Jorge Guzman
CHEF JORGE GUZMAN GREW UP COOKING OVER FIRE in Mérida, Yucatán, a city with a rich Mayan heritage and strong culinary traditions.
A 2017 James Beard finalist for the Midwest region, he'll be teaching pibil, a signature method in the Yucatán, which involves digging a pit and cooking meat or fish, with aromatics and spices, for hours underground over hot stones.
Cooking over live fire is about being present with yourself, your food and the people you’re cooking for. At the end of the night you should smell like smoke, have grit under your nails, your eyes sleepy and your belly full.
Guzman came to last year's camp as a guest, and in one of the highlights, as a special surprise for our campers he prepared the most delicious chorizo-and-egg breakfast burritos as a midnight snack. We've had the munchies ever since.
Karl Gerstenberger
KARL GERSTENBERGER KNOWS A THING OR TWO ABOUT SAUSAGE (AND HISTORY). He is currently head chef and wurstmacher at St. Paul’s historic Waldmann Brewery and Wurstery. As with all of our chefs, we selected Chef Karl for camp because he brings a unique perspective to cooking. The Waldmann Brewery—and his menus—are bringing to life a forgotten era of food in Saint Paul. His kitchen serves up authentic currywurst and bratwurst, as well as a German-inspired take on slow food.
When you’re in a minimal environment, it’s just a beautiful thing to have a meal.
Karl has worked at some of the best-known restaurants in California such as Chez Panisse, Stars, and Oliveto. Back in Minnesota, he helped establish the Seward Co-op’s meat program.
At Camp, look for Chef Karl to bring together classic cuisine, camp cooking, and whole-animal butchery. And if we're lucky, maybe he'll reveal the secret of how to make the best wurst.
Nettie Colón
NETTIE IS OUR OFFICIAL 2018 CAMP COOK, PREPARING OUR COMMUNAL MEALS. DON'T EXPECT TO FIND HER INSIDE THE KITCHEN, THOUGH. SHE WILL BE DIGGING FIRE PITS AND SHARING UNDERGROUND COOKING TECHNIQUES WHILE MIXING A VARIETY OF LATIN AMERICAN FLAVORS.
Cooking outside allows us to gather our community around the campfire. You may think that you are in charge, but actually it is nature and the fire that tell you what your role is. The meal you end up with is never the same twice...and I love that.
Born in New York City and raised in Puerto Rico, Nettie Colón spent her formative years learning traditional cooking methods of the island with her grandmother and her friends. Nettie was Chef de Cuisine for over a decade at Luciaʼs Restaurant & Wine Bar in Uptown, Minneapolis. For seven years Nettie taught Mayan cuisine classes in the Biosphere Reserve of Sian Ka'an in Tulum, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. She currently runs creative pop-up events through her company Red Hen Gastrolab.
