Meet Your Chef: Rosa Provoste
Get to know your local chefs
Editor’s Note: The Vail Daily is showcasing area chefs in a new series called “Meet Your Chef” so you can learn a bit more about those creating art in the kitchen. If you’re a local chef and would like to be a part of this series, please email Tricia Swenson (tswenson@vaildaily.com) and Sean Naylor (snaylor@vaildaily.com).
Q: What is your name, where do you cook and what is your official title?
A: My name is Rosa Provoste. I’m a private chef with my own LLC called Merken by Rosa Provoste.
Q: How long have you lived in the valley and what brought you here?
A: This time I have been here for 10 years. I first came to Vail in 1999 as a J1 visa employee from Chile and worked at the Lodge at Vail. I met my husband here and he followed me back to live in Chile. After a couple of years, we moved to the Cook Islands and Vanuatu after that. We lived abroad for a total of 11 years. We love traveling and working in different countries, but we always wanted to come back and raise our two kids here in this beautiful valley.
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Q: When did you first realize that you wanted to become a chef?
A: I took two years of culinary classes at my high school just to have some food production knowledge because I found it very practical for my future, not to follow a career in it. When I started doing my internship at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Santiago, Chile, I met and worked with chefs from all over the world, tasted so many different cuisines and learned so many new things and techniques every day. That made me fall in love with making people happy through my cooking. It made me think that I could also travel the world and one day become a chef like them.
Q: Who has inspired you throughout your culinary journey?
A: When I first started, it was my mother and the way she would cook with the simplest ingredients but with so much love in every single dish she made. Later, I worked alongside many different chefs from different countries and with such different backgrounds and they inspired me.
Q: What’s your favorite spice?
A: Merken! It’s the only authentic Chilean spice, made in the south of Chile where I grew up. Merken is made from smoked chili peppers, cilantro seeds (coriander) and toasted cumin, all ground up in a mortar and reserved to season anything from oils to meats and fresh salsas, vinaigrette, etc. I also love nutmeg, paprika and many other spices.
Q: Favorite protein?
A: Fresh fish, but since we are so far away from the sea I also love to cook with beans and legumes, eggs and nuts.
Q: Favorite fruits and veggies?
A: I love anything and everything seasonal, when not in season I really enjoy pickled vegetables, and all sort of jams and preserves.
Q: Name your carb: pasta, potatoes, rice, polenta, etc.?
A: All of them…my guilty pleasure!
Q: What’s your favorite comfort food?
A: Soups, curries and stews.
Q: Is there anything else about you we should share?
A: Being a private chef is a dream come true to me! I have great clients and enjoy the opportunity to create long-lasting memories around a table in the comfort of their own homes. Also, I love having a bit more time to spend with my family here and abroad!