Bren Herrera, a foodie based in Atlanta and D.C., publishes the tasty blog, Flanboyant Eats. Herrera spoke to rolling out about her passion for cooking, and her penchant for wearing stilettos in the kitchen — and why other women should, too.
How do you describe your food?
I’m Cuban, so I highlight Cuban cuisine, and Latin fusion. But because I travel so much, I like to incorporate fusion foods or culinary traditions or methods that I pick up when I travel. So I fuse a lot of French and Italian, some of those techniques.
Where did you study?
I did not got to culinary school, but I’ve been cooking close to 18 years. My mother taught me how to cook and in the Latin culture, I say this a lot, “it happens in the kitchen.” I grew up next to the stove with my mother every day. And that, to me, is where you learn the best because you get to see everything hands-on.
As I develop my business, I continue to work with some incredible chefs in New York and Atlanta and overseas in Europe.
What are your signature dishes?
Black beans! I make a killer black bean in my pressure cooker. I have about 50 or so flan flavors. That’s is the namesake of my blog, Flanboyant Eats. Flan is an egg-based custard, it’s really good, I make a Grand Marnier flan, a truffle flan, a mint chocolate ganache and espresso. Dessert-wise, flan is my signature.
How do you stay in shape if you must taste everything that you cook?
Yes, I have to taste everything that I prepare for my clients and when I’m blogging about it so that my recipes are precise, so it’s either good genes, stress or my workout.
What is your workout routine?
While I’m traveling, like right now, I’m in L.A., so I do lots of squats, lunges and ab work in my hotel room. And it’s easy, you don’t need any machines or weights to do lunges and squats; you can hold your own body weight. And then for arm work, I do dips; you can use the office chair that’s in your room and do some dips to keep your arms toned, and then get on the floor and do some military kicks.
What is your best tip for ladies who want to create a sexy meal?
You have to start off with wearing some high heels, because I cook in stilettos. I was born wearing heels, that’s one element, outside of the food, you have to keep it sexy. Men love to see a woman’s calves accentuated through high heels.
With the technical skills in cooking, demonstrate a lot of passion with what you’re doing. Get a really pretty knife with some beautiful artwork on the wooden handle, and just demonstrating your work with a lot of passion. Presentation has to be beautiful, because if it looks pretty, you’re going to want to eat it that much more. If the food looks pretty, you’re going to want to try it.
Food Blogger Bren Herrera shares her cooking tips:
