Bio
CELIA FLORIÁN
Oaxacan cook proud of her roots and culture.
She was born in La Ciénega, a small town within the municipality of Zimatlán de Álvarez in Oaxaca.
She grew up among the occupations of a family farm, where since she was little she was immersed in the life of the countryside, planting corn, beans, pumpkins, chili peppers, herbs, fruit trees and raising farm animals.
Her best learnings and deepest memories of cooking come from her mother and grandmother, whom she helped every day with the preparation of different stews, atoles, tamales and tortillas made on the wood-fired comal.
After the years and after finishing her primary studies, her family migrated to the city of Oaxaca. In 1992 she decided to leave her working life in a bank to dedicate herself completely to the opening of her restaurant Las Quince Letras in the Historic Center of Oaxaca, a place with its own identity where the authenticity of our gastronomy is promoted.
With humility and perseverance, Celia pursues the vision she set for herself; to be one of the main promoters of her entity through gastronomy and to achieve an impeccable black mole like the one she learned for years.
Today her career is recognized for her constant research of recipes, endemic ingredients and traditional techniques that each town in Oaxaca maintains within its culinary tradition.
Since 2015 she presides over the Asociación de Cocineras Tradicionales de Oaxaca, where through events and editorial publications they seek to give recognition to the great work of women in this sector that extends to share the cultural diversity of gastronomic knowledge year after year.
For 7 consecutive years her restaurant appears on the Guía México Gastronómico, an edition of Culinaria Mexicana, S. Pellegrino, Nespresso and Larousse where are the 250 best restaurants of Mexico.
In 2018 Travel + Leisure gives her recognition in the Gourmet Awards for her career as a traditional cook in Mexico.
In 2020, Netflix launched Street Food Latinoamerica; series where Celia participates as the main narrator of the chapter on Mexico.
Recently the French ranking La Liste in its edition The World’s Best Restaurant Selection gives her a recognition as the 2021 Artisan & Authenticity Award Winner.
This 2022 during the awards ceremony of Culinaria Mexicana, Celia Florián is awarded as the best chef of the year.
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