Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/1152989
t m c » p u l s e | a u g u s t 2 0 1 9 10 HUGO ORTEGA is the executive chef and co-owner of some of Houston's most acclaimed restaurants, but the James Beard Award winner wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth. The eldest of eight children, Ortega was raised in Mexico and moved to Houston in 1984, determined to find employment. He started as a dishwasher and later as a busboy and line cook at Backstreet Cafe, working under owner Tracy Vaught, whom he later married. The two have since built a culinary dynasty in Houston, opening Hugo's, Caracol and Xochi. Q | Who is your idol? A | My grandmother. I was born in Mexico City, and when I was six, I went to live with her in the moun- tains in Oaxaca. I was a city boy always surrounded by people, and then when I went to live with her, it was just me and her by ourselves on the top of a mountain, with nobody around. So, I was afraid in the begin- ning. But she took me by the hand and she showed me how to work the land. In the summer, we harvested watermelons and cucumbers and tomatoes. We lived to eat, literally. We would make a live fire every day by collecting wood and by being exposed to nature, and she showed me how to respect the animals and the food and the people who are surrounding you. She showed me how to cook. That was really, really wonderful. Q | When you made the decision to leave Mexico, why did you choose to come to Houston? A | At the time, I had a cousin who lived here, and from time to time he sent letters to my aunt, his mom, and I would read these letters to her. And he would say he was doing well, and sometimes he sent $20 or $50, which at the time was a lot of money, especially considering the exchange rate in Mexico then. Being a teenager, that opened my eyes, and I said, I need to go where he is. So that was the beginning of my considering it. Then at some point, eventually a couple of friends and I made the decision to come. Q | We're sitting here in your flagship restaurant, Hugo's, which is situated in the heart of Montrose. What do you love most about this neighborhood? A | Culturally, it's very important for me to be here in Montrose. It's where all the writers and artists live, where every person expresses them- selves freely, and I'm very happy to be a part of this community and to be able to cook for these wonder- ful people. We've been here for 17 years now. Q | Are the recipes you create today inspired by the culinary foundation you built when you were young? A | You develop flavor by knowl- edge, by eyesight—seeing how pre- vious generations have done it and add a bit of flavor to that. I think that has stayed with me. But as you get older, you spread your wings, and then someday you get brave enough to say, well, I want to tweak it a little bit and see what happens. And those are baby steps. Now when you're cooking at home, of course, you're free to experiment more, but when you have the obligation to cook professionally and look at it from a business point of view, I'm respon- sible for another 40 families at the end of the day. Responsibilities kick in and you have to make sure you're careful how you approach some- thing. Food is so important and you want to make sure people are still enjoying it. It's just part of owning a business. Q | I've heard that you grow at least one ingredient for your dishes onsite at Hugo's. Can you tell me more about that? A | About five years ago, a friend came by and give me a very small fig tree, it was maybe even just a branch. I thanked him, but said, 'Where am I going to plant it?' And he said, 'Figs love sun. Plant it right there in the middle of the parking lot.' So, I did that. And the following year it had grown into a small bush, and it gave figs. I see birds coming and taking advantage of the fruit and I said, wait a minute. I got upset and I said, you know, we need to be smarter than these birds. We need to collect the fruit ourselves and see what we can do. And of course, what came naturally to me was to make molé. So, I did a fig molé. And then I asked Tracy and a couple of the chefs how they would serve the molé. Traditionally, for us, it is chicken and tortillas, but this molé had sweet tones. A friend of mine is a hunter, and from time to time he will bring venison and I will make tamales for him, and this particular time he told me he had some quail. So, I served quail with fig molé. That was one of my first expe- riences with making a seasonal molé with fruit that grows around here. Since then, I've made others. This year I made two molés: mango, using fruit from Mexico, and pineap- ple. I've made cherry too, and peach. Spotlight