About Me
Where I Come From
Santiago de Cuba is my birthplace and the hub of various Cuban revolts, music, food, carnival and at times my nostalgia. My family and I left Cuba when I was a small child of 3 in 1962, and we began to wander the globe. Thanks to that wandering I am completely bilingual, and I have been influenced by a wide variety of culinary cultures. I also have had the fortune of calling many places my home including Gijón, Spain; Newark, New Jersey; New Orleans; Portland, Oregon in the USA and my beloved Puerto Rico.
The more I have traveled and have gotten to share meals with many different ethnic cultures, the more I am convinced that we are all part of something much greater than the individual atoms that compose us, and the nationalities that oftentimes define and divide us. Anyone who has had the privilege of traveling will share these sentiments with me. No doubt in my mind that the future of food is fusion. In the photo my mother María Pozo in Buena Vista, Santiago de Cuba, 1948.
I am María, also known as M.I., Mariki, La Suárez, and María Isabel.
For over three decades I have had the privilege of sharing my knowledge of sprouting and natural foods with a rainbow of people in diverse media and venues ranging from the projects in the urban hood to the sublime hideaways of the crème de la crème of the crop.
For as long as my karma allows I want to continue to share with others the joy and peace that sprouting and wholesome foods have gifted me with.
My Programs
Are you ready to embark on a transformative journey? Join me in embracing a bioactive plant-based natural foods that wil bring immense joy and deliciousness into your life. This shift encompasses everything from discovering the wonders of kitchen gardening to carving out precious moments for meditation.
Together, we’ll embark on pantry makeovers infused with ancestral wisdom and explore a wide array of recipes bursting with intense flavors and tremendous nutrition.
Homesteader
I have gotten a glimpse of the food industry from diverse positions as a bartender in Tyler’s a famous jazz club in New Orleans, managing Louisiana Pizza Kitchen a successful gourmet pizza restaurant, wholesaler, manufacturer in the natural food industry, chef, and culinary activist in the Pure Food Movement both here in Puerto Rico and in the USA.
Dharma Bum
My quest for meaning and studies in psychology at Loyola University in New Orleans led me to the Zendo of Fr. Ben Wren, S.J. In 1981 I began my formal study of Zen. For 25 years I studied Zen, and contemplative prayer with Roshi Wren, and I now form part of his lineage of Dharma Bums.
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Teacher and Autor
In 2010 I published my notes in Spanish and my first book on sprouting and raw foods El arte y el éxtasis de germinar. The book was well received and quickly became a bestseller on the Island and on Amazon. The English translation The Joy and Art of Sprouting is scheduled for publication along with other titles in the very near future.