{"id":1724,"date":"2019-10-01T04:20:18","date_gmt":"2019-10-01T08:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/?p=1724"},"modified":"2021-09-21T04:23:48","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T08:23:48","slug":"i-am-just-a-cook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/i-am-just-a-cook\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I am just a cook’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Jose Andres samples Mario Sep’s empanadas as Susan Callahan looks on<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Chef Jose Andres visits UMES’ Marriott Teaching Kitchen at Shady Grove<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Thursday, October 31, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s not every day a chef with a rock star r\u00e9sum\u00e9 stops by your kitchen to talk shop and samples your mother’s recipe for empanadas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that’s what Mario A. Sep<\/strong> and his classmates experienced when World Central Kitchen founder Jos\u00e9 Andr\u00e9s visited the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s hospitality and tourism management program<\/strong><\/a> at the Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember helping my mom (fix meals) since I was \u2026 8-years-old,\u201d Sep said in an interview with a WJLA TV reporter. \u201cSo, for me, making this dish for him is very, very great. I feel very happy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ever the diplomat, the Spaniard took a bite and told Sep: \u201cIt’s very smart to say ‘it’s my mom’s recipe,’ because nobody will ever say there’s anything wrong with it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The banter elicited laughs and smiles in a day full of them where Andr\u00e9s was celebrated by aspiring chefs, educators and civic leaders at the institution in suburban Washington, D.C. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andr\u00e9s appearance at UMES’ satellite program at Shady Grove<\/a><\/strong> was more than a year in the making, thanks to chef instructor Susan Callahan<\/strong>‘s perseverance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Callahan and Andr\u00e9s have known one another for a quarter century, dating back to when both worked in downtown Washington at eateries on E Street; he at Jaleo and she at the D.C. Central Kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Callahan thanks Andres for visiting her teaching kitchen<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Callahan thanks Andres for visiting her teaching kitchen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was generous with his time (then), and brought his staff to work on our kitchen as volunteers and help in training,\u201d Callahan said. \u201cWe became friends. I have followed his career \u2026 watching him rocket into super stardom.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Callahan took her students to Frederick Community College in February 2018 to hear him speak and decided \u201che needed to come and meet (UMES) students\u201d she teaches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wanted students to hear him say what I have known for a long time,\u201d she said. \u201cTo be successful, you need to make more than money. You need to be a global citizen. You need to care about the person next to you and the people on the other side of the globe.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andr\u00e9s embodies \u201cglobal citizen,\u201d known not only for his popular, trendy restaurants and business savvy, but for humanitarian efforts to feed the hungry and downtrodden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was the driving force behind a mobile kitchen that fed thousands of displaced Puerto Ricans when Hurricane Maria destroyed much of that U.S. territory in 2017.  When Hurricane Dorian this fall wreaked the same devastation on the Bahamas, Andr\u00e9s and his army of volunteers were there, too, to provide meals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJos\u00e9 is a very busy man,\u201d Callahan said. \u201cWe were concerned when he went to the Bahamas for emergency relief that our visit might be delayed.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His visit to the Shady Grove campus enabled him to take in activities at the Mobile Market, a free food distribution event that takes place on the fourth Monday of every month with food donated from the Capital Area Food Bank. Students and community members lined up to receive free fruits and vegetables, where Andr\u00e9s handed out food and posed for photos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He then made his way to UMES’ Marriott Teaching Kitchen, where he met with Callahan’ culinary students, greeting each one and sampling some of their food while answering questions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow were you able to balance family life and professional life,\u201d asked Kara Yanez<\/strong>, the mother of a 2-year-old daughter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is one of the biggest challenges we have,\u201d Andr\u00e9s said. \u201cI think any job has its challenges, but I think our industry has the challenge bigger than anybody.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yanez told a WJLA reporter after chatting with Andr\u00e9s \u201cIt gives me a little more encouragement that I can make this work with my family and my career choices.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Callahan said, \u201cHe inspired our students, and I was thrilled to be in his orbit.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andr\u00e9s was also a panelist for a \u201cCivic Engagement\u201d gathering called \u201cIngredients for Change,\u201d part of a series held twice a semester at Shady Grove. It was there he also accepted a local government proclamation declaring Oct. 28 as \u201cChef Jos\u00e9 Andr\u00e9s Day\u201d in Montgomery County. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Callahan most admires Andr\u00e9s for his \u201ckindness and humility.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all these years, she said, he responds to compliments and accolades with \u201cI am just a cook.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Details in this report include information generated by WJLA TV (Washington, D.C.) and the media relations office of the Universities at Shady Grove, which also provided the photographs<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chef Jose Andres visits UMES’ Marriott Teaching Kitchen at Shady Grove Thursday, October 31, 2019 It’s not every day a chef with a rock star r\u00e9sum\u00e9 stops by your kitchen to talk shop and samples your mother’s recipe for empanadas.  But that’s what Mario A. Sep and his classmates experienced when World Central Kitchen founder Jos\u00e9 Andr\u00e9s…Read more ‘I am just a cook’<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1725,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-1724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1724"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=1724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}