Chef Abraham was born on Isla Mujeres. It was his father who walked along side him as he became more and more curious about food: its ingredients and flavours. He studied Culinary Arts in Cancun because he so enjoyed cooking for friends and family. Abraham loved that through food he could share his acquired knowledge and his passion.

He describes his cooking style as vibrant, choosing local flavours but experimenting and mixing different ingredients. He especially loves to combine different cuisines so I suppose fusion would be the most accurate way to describe his style. He credits a variety of instructors and chefs for his confidence in the kitchen. They shared with him how to stay calm under pressure and to develop all facets of kitchen management, not just cooking. They encouraged him to be honest, hard-working and transparent in his workplace.

That workplace is currently his home because professional cooking is very tiring with long working hours. He opened The Reef to give him more flexibility and time with his family. As opposed to leaning to one Mexican province to manifest its food, he is inclined to any style of cooking where seafood is the focus.

But to his food! Abraham typically sets up in your home or rental kitchen and prepares and serves the food for you there. But in this case because the little kitchen in the apartment that we have in Centro is so tiny, I asked if he could prepare something that didn’t have to be cooked from scratch. We had made arrangements to have him deliver it to a neighbouring apartment of a friend who was spending her last evening on the island. But as is often the case, plans change. Instead, we realized that he was just around the corner to where I was tasting new menu items at a friends, so he delivered there. I plated the food later with Peggy and voila, we sat down to eat.

The Charcuterie that he had prepared for us was gorgeous. On special occasions at home, we often have a charcuterie supper to eat in front of the TV for events like the Olympics, the Oscars or the Masters Golf Tournament. This board had a lovely array of salamis as well as olive loaf, a mild sliced cheese, cheese balls, friut, veggies and pitas.

The next evening I made a mini-board to have as a solo Happy Hour with a glass of wine.

My friend Peggy had not tried squid ink pasta before but it happened to be one of my favourites from two fondly remembered Canadian restaurants “Fred’s Not Here” in Toronto and “Pasta la Vista” in Winnipeg. Unfortunately, I didnt have much of an appetite that evening but Peggy enjoyed the salmon and the pasta. Now tonight…that is a different story. I am staying at a palapa right on the beach. I didn’t fancy walking in the dark on a strange road to dine, nor did I want to order in. So boy did I enjoy those left overs!

Squid ink pasta is a striking black & briny Italian pasta. It has a subtle, savoury unami taste. Did someone say unami? My fav! To further enhance the briny flavours, Abraham skillfully prepared a caper with butter and lemon sauce. It was the perfect pairing with the pasta and the salmon filet which also had a lovely seasoning.

I dream of the days when I can have all of my family assemble in a big house on the island, where we can employ a chef like Abraham.

Kath’s guote: “It is the foundation of all sauces. It adds a complexity. Deliciousness. Has Escoffier not told you of this theory of five tastes? A Japanese chemist proved it, and called it ‘umami,’ which means deliciousness.”― N.M. Kelby, White Truffles in Winter

Love never fails.

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