Local StoriesAugust 30, 2022

Rising Stars: Meet Homero Garcia

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Homero Garcia.

Hi Homero, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve always been drawn to cooking and the way food brings people together. I also love the challenge of being able to create something wonderful out of seemingly simple ingredients. Growing up on a ranch in South Texas we lived about an hour away from any markets or restaurants so most of our meals were prepared at home with whatever we had available.

You had to become somewhat creative and always had to plan ahead. Both my parents were excellent cooks and passed their passion for cooking on to me.

I’ve been cooking paella since I was introduced to it in the late 80s by a friend that owns an International grocery store in McAllen called Ruben’s Grocery. Even though my heritage is Spanish, I had never had it until then. At the time, I was working on my degree in anthropology and was fascinated with the rich history of paella and the idea of a dish that developed as a way to feed workers in the field. I like to think that I prepare my paellas in the spirit of my ancestors. I use the base recipe with traditional rice, saffron and smoked paprika and then add ingredients that I can find locally and please our modern pallet.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Well, it wasn’t a bumpy road but it certainly had a lot of curves to it. I taught elementary school for five years in Southeast Austin and then was extremely lucky to be hired on with the Austin Fire Department. The majority of my time was spent assigned to Central Fire Station which has 3 units and 12 firefighters on duty at any given time. We’d take turns cooking for each other and I would often try out new recipes on them. They were a good test audience because they weren’t shy about giving honest feedback. A big leap occurred during the Covid lockdown when we lived in the tight-knit community of Mueller. As all of the restaurants had shut down and lots of folks were out of work, my wife Trish and I thought it would be a nice gesture to cook for the neighborhood. I set up in the open air of our alley garage and people would sign up on our neighborhood Facebook page where they would request to-go boxes of paella. There was a huge turnout so we kept it going on a monthly basis. As it turns out, I was always able to find the core ingredients and even began to develop some new options like vegetarian and paella without seafood. Towards the end of the lockdown, we were one of the many families that decided to move out of the city. My daughter, Delilah was a competitive gymnast and we were driving 45 minutes each way, six days a week to her gym in Lakeway. After we moved, we still had a huge following and began getting requests to cook at events which were starting to happen again. At every event, I had such a positive reception that I started the Papa Paella catering service in late November of 2021.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Papa Paella is a catering service that specializes in –you guessed it– paella! I have a portable kitchen that I travel with and guests are welcome to gather and ask questions as the entire meal is prepared and served on site. Typical guest count is 30 to 40 people but I can serve up to around 200 and my smallest event has been a party of five.

I have always approached my craft as more of an art than a science. I’m often asked to share my recipes and I’ve been more than happy to coach someone that wants to learn how to make paella, however, there is a great deal of technique to the process and that doesn’t translate well into written form. Much of what separates a good paella from a great one is timing and heat; when to add in ingredients and how and when to adjust the temperature. The ability to control these variables is essential in creating the socarrat, which is the toasted rice that develops on the bottom layer of the paella when cooked properly. I strive to create the perfect socarrat in every paella I make, it’s what I consider a trademark of an excellent paella as it adds a deep, rich flavor which cannot be compared to a paella without it so. Lots of factors affect how it turns out such as pan size, wind and temperature. Too much heat can quickly turn all your efforts into a charred mess and too little will leave your guests underwhelmed.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
The best advice I can give someone starting out is to take notes and take chances. Take notes because you won’t learn anything by your mistakes if you don’t remember them. I take meticulous notes on every event I have catered and will often look back at them to adjust my recipes, time allotment, and anticipated costs. These notes are irreplaceable as I would have to start from scratch every event without them. On taking chances, celebrity chef Guy Fieri likes to say that cooking is like skiing – If you don’t fall at least 10 times, then you’re not skiing hard enough. Take risks with your venture and try to separate yourself from everyone else out there trying to do something similar. Find out what you are good at and like my good friend Corbin used to say, “Do more of that!” When you are doing something you love, others will notice the care and passion you have for your craft and your business will grow as a result.

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