I grew up in Roeland Park, Kansas, with my mom, my dad and my little brother. My father's side of the family is Mexican-American and growing up I would hear my great grandmothers speaking Spanish and I loved it! I took Spanish all through school, but that didn't work out too well because I didn't like school all that much and I didn't pay as much attention in class as I should have. However, one thing that I did pay attention to was my grandmother in the kitchen.

Of course the food was Mexican: fresh tortillas, frijoles (beans) and sopa de arroz (rice). ¡Delicioso! I've loved cooking since I was a little girl and as I've grown older I've been able to take all that I learned in Grandma Rocha's and Grandma Corona's kitchens and apply it to my favorite cuisine today--Dominican food.

In 1998, I met the young man who would become my husband, Albert. At the time, Albert was just 18; I was 21. He had come to the United States from the Dominican Republic and when we first met, his English wasn't so good. But, he was cute and so I did my best to communicate with him in his native language. It was then I realized that I should have paid more attention in those high school Spanish classes!

Soon, Albert introduced me to his grandmother, America, who instructed and inspired me. The first time we met was in her kitchen, a place oozing with the most remarkable smells. On her stove was a set of pots that definitely wasn't your average cookware. They were huge! I soon realized that the large portions of food she was preparing weren't just for her own family, but anyone who happened to drop by. She was cooking for the masses. This is commonplace in the Dominican culture and one of many things about it I truly love. They take care of each other, even if means feeding the whole neighborhood.

It didn't take long before I was spending considerable time with Albert's grandmother and his aunts, learning from them in the same ways I had learned from my own grandmothers as a child. Their's was a new style of cooking with magical new ingredients like plantains and yucca roots. This new kind of cooking didn't come easily, though. I threw away more than a few pots of burnt rice or over-seasoned chicken, but I knew if I was going to marry this boy I had to keep trying until I got it right!

Today, ten years later, I make some of the best pollo guisado (better known as "home-run chicken") out there. I've been to the Dominican Republic numerous times and on each occasion, I learn about new ingredients and new ways to do sensational things with food. From the impoverished village of Batea Alaman, and the meager circumstances of my friend, Bennita, to the capital city of Santo Domingo, and the ample kitchen of my friend, Dona Okeke, I've learned new ways to prepare fish, the art of frying yanikekes and so much more I've taken great delight in my own kitchen, with the lessons and secrets to great cooking I've learned in the Dominican from some of the best cooks I know. Now, it's my hope that I can pass along, in some small way, the joy that I've experienced cooking Dominican style and bring the smells and tastes of these wonderful creations into your own world.

On May 5, 2005, Albert and I started the Pujols Family Foundation. Our mission is to support people who live with Down Syndrome, like our oldest daughter, Isabella, and to help impoverished families in the Dominican Republic. Proceeds from your support of our foundation, this web site and the sale of my cookbook will seek to lesson hunger on the island and to honor the beautiful women of the Dominican for their many contributions, both inside the kitchen and beyond.

Blessings,
Deidre Pujols