Bon Appétit, May 2003: Special Collector's Edition
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Iliana de La Vega was the renowned owner and chef of the restaurant El Naranjo in Oaxaca, Mexico for a number of years. Frommer's guide to Mexico said of her "...she is meticulous in the preparation of her dishes." and they called El Naranjo their "... favorite restaurant in the city."
In late 2006 when Oaxaca was experiencing great political trouble and turmoil she and her family were forced, by circumstances effecting tourism, to close the restaurant and leave Oaxaca. Her family had been in Oaxaca for many generations and her restaurant, housed in a 150 year old colonial home with tables filling its lovely central patio, was not an easy thing to give up.
She now resides in Texas, and is employed as the Mexican Cuisine Specialist at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in the San Antonio branch. Iliana is a member of the faculty at the CIA's Center for Foods of the Americas (CFA) and is in charge of designing programs and courses for the department of Continuing Education on Mexican and Latin American Cuisines. One of those is the 30 week Culinary Certification Course offering a strong grounding in cooking fundamentals which is taught at the CFA and CIA as well.
She also conducts research trips to various Latin American countries creating an archive of recipes and techniques for the Institute.
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