or I ended up on stage at night. If they didn’t let me go into the kitchen, I cried; if they didn’t let me be in the bar, I cried; and if I didn’t go up on stage, I cried too. I loved all that, and I still do!
Is there a typical Cuban dish that inspires you in the kitchen?
My Cuban food is my Cuban food! I love arroz congrí, vaca frita, roasted suckling pig and, above all, ropa vieja.
One of the dishes that inspires me the most is ropa vieja, because I can put it on a plantain base and make a delicious tostoncito. A proper delicacy! Ropa vieja has so many possibilities.
You always mention how much you enjoy traveling to Cuba.… What culinary dreams would you like to fulfill there?
To be honest, I am creating a very nice life here in Spain. And it’s not that I will never go to Cuba again; in fact, every summer and on every vacation I have, I want to go to Cuba to see the family businesses, be with my family, tell them about my progress on MasterChef Junior, give advice to the restaurant teams.… It would be an honor for me to do all that.
One of the things that inspires me the most right now is being able to go to Cuba to share everything I have experienced and learned thanks to that program.
In MasterChef Junior you discovered that you had a connection with the judge Pepe Rodríguez because of the Cuban roots you share. How was that moment for you? Did you get to talk about it more?
Oh, my Pepito, my dear Pepito, my dear judge! Well, Pepe and I never got to have a very deep conversation about the subject, but he always highlighted my Cubanness, my salsa. We would start talking about it. In fact, he is very proud of his restaurant, which is called El Bohío.
I think he is super proud of his Cuban roots, just like me. In fact, when he could, he would say to me: “Can I dedicate this little dance to Cuba?” And we did, almost everything we did we dedicated it to Cuba, both of us.
Participating in a program like MasterChef Junior must be exciting and challenging. What was the biggest challenge you faced during the competition?
Imagine the adrenaline I experienced every time I went to a casting, another casting, another casting.… MasterChef Junior is an amazing thing! At first I thought “I’m not going to get in,” but then my spirits rose to a level you can’t imagine. It’s true that it’s a bit difficult, because in the end you’re faced with very good dishes and very good people. As a competition, it’s true that it’s complicated, you have to be honest.
The most challenging thing for me, even though I grew up in restaurants, is that I never imagined I would participate at such a professional level. It’s very difficult to cook in front of these great masters of the culinary arts. Outside, we cooked for 100, 120, 180 people.… Imagine! At first, my mother wouldn’t even let me pick up a knife.… And, in addition, there were many ingredients that I didn’t even know, because they are not available in Cuba.
What was hardest for me was getting in. Because the castings are difficult, but if you do things right, you can get in. Among 14,000 children or something like that, I got in! I still can’t believe it!
The first thing you cooked, a hard rice, became a lesson in resilience. What did you learn from that moment and how did it help you grow as a little chef?
Ugh, that rice…, I don’t want to remember that rice ever again in my life! Well, I better remember, because that rice was what gave me strength where I didn’t have any to continue another week.
There were so many emotions that I felt fear, pain for having to leave. It was, emotionally, the hardest week of the competition for me, but it was also the one that gave me strength to keep going. Because none of the greats have started at the top, they have all started at the bottom, as I told Jordi Cruz that day. I can start with hard rice, but end up with a Michelin star.
And I’ll tell you a secret…the one who makes rice the best in my whole family, practically, is me. That made me surpass myself so much that, at one point, I said: “I can’t do it anymore. I have to be the best rice maker in my family.”
What memories do you have about the judges? Any special advice from Pepe, Jordi or Samantha that left a mark on you?
I think that instead of calling themselves judges they should be called teachers. More than evaluating the dishes, they taught us. I have received so much criticism, especially constructive criticism, that it has helped to release the mini chef inside me.
I’ll never forget what Samantha said to me one day. She told me that when I was 16 I was going to work in a restaurant, and that made me feel that Samantha admired me. For me, that was a huge pride.
My Pepe is my Pepe, both for having a super connection and for his charisma. We got along very well and were always very playful! And Jordi is an example of what I want to be when I grow up. He is a focused person, who really knows how to do what he does, and one of the greats, the ones who really know.
If I had to sum up what they mean to me, in one word, I would say teaching or learning.
What was the most fun you experienced with your other competitors? Any anecdotes that you will always remember?
Well, MasterChef Junior is fun. But you only have fun if you don’t see it as a competition, but as a game. It’s an experience to enjoy and go as far as you can.
But there are moments that are super fun. For example, one of my favorites, as you know I’m a little crazy, was jumping into the chocolate pool and having all the jam fall on me — as we say in Cuba. No, and also seeing the judges there, all covered in stains, sliding down the platform as if they were us! It was super fun.
You mentioned that one of your dreams is to return to Cuba and help in your family’s restaurants. What would you like to change or innovate in Cuban gastronomy?
Let’s see, as I told you before, one of the things that inspires me the most is going to family restaurants in Cuba and showing the chefs everything I’ve learned. One of the things I would love to show them is molecular cuisine, also known as avant-garde cuisine.
For example, I would like to innovate traditional dishes like ropa vieja, but making it with spherifications of its own juice, very tasty, and its broth. Or also a roast suckling pig, but not traditionally roasted, but vacuum-cooked in the roner, with its typical marinade. And then accompany it with a gelatin of Cuban sauce. More or less, that would be my idea.
How do you think MasterChef Junior has helped you become a better person and chef?
First, it has helped me believe in myself. I mean, I used to trust myself, but not as much as I do now. Now I think: if I set my mind to it, I’ll do it well. I’ve also realized that dreams don’t come true on their own; you have to fight for them, as my mom says.
Also, I’ve learned the true value of work. There we spent hours and hours working. For example, in the audition at Walt Disney Studios Park we spent many hours between kitchens and recordings. But when you really like something, like I did, hours turn into minutes. For me, everything happened so fast that I felt like it happened from one day to the next.
Another important thing is the process. I learned to enjoy it a lot. And, even if I didn’t win, I feel like a winner just for having enjoyed the process. It was such a beautiful experience, that I feel like I won inside by living it and learning so much from the greats.
As for cooking, I have become obsessed, so much so that my mother is even worried! She tells me that cooking is not my responsibility, that I should take it as a game. But I take it all with great enthusiasm.
At 9 years old, you have already achieved a lot. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Would you like to open your own restaurant?
I think I have achieved a lot at 9, but obviously I have not done it alone. I have an incredible support network: great parents, a wonderful family that supports me throughout my formation and in my daily life. I’m 9 years old, but I will soon be 10, and then I’ll be 19 or 20, I’m on my way!
I would like, with the help of my parents, to open a small restaurant. That this restaurant grows little by little, becomes known and ends up being one of the good ones, and recognized by everyone!
What is your daily life like? What other passions do you have besides cooking?
I have many passions, it’s true, but right now I’m obsessed with cooking. I spend my days watching cooking videos, cooking, reading, and looking for books on the subject. But I have other activities that I’m passionate about. For example, I love painting and I go to taekwondo classes, which are very important to me.
Another thing that I consider super important is English, because it’s practically the language of the future. If I don’t learn English, I wouldn’t be able to study cooking abroad. For example, if I want to go to a cooking school in New York, I have to speak English.
Also, I really like music. In fact, I have a small talent for singing really well with an incredible voice, dancing, and doing theater. But of course, these are activities that I have to do little by little, because my parents don’t always have time. Well, it’s not that they don’t have time, but you have to divide it up for everything, and sometimes that’s difficult.
Even so, I keep struggling and trying hard to develop myself in everything that I like.
Lastly, what message would you give to the children who follow you and dream of participating in programs like MasterChef Junior?
That they should fight for their dreams, that they should never stop loving what they like and that, even if they fall one day, they should get up the next, or even get up at the same time. Because you should never give up in life. It happened to me with rice: first I fell, but then I got up and kept going.
Also, discipline is very important for our training. We have to study, we have to train and, above all, we have to know that all of this is what helps us to go far.
The little chef said goodbye to the competition in the semi-finals, but he won not only the hearts of the spectators in Spain, but also those of his beloved Cuba, a place that Marce always carries in his memory and his kitchen.
Author
OnCuba Staff
