Born and raised in Valparaiso, Chile, Constanza Jimenez often found herself in the kitchen growing up. Like many chefs, she credits her initial introduction to cooking to her mum, though unlike many others, her story didn’t begin with her mother gently guiding her through an introduction to the kitchen.
From a young age, Jimenez was in charge of cooking for her household as her mother had the unique ability to overcook or burn almost everything she made. Jimenez believes her ability to improvise in the kitchen stems from those early experiences, where she had to teach herself to create something nice with what she had at home.
Becoming a chef was never the original plan for Jimenez, who studied design, marketing and photography before leaving Chile to travel. Jimenez developed a love for gastronomy and different cuisines whilst overseas. She decided to take the final step and study formally to become a qualified chef after arriving in Australia.
In her role at La Cabaña, Jimenez focuses on representing, to the best of her ability, Latin American and Mexican flavours through traditional cooking techniques and seasonal menus. She has a sustainable approach to cooking and endeavours to reduce food waste from the kitchen as much as possible.
“Sustainability is the future, the industry should be focused on caring about our environment.”
Jimenez uses as much of an ingredient as possible across a range of dishes. For example, the La Cabaña’s house tajin is made from the skin of the citrus fruits used in other areas of the kitchen. Jimenez also prefers to use local suppliers and tries to reduce the kitchen’s energy consumption where possible.
Jimenez encourages people interested in cooking to try their hand at working in a professional kitchen and see if it’s something they’re passionate about. She believes if a chef is passionate about what they do, then they will find themselves in a career they love.
Jimenez pours her heart and soul into every dish she makes, so for her, the highlight of the job is being able to look out of the open kitchen into the restaurant and see how much customers are enjoying the meals she has made.
“No one can really teach you how to cook, they can probably teach you how to use a knife and how to mix ingredients, but for me it is something that comes from the heart and ends in a dish.”
