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wine & culinary arts festival
Susana Trilling Susana's love of Mexican food was born when her grandmother from Tampico, Mexico, gave Susana her first tamal at her fonda in Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. She began formal study of Mexican cuisine in 1977 at Fonda San Miguel in Austin, Texas. Since then she has been a chef, caterer, author, and food consultant. She was the owner of the New York City restaurants, Bon Temps Rouler and Rick's Lounge in the early 80's. Susana has lived in Oaxaca since 1988 giving classes in her kitchen at Rancho Aurora where she wrote My Search for the Seventh Mole, A Story with Recipes (1996) and Seasons of My Heart; A Culinary Journey Through Oaxaca, Mexico which is accompanied by a 13 part PBS series of the same name (1999).
In 2000 she built her "Temple of Cooking": a fabulous gathering center where she holds classes, hosts TV filming, special parties and events. As a renown authority on Oaxacan cuisine, Susana has filmed and hosted numerous TV programs in her beautiful kitchen including: Two Hot Tamales (Food Network, 1995), One Plate at a time with Rick Bayless (2000) and A Cooks Tour with TV Chef Anthony Bourdain (2001). Aaron Sanchez and Douglas Rodriguez filmed an episode of The Melting Pot in Susana's kitchen (2000) where Pita Matias also filmed an episode of Taste Takes Off for New Zealand BBC in 2003. Other BBC filmings in the Rancho Aurora kitchen include: World on a Plate with Lloyd Grossman and An Italian Cooks in Mexico (2005).
Susana has also guided culinary tours of Oaxaca's markets and street stands on TV shows: with Burt Wolf, Andrew Zimmern for his show Bizarre Foods and more recently with Jeff Corwin for his series Extreme Cuisine (Food Network, May 2009). Susana's biography was featured in At the Table With (Food Network Canada, Fall 2009). The Discovery Channel, Travel Channel, and Hong Kong BBC have also featured her delicious recipes. Currently, lovers of Mexican gourmet cuisine can catch Susana on the Diary of a Foodie on PBS. In 2007, Susana became the Culinary Director for Rosa Mexicano Restaurants in the USA. Their work together is featured in the October 2008 issue of Traditional Home Magazine. Other magazines that have covered Susana's work include: Travel and Leisure, Gourmet Magazine, and More Magazine, Food Arts, Texas Monthly, Fortune Magazine. As an international chef and culinary expert, Susana has traveled to Australia, Asia, and Scandinavia as well as throughout the USA and Mexico to teach, consult and present in various Mexican Embassies. She is a member of the IACP and has been a featured chef of the James Beard Foundation. In 1999 she was part of the Culinary Institute of America's World of Flavors Conference, and in 2002 she was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Oaxacan International Food and Wine Festival. Susana has been Guest Chef at Rancho de la Puerta (2007), the Ojai Spa (2008), the Chocolate Festival at the Fairchild Botanic Tropical Gardens, Coral Gables, Florida (2008 & 2009) and diverse Food and Wine Festivals.
