Betty Vazquez Added to Mexico's State Department List of Top Chefs CVB of Riviera Nayarit
October 14, 2013

The many flavors of Riviera Nayarit are the destination’s calling card to the world, especially now that Mexico’s State Department named the renowned Betty Vásquez, Nayarit’s gastronomic ambassador, to its list of the country’s top chefs.
 
The recognition was awarded days after Vásquez placed second in Harbourfront Centre’s International Hot & Spicy Iron Chef Festival, which was celebrated on September 2nd. Her participation was sponsored by the Mexico Tourism Board and the Mexican Consulate in Toronto, Canada.
 
“I’m thrilled because this recognition wasn’t given only to me: it was given to the entire region of Nayarit and this will allow us to promote the state based on its gastronomy. Besides, it comes right on the heels of a very tight competition. During the semifinals in the Iron Chef we had a very close call with the Canadian chef’s team. That day I presented a tribute to the milpa, which is our sustenance: I made a pre-Hispanic mole sauce with pumpkin seeds, black rice with cuitlacoche and squash with corn. To this I had to integrate the secret ingredients of the day: tea and chicken,” said Nayarit’s acclaimed gastronomical ambassador.
 
“The final was up against the Hawaiian Ippy Aiona, with whom I enjoyed great chemistry throughout the event; we became fast friends. I presented a mole sauce with three chiles and a plantain garnish, a nopal cactus salad and sweet potato marinated with chile. But the challenge of integrating the secret ingredient, sauerkraut, into the recipe was very tough,” said Chef Vásquez.
 
The chef also highlighted the important exposure received by the destination thanks to the extensive media coverage, but, above all, she cherished her new friends. “There are already plans for Ippy Aiona to come cook with us in Riviera Nayarit, and for us take our dishes to Hawaii,” she said.
 
The CVB, a nonprofit organization that works directly under the Banderas Bay Hotel and Motel Association to promote all of Riviera Nayarit, stated that events like these serve to promote tourism and thus enhance the development of all of Nayarit’s citizens, per the directives of the People’s Governor, Roberto Sandoval Castañeda.