If anyone has earned the right to be called “chef,” it is Jamil Selem, a tuculinario and young culinary star and entrepreneur born and raised in Mérida.
We met Chef Jamil through the couple he employs as a private chef. When I visited Tracy and Mark's house, Jamil was wreaking havoc in the kitchen, slicing and dicing ingredients and pouring them into the Thermomix he had brought with him.
As he prepared his pizza from scratch, Jamil recalled his school days and how he learned about the opportunity to work in a cruise ship's kitchen. The sophistication of his cuisine reveals his regimen and his experiences traveling to countries he has never seen.
He's not the humble cook who hides behind the kitchen island. Chef Jamil dazzles his clients and their guests.
“They are watching my movements. Please come up to me and ask me anything you want to know,” he confides. “People are very interested, and I want to share what little I know.”
We also offer cooking classes, market tours, and wine pairings. “Whatever my client's needs are, I can do it,” says Jamil, 30.
As a consultant, he also shares his knowledge with restaurants.
“I train bartenders, waiters, and waitresses in restaurants. I also learned all the procedures, from cleaning the kitchen to treating customers professionally,” he says. From proper hygiene methods to menu consultation and food cost calculations.
He has built a network of professionals, including bartenders, wedding planners, florists, and even dishwashers, who are always available to answer customer calls. He realizes that his customers may be foreigners.
“Everyone needs to speak English, so we are a bilingual company and can hire anyone,” Jamil says in near-perfect English. “And Merida is growing rapidly, so I think it's important to be prepared. There will be a lot of tourists coming, especially for the food.”
Recipe: Salmon casserette
material:
- Salmon 900g / 2lbs
- Recado Negro 50g
- Sour orange juice 100ml
- lime juice 50ml
- 2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
- 150g small mushrooms
- 150g baby pepper (sliced)
- 1 onion
- White wine
- butter
For mashed potatoes:
- Baby potatoes 300g
- A pinch of mustard seeds
- A pinch of cumin
- 100ml/3.4oz sour cream
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/2 onion
Preheat the oven to 250°C/475°F. Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into quarters, add olive oil, salt, mustard seeds, black pepper and bake for 45 minutes with onions and garlic. Mix everything with sour cream.
For salmon: Mix all ingredients and marinate the salmon in the sauce for 30 minutes.
Preheat the pan for 2 minutes. Melt the butter and vegetable oil and cook the mushrooms, stirring for 1 minute on high heat. Mark all sides and remove from pan when done. keep.
Add the onion, minced garlic, and bell pepper to the same pot, stir for 2 minutes, then add the white wine to deglaze. Simmer for 2 minutes until alcohol evaporates. keep.
Preheat a frying pan over high heat for 2 minutes and sear the salmon for 2 minutes on one side and 1 minute on the other side. Serve with other ingredients.
Available for parties
IG:@thculinario
