Lucimar Jordao, 52-year-old Brazilian chef who started 30 years ago as a kitchen assistant working in different cuisines: Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, international, hotels, among others. From Belem do Pará he went to Rio de Janeiro in search of professional growth and learning. He took several courses and studied at a professional school for chefs. He worked for seven years at the Maracaná Stadium and was at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, where he cooked for athletes and presidents. In 2017 he migrated to Argentina, where he studied at the IGI and continued working as a chef, fulfilling another dream: to be on a culinary reality show at Pasa Platos 2023.
Photo: @cheflucimarjordaooficial
Mariano Pisani: What was your greatest achievement in the kitchen and why?
Lucimar Jordao: It was when I was part of the catering team responsible for the food in the Maracanã grandstand at the 2016 Olympic Games. It was in the Grandstand of Honor, to cook for presidents and very important people. An international menu of country classics. Cooking for big names. An international achievement. Cooking for soccer players, in their homes, people who, one day, I was looking to take a photo at the stadium exit. Afterwards who knows? And he was in his kitchen making menus for his Christmas and New Year's parties. Important names, that was a reward for me.
MP: Did that motivate you to continue cooking and studying for events and competitions?
LJ: Yes, gastronomy can never stop. The techniques, new things come every day. For example: in Pasa Platos I don't have to do what I know. I have to make, in 20 minutes, the recipe that the chefs give us. Many times it is easier to do something created by you than something created by someone else. Time pressure is your enemy.
MP: Time is something important in the kitchen. Can it play against you?
LJ: Yes! Look, a client, many times, does not have time to wait. Some look for a restaurant looking for a quick meal because they barely have an hour for lunch. He placed his order: a chorizo steak with potatoes and the waiter said that it would come out in 25 minutes. 45 minutes go by, the order doesn't arrive and you have 15 minutes to get back to work. What does the client do? He waits to get to work later. A cancellation of an order can make a bad comment about the restaurant. So you have to have a lot of responsibility when you work, a lot of attention. That's why we study, to achieve the easy techniques and methods to create a wonderful menu in a short time.
Lucimar at Pasa Platos. Photo: @cheflucimarjordaooficial
MP: And regarding the comments, did you have any, whether positive or negative, that stood out to you?
LJ: Comments! I will always be attentive to everyone, constructive criticism, to always improve. For the bad guys? When I see where they come from they make me laugh. Others make me think how there are such bad people in the world. Hypocritical people who talk about love and make offensive comments to people they don't know. But I stay with everyone, I take the positive side. Some, when they think they are doing harm, are pushing for more and more victories. I am in a beautiful moment in my profession, a tour through Brazil and in 2024 through Europe. So I ask God to bless all those who wish evil. The thing is like this, I cook happily, because I do what I love to do. I love to dance. If I can do both and achieve a better success. Obviously it bothers many who are not prepared to look at the happiness of others.
MP: On that tour, what restaurant or kitchen would you like to be in?
LJ: The tour began with several cities in Brazil as a guest to teach classes. I started in August and I am with great chefs in gastronomy schools. I am giving lectures and doing dinner consulting in three steps.
MP: Do you see the great chefs in the kitchen or in competitions?
LJ: When we are in a competition there are no great chefs. There is one who, by having experience in techniques and agility, can achieve success in a competition. We discover right away what we are going to do. So you can play something that is not your forte. I do a lot of pastry things but it's not something I'm agile at. I also don't like making gourmet dishes, haute cuisine.
Photo: @cheflucimarjordaooficial
MP: And would you like to have an award like Pasa Platos or an important award like a Michelin star?
LJ: I already won the Pasa Platos prize. Because getting in was not easy, there is a process. In order to win you have to get to the quartz and then another process to get ahead and be on a team. So I am already a winner because I managed to convince the two chefs to choose me. I chose to be on the true team with Juan Gaffuri. Then there is a great team of professionals who take care of us. Carina Zampini is a genius. Roberto Otini helped us finish the dishes. Thus, all the professionals involved are wonderful people. There are people in the competition that I will carry for my entire life. A prize from Pasa Platos. Because I wouldn't have met them if I hadn't passed by there. There are a lot of incredible people, others that I have no affinity for. But, I'll stick with the good things, which are the majority. Having a lot of news in La Nación, Infobae and other media that I look at my name: LUCIMAR JORDAO! That is already a prize. I love doing events, traveling the world with my profession. So I was already doing that. Before entering Pasa Platos and, now, I'm just going to do more and more. As for the Michelin star, it's nice. But there are a lot of rewards as good and important as seeing your name everywhere. And being recognized makes you a star. I will say one thing: many times the one who achieves first place, in a competition, does not shine as much as others who will be left out due to details, not because it would not be good.
MP: What is the most important thing about cooking?
LJ: In the kitchen, to function well, you have to have a united team, where everything is good, to be able to achieve a perfect place. This union is achieved with a lot of respect between everyone.
MP: Are there any ingredients that can be improved and others that invade the kitchen?
LJ: In the kitchen, less is more. You have to be careful with excess ingredients. There is no need to make the kitchen become invasive. Some ingredients that invade are garlic, nutmeg, rosemary, anchovy. Seasoning with something you are not aware of can ruin a dish. It never happened to me to ruin a dish. It may take a little more, but it will never ruin it.
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