Eat IN BED: Roberta Saenz of Brotó

This week we meet Roberta Saenz, the charismatic founder of Brotó, a purveyor of beautifully made natural condiments and a social project designed to create opportunities and provide training for young people in both personal and professional development. We visited Roberta at Brotó in her home town of Valle de Bravo, Mexico City to learn more about its unique philosophy and get the recipe for a special dish very close to her heart.

Brotó's preserves sit alongside IN BED 100% Linen tea towel in stone.

On what makes Brotó special…

Brotó is a social project which is moved by the love of land, community, traditions and local produce.

We create agroecological and natural products such as jams and salsas. At the heart of Brotó is our desire to create opportunities in communities through fair trade and education programs. It is a family where we all cook, talk, heal and share products made with love and consciousness. Sharing the importance of regenerating the land that has given us so much.

Brotó is a social project which is moved by the love of land, community, traditions and local produce.

On Brotó’s philosophy around cooking and food…

Cooking for me is a constant discovery. It is an expression of ourselves and the people that surround us. Getting to know the ingredients, growing them and the process of cooking is an affair of delightment, peace, patience and sharing. Food is the nurture and cooking is the adventure of a daily routine, that creates a space to awaken our sensations, creativity, emotions and conversations. Uniting people for a common good: enjoyment.

On an early memory of preparing food…

Mexican culture is famous for having big family meals as part of our weekly routine. I grew up surrounded by parents, siblings, cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles etc. who have a special tooth for sweets and desserts. So my first memories are baking apple pies and cakes to share with them for coffee and dessert. Which leads to two hour conversations and four hour lunches where you talk about everything or nothing and laugh.

Mexican culture is famous for having big family meals as part of our weekly routine.

On what Roberta enjoys most about cooking…

Cooking truly brings me to a present moment, where the heart and the mind work in total synchronicity. It helps me observe the people that surround me from a different perspective.

Roberta’s Blackberry Jam Pie
This dish takes me back to the first recipe I ever created. The blackberry jam represents the origin of Brotó and the connection between the land, farmers and our project.

Prep time: 60 min
Oven: 250 C

Ingredients:

1kg puff pastry
1 butter bar
250g blackberry jam
2 cups fresh blackberries
1 egg
2 spoons of sugar

While preparing her Blackberry Jam Pie, Roberta wears IN BED 100% Linen apron in stone, and the table is covered in IN BED 100% Linen table cloth in natural.

Method:

1. Unfold the puff pastry and cut it in two.

2. Cover the dish pie plate in butter with half the butter bar. On a lightly floured surface, roll one of the puff pastry parts into a thin 3 cm round cut. Place the crust into the bottom of the deep dish pie plate.

3. On a lightly floured surface, roll the second puff pastry part and cut into 10 - 2 cm stripes. Meanwhile, mix the blackberry jam and the fresh blackberries in a bowl.

4. Place the blackberry mixture in the pie plate. Cut the second half of the butter bar in small cubes and place over the blackberry mix.

5. Place 5 strips of dough on top of the blueberry filling, evenly placed 2 cms apart (make sure to use the longer strips in the centre and shorter strips for the edges). Fold back the 2nd and 4th strip halfway and place the longest strip in the centre, perpendicular to the first 5 strips. Place the 2nd and 4th strip back over that long strip.