EP94: Chef Eda Martin From Aspiring Doctor To Accidental Chef

From aspiring medical doctor to celebrated chef and food scientist. Chef Eda discusses her early culinary inspirations, including her pivot from nutrition to food science, and her experiences working in the high-profile Los Angeles culinary scene. Chef Eda also explores the challenges of creating allergen-free menus and the innovative techniques she employs in her cooking. Additionally, she provides insights into her role at Microsoft and her current endeavors with Cocina Casera, including their popular dishes and upcoming product launches. With a focus on tradition, creativity, and inclusivity, Chef Eda's story is both inspiring and enlightening for food enthusiasts and professionals alike.

00:00 Introduction to Chef Eda Martin
00:35 Early Culinary Inspirations
03:33 Accidental Journey to Becoming a Chef
07:49 Culinary Influences and Recipe Development
11:25 Lessons from the Kitchen
13:43 Challenging Projects and Allergen-Free Cooking
15:32 Personal Stories and Foodie Adventures
23:49 CocinaCasera: The Restaurant and Future Plans
27:02 Conclusion and How to Connect with Chef Eda

Contact Chef Eda:

Email:

chefv2@gmail.com

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/cocinacaserame/

Website:

https://www.cocinacasera.me

Season2

Welcome Chef Steven Leung as our new cohost.

IG: themindfulwok

Transcript

Michael Dugan: 0:52

Today we're thrilled to welcome Chef Eda Martin from CocinaCasera. She's a talented chef and food scientists who blend tradition, culture and creativity into every dish, and we can't wait to explore the stories and flavors that inspire her. Chef Eda, thanks for being on the show.

Chef Eda: 1:14

Oh, thank you so much for inviting me to be here. It's a pleasure.

Michael Dugan: 1:18

And Carrie I'm really excited that you're here 'cause I know you love to drill down on those unique questions around, different things as a researcher. Thank you. Chef Eda, I thought maybe you could tell us about the first dish you ever remember cooking, or the first dish that really inspired you.

Chef Eda: 1:37

So the first dish that inspired me Once upon a time, when I first started my accidental culinary journey, I did an internship, at a restaurant that was pretty well known in Los Angeles. And, we had a lot of specialty events with celebrities and things like that, which was really cool. And then I just remember, this was in the very beginning years and I didn't. Think of myself, obviously as somebody, seasoned in the culinary arts. and so I was listening and absorbing and learning everything that I, could from, from the executive chef of that restaurant. And I remember him saying, more butter is better. More butter is better. And I remember thinking, 'cause I always had this little nutrition love inside of me, and I was already in my bachelor's degree for nutrition. I was thinking to myself, I wonder if that's true, but I'm going to go with it for now. And then I guess some years later, some of the dishes that we did. I used a little bit of my food science background to make it with a different kind of fat. which was olive oil. And so I guess it was some sauces that I worked with, to emulsify and create dishes that were originally made with butter, but with a healthier fat. And so I thought it was really fun to be able to explore. So I don't know what the exact dish was. sure. But I just remember playing around and finding inspiration in that science bridge with food and nutrition.

Michael Dugan: 3:29

Yeah. That's, amazing. I, love that you can create and combine ingredients and figure out the science behind them. that's a, unique thing. Some people just cook, right? They just put ingredients together and other people really dig into the details and, the chemistry. Behind it.

Chef Eda: 3:50

Yeah. I think those people are luckier. The ones that don't compute things, their life is a lot easier than mine.

Michael Dugan: 3:57

Yeah, because you, have to think a lot. you really have to think through. I think

Chef Eda: 4:01

too much. I need to stop it.

Michael Dugan: 4:02

Yeah. I need to do That too. I work in technology now, and I'm telling you Yeah, that's why I pivoted back to food.

Carrie Dugan: 4:10

I know how that feels. too much.

Michael Dugan: 4:13

Yeah. Yeah. And, Carrie works in technology too, so we, we share that together. Can you share a journey in your, in the culinary world, something that inspired you to become a chef? I know you were telling us before about it, how it was accidental, but was there anything, what was the piece that was accidental? Like how did you accidentally become a chef?

Chef Eda: 4:38

Yeah, that's a. Probably a good question. so I was on a journey to become a medical doctor with a specialty in nutrition. Yeah. And I had to do a food practicum during my bachelor's degree, my first year bachelor's degree nutrition program because there's four different subjects, major subjects within the nutrition realm, and one of them is food service. And so you have to do a rotation in some type of commercial establishment. Although I had this little innate, love for screwing around basically. I don't know if you're allowed to say that. Sure. Kind messing around. You can say whatever you want. Okay. Messing around with, with ingredients and stuff, uhhuh and things like that. When I went to, an actual, commercial kitchen and I started, learning some of the things that they were. Showing me. to jump in and either prep or work with ingredients and how to work with particular ingredients, and then putting them together and then watching them come all together. I triggered something inside of me where the nutrition piece made a lot of sense with the culinary piece for me straight away, because nutrition has to do with eating. You have no nutrition without eating something. And so I know that sounds like it makes sense, but for some reason it's extremely disconnected in what I have experienced throughout my, professional career. But, that's okay. It just gives us opportunity and I guess it created an accidental niche for me. But what ended up happening was my journey had to do with going to medical school and Then on the side I was cooking. So after that internship I was asked to stay on, a few people had quit by the time my eight months was done. And then they said to me, Hey, would you mind staying on, we'll teach you more. I'm like, okay, sure. I'll do it on the side. So I just, Worked. I'm, I've always been persistent. I've always been a hard worker, whether I'm, being paid for it or it was a volunteer position. I take it very seriously. And so I just, really would absorb the information and really pieced it together throughout the years. To me, it like really fit like a puzzle. It was on the side the whole time. And I didn't take it too seriously. I just thought it was an added benefit to my education, but I didn't ever think that I was going to work in a commercial kitchen and actually be a chef of any kind.

Michael Dugan: 7:30

Yeah, I remember you telling me that. I, think that's amazing. It just you went down that path and it evolved from there.

Carrie Dugan: 7:38

Can I ask you a follow up question? Eda? Just that you accidentally fell into that, but I was wondering how that actually influenced the way that you cook or you create recipes.

Chef Eda: 7:51

The whole time, very, long time, until I became an executive chef again accidentally. Yeah. Yeah.

Michael Dugan: 7:59

sounds like a great title for a book, by the way.

Chef Eda: 8:03

yeah. And I do want to write a book one day. I just have to hone in on what that would look like, but Cool.

Carrie Dugan: 8:10

So I was just curious, you mentioned that you just fell into the restaurant cooking. Yeah. Yeah. so how did that actually influence, like the way you cook? So I know we tried your, cooking At Issiquah salmon days. I'm just curious how that helped you create new recipes or influenced the way that you cook.

Chef Eda: 8:34

Okay. being originally from Russia and having a very significant sort of Eastern European and also Western European background, and then feeling like I have a connection with that culinary cuisine as I learned it. Because it's embedded in my roots and I know it well from, a cultural standpoint. What I find. Beautiful and enlightening is to. Look at every single ingredient as you work with it. look at the cuisine you're studying. Look at the, land and the people and the culture, and bring it all together into a dish, but very choosy when it comes to ingredients. Because now fast forward to now, I know how to manipulate what I need to, but back then I would always find myself questioning, do I have to use this ingredient? Can I use a different ingredient? And so it's that combination of everything was always very interesting and curious to me. Whoever I was working with as well and paying attention to, I would look at where they're from and, How they grew up and what they found near and dear to their hearts. And then, and then modernize it and then bring it to what we need today, what makes sense today, whatever today is, whether it was 20 years ago or right now. So I don't know if that answers your question. Yeah, definitely. I'm like,

Carrie Dugan: 10:18

yeah.

Chef Eda: 10:19

Very strange combination of thoughts.

Carrie Dugan: 10:22

No, it's just fascinating because as a researcher, I do a lot of different things too. I bring design and research and everything together. Interaction. And I just find it interesting that, when people have professions where they bring in multiple layers of knowledge and their experience, I just think it's just brings a richer, position

Michael Dugan: 10:52

For sure. In the other to your cooking. Yeah. And the other thing is it's very challenging to explain what my wife does. It's just very challenging. Like she does a very unique blend of things with research and technology and design. And when I see her explain it, I'm just like, my mind is blown,

Chef Eda: 11:13

Yeah.

Michael Dugan: 11:14

yeah. I can say right now I fixed computers, but I have a blend too, because I spent 10 years in hospitality. Developing those skills and being able to connect with people on a very different level than most technicians can.

Chef Eda: 11:28

And being able

Michael Dugan: 11:28

to work with high level executives because I'm used to walking out into a dining room with angry customers, and remembering back when I was assistant manager in Napa Valley, I had to go out to a guy that got the wrong steak order. He got chicken fried steak instead of Chateaubriand, and he was. Pissed. And you can say that here. He was pissed. And so dealing with those kind of things, the other things that come along in technology are a walk in the park. Having that blend and skillset, it makes you very unique. And it's impressive to me. And so thank

Chef Eda: 12:06

you.

Michael Dugan: 12:07

Yeah, of course. another curiosity. Are there any lessons that you learned from the kitchen that you think are valuable? Not only to teach people in the kitchen with your staff and such, but in life and further in your career. Is there any takeaways because, I pivoted from the restaurant business into technology and I brought a lot of that skillset with me. But I'm just curious what your perspective is in how people can leverage that in other places.

Chef Eda: 12:40

Sure. you ask some tough questions. I think I'm a little resilient by nature. For various reasons. But the kitchen taught me additional resilience and I think, things go wrong constantly and. What matters is how quickly you can recover Under the pressure. And under the circumstances and how your team, you and your team work together to support each other. And that mindset has carried me through practically every role in my career and life.

Michael Dugan: 14:13

That's wonderful. That is absolutely wonderful because I, can relate to that as an assistant manager. And I remember being like two o'clock in the morning or five, five o'clock in the morning.

I start at 3:00 PM and it's 5: 14:24

00 AM and I have to balance the till, meaning all the money has to balance from the restaurant, and I'm so tired. That all I can think about is going to sleep and the till doesn't balance.

So I'm there till 6 to 6: 14:36

30 and I'm not panicking, I'm just dealing with it. I'm just like, you have to get through this and then you do. And later in life, for me, it paid off because I came across those challenging situations and they were much easier to face. And that's what I really feel that you're saying. it's, powerful. Yeah. The skills that you learn. Carrie, what do you got?

Carrie Dugan: 15:01

I'm just curious about one of, what has been the most challenging dishes or projects In your career, and how did you approach it? I really admire you. How you think about your team, that's so important, team coordination for what you do. So I'm just curious about that.

Chef Eda: 15:24

I had a really big project, in the last sort of decade time where I created an allergen free. 20 allergen free restaurant concepts. Oh, wow. And, I I would say that hands down, that was like the toughest, most challenging thing I've ever done.'cause when you remove the top nine allergens in this country, the top nine allergens are wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, peanut, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, and sesame. Now. and you removed sesame.

Carrie Dugan: 16:05

Wow. I didn't know. Yeah,

Chef Eda: 16:06

that's a couple years ago. That one kicked in.

Carrie Dugan: 16:09

That's sad. I love sesame.

Chef Eda: 16:13

Yeah. You can have it if you're not allergic to it. But apparently, statistics show many people are allergic to it. it's also interesting that coconut is considered an allergen in some cases'cause it's got the word nut in it. So Interesting. And it's technically not a nut. Both these ingredients, a lot of them are the heart of many recipes, and I, of course had to rethink, from the ground up what to do and how we're gonna do it. The approach and, of course have to lean significantly on science and understanding functional ingredients. Natural thickeners proteins, fermentation. flavor layering, all of that. Wow. So instead of replacing an allergen with a substitute, I built recipes that designed them to shine without it, if you will. Interesting. yeah, so that was probably my most challenging, I guess to date. Absolutely fascinating. I have to come clean. I am not a chef.

Michael Dugan: 17:17

I'm a foodie. Tell her why. Tell her. Tell her real quick.

Carrie Dugan: 17:20

No, it's a long story, but it's beautiful. When I was in college, I took care of a 95-year-old lady I was a live-in. I did not have cooking skills when I. Took her on and moved in with her. And I would try so hard, to make these recipes out of a single Betty Crocker cookbook. And she had this very antiquated kitchen too. I. I honestly, I was going to school, taking care of her and cooking, and at the end of the day, she would tell her social worker, oh, that girl, all she makes is a cold plate of mashed potatoes, a pickle. A piece of bread and a pickle on the top, and it devastated me when I was 18. so I just lost interest in trying, but I'm still a foodie and but I appreciate the science part of this so much.

Chef Eda: 18:19

She probably did you a favor, really?

Carrie Dugan: 18:23

Boy, I'd like to believe that. I don't think my husband believes that, but No, actually

Michael Dugan: 18:29

I think, she's a really good cook. but she, she always tells me that all I ever do is talk about it because I'm on the podcast, so I know how to cook. I love to cook. I love to be creative. I love to create amazing dishes. And. I don't have as much time because I'm podcasting and editing and doing these other things. Sure. Plus my day job to support the podcast. so it's, unique, but it's funny. And then I asked her one day, I said, what chefs do you follow?'cause she was the very first interview. It was called Stay Hungry. And it was about that story you just heard. And I said to her at the end of the episode, I said, so what chefs do you follow? And she goes, I follow you to the microwave. And so that gives you like a little bit of taste of Carrie. funny. Yeah.

Carrie Dugan: 19:19

I can't imagine trying to combine, the science part with the food part and the restaurant side is probably. Really difficult.

Chef Eda: 19:28

My grandmother who lived to 102 with a very high quality of life until the end. Wow. She would always say everything is difficult when you don't know how to do it.

Carrie Dugan: 19:42

Very, true

Chef Eda: 19:43

if you know how to do it, it's not difficult. people ask me actually that all the time, is this hard to do? And then I, that's always my answer. Yeah. Everything's hard if you don't know how to do it. What you all do. I don't know how to do, but like I can't go fix all that stuff with technology., It's hard.

Michael Dugan: 20:01

We're gonna get to a couple other quick questions 'cause I really wanna honor what you do. that's with sincerity. When we came to your food truck, that was amazing. the food was incredible. Love South American food and Carrie's connected to the culture a little bit. can you tell us a little bit more and dive back to LA what went on in la You were talking briefly about that, but you mentioned before that you did a birthday party for, for George

Chef Eda: 20:31

many things went on in la many things., Lived there on and off for a very long time. And it's interesting now that I live in Seattle, I really miss Los Angeles a lot. Okay. I used to not miss it. Fair. But now I do.

Carrie Dugan: 20:47

Oh my gosh. Just for the sun alone, right?

Chef Eda: 20:50

No, not for that reason. No, but that's okay. Oh, no, that's okay. Okay. Okay. No, I actually really actually Seattle weather, I, really like it because I'm a skier, so for me it's, really great. And slopes are only an hour away, so that's what I do in the winter time. Nice. But at least not, when I can. so Los Angeles was many things. I did research in schizophrenia and weight gain there, for on and off for 16 years during my medical slash nutrition years. I worked for a catering company, a very well known catering company. so like when. Somebody, some other company did the Oscars, we did the Emmys and vice versa. so I was one of their specialty events chefs and that was really great. And I did a lot of celebrity events and things like that, which were really fun. Cool. And a lot of award shows. And, I gained a lot of experience over the years, like It was really fun to do specialty events. I always had my education piece that, that I was going through.'cause I went to school for a total of 14 years probably. Wow. And then on the side I was cooking, on the other side I was modeling. Wow. And on you. Wow, that's awesome. And on the other side, I was, always had two additional, I had my main job and then I had additional jobs like consulting for restaurants or bakeries to help them get their businesses up and running and things like that. Okay, nice. So I always had a lot of jobs.

Carrie Dugan: 22:28

Wow, that's fun. And just, I'd much rather be busy than not have enough to do.

Michael Dugan: 22:36

We talked before, and I remember you mentioned something about Microsoft and running the show there. can you tell us a little more about that?

Chef Eda: 22:44

I was recruited to come and, oversee, Microsoft's food program As the wellness director. And I was there for a total six years. And then that's where I was always also one of three regional chefs. So I had the concepts. That's where I did the allergen free, nice unit with the 20 restaurants in there. That's amazing what, originally brought me to Seattle.

Carrie Dugan: 23:07

That's exciting to think that we probably ate your food when we were there.

Michael Dugan: 23:12

We were at Microsoft, both of us. That's exciting. We met basically at Microsoft. Literally. Yeah. That's awesome. I had a,

Chef Eda: 23:20

Obviously I had a lot of, chefs in different units. I was Part of creating, concepts and the nutrition piece and a lot of specific programs like vegetarian, vegan, allergen conscious. Those kinds of things were my focus. Very nice. yeah, a lot of training and, standardizing recipes and things like that. So yeah, there were, we had a humongous team of chefs.

Michael Dugan: 23:49

Okay. And before we run out of time, I wanna make sure, very important to mention a couple things. So tell us a little bit about your website and what, does that stand for? What is that about?

Chef Eda: 24:05

Four elements is what I originally started to be like a, how do I say this? like my professional portfolio kind of website to illustrate. Everything, maybe not everything, but the highlights of what I've done and what people can. Find me for or to hire me for, if you will. Or when they ask questions, I can refer 'em to that site and they can see a little bit more about me. it has now turned into my nutrition private practice site, and so I do private practice as well now credentialed with insurance now. So I use it for that. Wow. and it, it goes through. Through the different pages, explore it, it talks about my philosophy, and then it goes into things like my cooking experience. My professor teaching experience, the, catering, and pretty much every aspect of what I've done. And when you scroll down a little bit, it has a lot of the companies. Scrolling through, that I have worked for over the years pertaining to those different subject matters, if you will.

Michael Dugan: 25:25

Amazing. Yeah. Amazing. You've done a lot of really, interesting things. And can you tell us about the restaurant because, oh, yes.

Chef Eda: 25:34

Yeah. So the restaurant is really exciting. it's doing pretty well, for a newer restaurant I would say. It's, slowly but surely people are getting to know us a little bit more and more. And, it's the words CocinaCasera translate to Homey kitchen. Ah. the idea is for, the restaurant to. Celebrate South American cuisine. And Latin culture, along with its, the background of it where it has, lots of tradition, lots of influences from Europe, from Asia indigenous. Et cetera. And we celebrate that from the different countries. We draw from the different countries to inspire the dishes. And we have this, homey and real rooted in tradition approach. but designed for our modern life and we focus on inclusivity and sustainability and balance. And we try to create foods that welcomes everybody. So honoring South American roots while celebrating creativity.

Michael Dugan: 26:48

I love it.

Chef Eda: 26:48

Is our thought.

Carrie Dugan: 26:50

I can't wait to try that. I look forward to that.

Michael Dugan: 26:53

Oh, that, that will be amazing. But we tried your food truck and that was, oh my God, it's so good. Especially yuca fries. Love, Yucca fries. Thank you. anything stand out dishes that you could talk about?

Chef Eda: 27:06

Sure. we, our most popular dishes are, we rotate through our empanadas from different countries of South America. Okay. So that's really fun for people. Cool. They, I think they come in looking forward to which country we're doing are Pabellón Criollo like a bento box, kind of Asia meat, Latin in which most popular one. That's cool. And then we have our s and yuka fries that you mentioned. And our sauces. That's good. So our sauces really stand out because we are about to launch them. Tell us about that for sure. Yeah, we're launching them now as we speak. Okay. to be on shelves and possibly on Amazon or definitely in store right before the holidays. And we're also developing a bunch of merch, so that'll be fun.

Carrie Dugan: 27:51

Nice.

Chef Eda: 27:52

Yeah.

Michael Dugan: 27:53

The sauces were

Carrie Dugan: 27:53

so good. I, really enjoyed it. Yeah.

Chef Eda: 27:57

Thank you. the avocado pepper sauce is probably the most popular. Okay. But, people that love spicy are really happy with the spiciness of the Picante. And then there's of course, some people that can't handle that level of spiciness. So we did create a middle version

Michael Dugan: 28:14

right here.

Chef Eda: 28:16

And it's the pimento rojo. So it's medium, spicy,

Michael Dugan: 28:18

i'm just telling the world right now, all around the world, 'cause we're in 90 countries, but I mean there's, not a billion people, but it's just spread out that Carrie and I can't handle spice. Just so you know. So the avocado was amazing.

Chef Eda: 28:36

Yeah. Yeah. So you can handle the avocado pepper. Oh yeah.

Michael Dugan: 28:39

Yeah. that's fantastic.

Chef Eda: 28:40

Yeah.

Michael Dugan: 28:41

but your food is incredible. and the last thing I wanna say is before we run outta time, how do people find you? How do we come to see you? How do we find you on your website..

Chef Eda: 28:55

The most that people have found us was on Google.

Our website is https: 28:58

//cocinacasera.me/ you can find us on social. I'm actually working on a TikTok and YouTube channel now. Awesome. Where I'm going to help people find little tips and tricks on how they can cook at home, different dishes or like really small little tips and tricks on how to get more, wholesome ingredients in their dishes. So I'm starting that too right now. So I think there's many ways they can find us.

Carrie Dugan: 29:27

Nice.

Michael Dugan: 29:28

That's fantastic. Yeah. chef Eda, the website, all this information will be in the show notes. And we can't thank you enough for being a guest today. Yeah, definitely. For the show.

Chef Eda: 29:42

Thank you both too.

Carrie Dugan: 29:43

What a fun conversation. Can't wait to try your restaurant.

Michael Dugan: 29:46

Absolutely.

Chef Eda: 29:47

I look forward to seeing you all here. I can't wait. Yeah, thank you.

Carrie Dugan: 29:50

Thank you so much.