“Language is my working instrument. My creative process is developed by thinking about the flavors and then assembling them in the kitchen. For this reason, my fear is losing my sense of taste and with it my gastronomic vocation”. These are the words of Diego Galvis, a renowned chef from Santander who is currently facing a medical condition that puts what he has achieved in his profession in check. He has cancer of the tongue.
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Galvis, only 31 years old, has become a gastronomic reference in the region. He hails from Relief, Santander, one of the heritage towns of Colombia, and bets on combining the typical food of the department with its history and a touch gourmet, offering innovative products that resonate with residents and tourists.
Berraca is the name of the restaurant and the brand of one of its culinary proposals: the Creole fast food. To get to the varied menu that it offers, with dishes named after Guano caciques, geographical places and characters of independence -Chanchón shelled, Saravita hamburger, among others-, the chef integrated the ancestral recipes in attractive presentations.
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In this way, Galvis managed to put his stamp on products such as the kid hamburger, the hot dog with Genoa sausage or the choripán with rullas bread, a derivative of corn, typical of Santander. The added value, in addition to the evolution of tradition, is that each ingredient is made from scratch, guaranteeing the diner a quality gastronomic experience that is very different from the local offer.
“My job has been to reinvent typical Santanderean food and give it another level, meeting current demand, but maintaining the recipe. History of Creole fast food, especially dishes from the region, did not exist; so I decided to develop this proposal and claim culture. The idea of the names of the dishes is also born from there, because my purpose is to put in the mouth of the clients, through the taste and the experience in the place, everything that surrounds the tradition of our municipality and makes us be what we are”, describes the socorrano entrepreneur.
Berraca, a Creole fast food restaurant in Socorro, Santander, won the La Barra 2020 award for best fast food restaurant.
Precisely, this bet stood out in a national recognition of gastronomy. Berraca obtained the award for best fast food restaurant in the Santander region of the La Barra 2020 award, the cooking Oscars in Colombia, for which Galvis was also nominated in two other categories: best new chef and best new restaurant.
Pandemic and cancer: the challenges of the chef from Santander
The same year he received the decoration, Diego’s job as a chef faced the first challenge: the pandemic. One of the sectors hardest hit by the restriction measures was customer service, and in mid-March the doors of Berraca were closed indefinitely. However, taking advantage of the welcome he received, reinvented the business to sell at home and to prepare at home, with the dishes vacuum packed.
Once the initial impact of the virus had mitigated and after the gradual opening of the restaurants, Galvis together with Tatiana Silva, his wife, began to devise a second venture. They wanted to continue with the concept of typical food in the style gourmet, also venturing into cocktails. thus was born ancestora gastrobar that became the obligatory stop for tourists and locals to taste drinks such as the guarapo or culona ant cocktail.
History of Creole fast food, especially dishes from the region, did not exist; so I decided to develop this proposal and vindicate culture.
But when the consequences of covid were believed to be over and the business was projected, a discomfort that the chef felt in his mouth became an obstacle to continue directing the operation of the restaurants. What started as a simple pain on the side of the tongue, ended up being a carcinoma that now threatens his life.
“This battle began eight months ago. I felt a pain in my tongue, which I never paid much attention to, but as I noticed that it persisted, I decided to go to the doctor. There they treated him for a simple canker sore; however, when I began to have difficulty swallowing food, they did some tests, including a biopsy, where they discovered infiltrating squamous cell carcinoma, which is the name of the tumor I have. The doctor explained to me that, in fact, it was a Tongue cancer”, relates, with some sadness, the chef and entrepreneur.
A thousand things went through the heads of Galvis and his wife. They questioned whether they were negligent for letting a long time go by without seeking medical attention, but, above all, why on the tongue? In this organ are the taste buds and a disease that affected them was an unfair and somewhat cynical situation for a man who lives by tasting food and creating new flavors.
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The specialist assured the family that it was a rare condition in young people. The important thing was treat as soon as possible. For this reason, the time that followed the diagnosis was an obstacle course for Galvis, in which the procedures to make appointments at the EPS were extremely cumbersome and each day that passed was a time trial to stop the growth of the tumor.
“Seeing a specialist was almost impossible. Communication with the New EPS was torture. They sent me from one department to another and nobody gave me an answer of the next step. For this reason, many times, I had to ask for private appointments and take out of my pocket to pay for the exams and speed up the process”, says the chef.
Diego Galvis pioneered recipes that transform typical dishes into fast food and cocktails, with great fame in the region.
With these expenses, one more concern was added to Diego’s medical problem. Restaurant and home finances were negatively impacted and had to go to donations to pay for medical procedures and keep the Berraca and Ancestor operation afloat.
“Managing the restaurants, I was desperate because I knew that there was not enough to cover Diego’s medical needs. We are even thinking of selling the premises. But Diego’s talent and his legacy they cannot be lost by this mishap. We must find a way to move forward,” says Tatiana Silva, Galvis’s wife.
The latest results, delivered a few days ago, were not encouraging at all. The tumor has grown rapidly and to treat the cancer there are two treatment options: surgery in which they must removal of your entire tongue and part of your jaw, or radiation therapy. The latter was Diego’s choice, hoping to find a worthy cure that would allow him to maintain his quality of life, despite his altered taste.
However, the part of tranquility in this whole process, which seems to be full of bad news, is the training of the cooks who work in the restaurants, to whom the chef explained each recipe. They will be his language while he manages to overcome the disease, an objective to which he dedicated himself fully from the moment of diagnosis.
“El Socorro is not a very big city. There are no training schools. I, precisely, studied abroad (at Colombia College) and came back. Therefore, my job is to educate the people who pass through my kitchen. I teach them the different processes of storage, production, care and good food handling practices. And of course the recipes. I explain how each dish is made, I make them learn the flavor and follow the step by step so that these are always the same”, describes Galvis.
(Further reading: About chefs and midwives: stories that enrich our flavors)
Currently, Diego is waiting for the green light to start radiotherapy. He feels lucky and hopes to continue receiving the support that his employees and countrymen have given him, who have turned to maintain the gastronomic proposal that has filled the socorranos with pride and rescues the roots of a people that, historically, has lived from them.
TIME WRITING
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