Guillermo Varela (Vigo, 1996) has lived in cities like Santiago de Chile Or Amsterdam, but it was during his stay in Berlin when his life changed forever. His girlfriend, Nina, of Austrian origin, told her that her way of cooking was exquisite and that she had to communicate her. Your recipes? The traditional Spanish: tortillaPaella, croquettes, Russian salad, octopus fair… And there he discovered the niche to tell his gastronomy: to do it in English and for foreigners through the networks. “Very few people communicated on the Internet in English with criteria,” he identifies.
Began uploading videos in English with just 600 followers and today, a year and a half later and already under the name of Cooking from Spain [Cocinando desde España] It exceeds 330,000 followers and accumulates its Instagram reproductions in millions.
The structure of your videos hooks. He has a self -confidence in describing them, it is fast and introduces jokes. Their recipes for tortillas, potatoes or their snacks see millions of people. But goes further. He explains a recipe, but also tells his story or his possible uses, as in his video of the Russian salad and the controversy of the origin of his name, which says: “as Spanish as my Spanish accent in English”; The one in the history of Roscón de Reyes or the twelve grapes. Of course, now has opened too a newsletter To talk about gastronomy and a channel of YouTube. “At first I thought that creating content was going to be very easy, but no. I had to learn from editing and for a 40 -second video I threw 4 or 5 hours between filming and editing,” he says in a video call now from his parents’ house, in the neighborhood that saw him grow, in Bouzas, Vigo.
In its kitchen there is part of authenticity, part of innovation and part of, such as good Galician, Morriña. From there came those desire to teach his circle the good gastronomy of his land when he was abroad. For example, your sandwiches, To those who have dedicated a seriesThey have caused a rage and is a staunch defender of them. “When I was drunk after a row after a night of partying to take a nugget, I did not think it was something Spanish. In other cultures there are paired, but not sandwiches. The concept of a bar with 30 different combinations: a protein, cheese and vegetables is very much from here. And, in addition, you do not pay or 10 euros per head.” It is good, beautiful and cheap.
Varela began the industrial engineering career at the University of Vigo, but he saw that it was not his thing. He went to class in the afternoon shift and took the opportunity to prepare the whole family. That made him realize what he liked and, he says, it was his father who motivated him to study. Graduated in gastronomy and culinary arts in the Donosti Basque Culinary Centerand from there he came out knowing that he did not want to be a cook: “Studying at Basque made me see that working in the kitchen of a restaurant is quite fucked.”
His last work in the world of gastronomy before devoting himself to content creation was in R&D as a food industry technician. “Customers came to showroom of the company and I was in charge of making presentations on how to use the product. That gave me enough experience in how to communicate, because it was not a video, but create a live character, ”he says.
Criticism for your accent
In many of his videos, especially the first, people got with their accent, for notice too Spanish. Interestingly, those criticisms always came from Spanish or Spanish -speaking countries. “Many people have not lived outside and only listen to English in the movies. But if you live outside, you realize that everyone has accents and in diversity is beauty,” he defends himself. And most of his followers are foreigners. When asked about its origin, Guille Varela offers to take out his phone and recite the locations directly from Instagram statistics: “Spain, 22%; United States, 20%; United Kingdom, 13%, Germany, 4%, Netherlands, 3%…”.
The product above all
Spain is a land with a very varied recipe book in flavors and Guillermo is very conscious. “I would like to be able to count more about Galicia you will never take the typical concept of Paella or in Seville the octopus fair“He feels a particular predilection for the kitchen of his land:” If Spanish gastronomy is pure product, Galician much more. “For him, few things are put in front of a good fish with cooked potatoes or a good pie.
But looking out, he believes that Spanish cuisine is not so recognized. “It’s our fault. Many times he has sinned to want to take advantage of the tourist and cheat it instead of selling our gastronomy well. In other countries they use cooking as a showcase to the world,” compares. “It cannot be that a tourist leaves with the idea that a squid sandwich is the scam that they sell you in the Plaza Mayor in Madrid.”
Although he lives on the networks, Guillermo Varela is still a cook for events and reveals that he sometimes feels a bit impact. “An Instagram video, however beautiful it is, does not always turn out to be the richest,” he acknowledges. Here, your partner, Nina, puts cane. “Many times he complains that the videos are great, but that we always eat cold,” he laughs. Therefore, he likes to make events before the people. Distribute snacks, participate in showrooms and at festivals. As in which he poses in the photos, Heat, A culinary festival in Vigo where he has cooked two paellas and special shrimp of punkets. “It is a way to make sure that what I cook still like and have a feedback In person, ”he explains. So, in the event that he had a restaurant – who at the moment does not consider it because he prefers to live from the networks – what would not be missing in a letter from Cooking From Spain? “Paellas and rice, Russian salad and omelette,” he replies.