Chef Carmen Ibarra – Mango Mama

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“Every next chapter in life is merely the next course of a meal. Each one tastes better than the last” – Carmen Ibarra.

Carmen Ibarra is a 28-year old Chef & Event Designer from Miami and the Founder of The Next Course. Growing up in the Magic City, she was introduced to the hospitality industry at a young age and began her career in events. With over seven years of sales background in the corporate hospitality world, she thrives on creating memorable experiences and connecting with people. She is passionate about making visions come to life and telling stories whether it’s through cooking or event planning.

Carmen launched her small business, The Next Course, after losing her corporate job due to the pandemic. She sells her handmade Mango Mama Salsa, creates conceptual cooking videos through Instagram IGTV & YouTube, and is currently enrolled in the Chef Apprentice Program at Miami Culinary Institute. The Next Course is the next chapter of her life, both professionally and personally. This is her story.

Carmen, why did you decide to become a chef? What inspired you to work with food and create your own recipes?

It’s interesting how I got here. The Next Course was born the week I got laid off from my dream job due to the pandemic. I used to plan high end corporate events for a destination management company at 5-star hotels in Miami and the Caribbean. I would travel with my clients, wine and dine at the best restaurants, and explore luxurious experiences a destination has to offer. Now I spend a majority of my day wearing a hair net or washing dishes while blasting oldie’s rock in the kitchen, and my nickname around the city is Mango Mama. I honestly can’t remember a time I was this happy. My love and passion for food began in the kitchen at home with my family at a young age, however it wasn’t until recently that I considered this a real career path.

What do you enjoy the most about cooking?
I’m a creator at heart. I believe that ingredients are like people and recipes are stories, they each bring something to the table and once you combine them together it creates an experience. The Next Course is about conceptual cooking, meaning I strive to inspire and educate my audience by storytelling through delicious food.

My cooking videos are independently produced from start to finish using my smartphone. I’m basically a one woman circus show in the kitchen. I get inspired by food, music, history and nature, then I get these obsessive visions in my head which I need to bring to life on a plate or else I won’t sleep. Cooking is my creative outlet.

What is the relationship between you and food?

My family. I grew up with two of the best cooks I know: mom and dad. Every night was spent with a home cooked meal at the dinner table. It was a place not only for eating together, but laughing, talking, fighting, singing. Living far away from my family has been one of the most painful feelings. The Peruvian dishes I cook remind me of home and how I grew up, which is the most beautiful thing about food. It’s about memories and emotions.

How do you influence people through doing what you love?

I launched The Next Course as I was coming out of a low phase in my life. During the end of last year, I was going through personal hardships. I lost my dearest uncle to cancer, my marriage was falling apart so we filed for a divorce and I began neglecting my mental and physical health. It wasn’t until I ended up in the hospital that I decided to get my life back in order with the support of my family and closest friends.

The pandemic came along after the new year and I lost my job. At the time it felt like my world was falling apart but it actually helped me find myself. During quarantine, I was forced to sit down with myself in solitude and look within for the answers I needed. That’s really when I took my love for cooking to the next level and people started noticing. I would create these weekly “Quarantine Sunday Brunches” on my Instagram stories and each week had a unique theme with an elaborate menu.

It was me letting a lot of my creative energy out in the kitchen and expressing myself. I’ve personally connected with several hundred people from all over the world who have been inspired by my story. That has been the most fulfilling and meaningful part of this entire experience. I’m a human with a story like everyone else, and I’m no longer hiding in shame or letting my failures define me. Instead I decided to turn them into art and that’s The Next Course.

What is the hardest part of doing what you do?

I live outside of my comfort zone now, which is my favorite place to be. Reinventing yourself is hard but I push myself every single day to continue persevering and creating through food.

The only thing that makes sense to me anymore is cooking so I evolved into a Chef. Success for me is learning how to adapt and evolve quickly within one’s environment especially during difficult times.

What are your goals as a chef and what are you currently doing to make them become a reality?

That’s a question that keeps me up at night. I guess you can say I’m in this terrifying and exciting stage of my life where I have nothing to lose, so it’s made me quite fearless in going after my wildest dreams. I’ve been watching the Food Network and cooking shows since I was a child. I used to ask my Peruvian father why there weren’t any Peruvian Star Chefs featured on the Food Network. Similar to how a young girl yearns for there to be a Disney Princess from her same ethnicity, that was me while looking up to these celebrity chefs.

WHY MIAMI IN SUMMERTIME

Peruvian food is one of the most unique cuisines in the entire world with various fusions of cultures, flavors and ancient traditions that are purely magical and should be celebrated on all major media platforms. My ultimate goal is to be the first Peruvian Chef with a cooking show on the Food Network. I recently enrolled in the Miami Culinary Institute to continue learning as much as I can and turn this into my career. When you have the passion, drive, and work ethic, anything is possible.

Could you give women advice on how to stay true to themselves to achieve their dreams?

Authenticity is my favorite word. Find your purpose and align your work with it. Shifting into this new venture, I promised myself I was going to show my authentic self and not portray myself as a picture perfect woman in the kitchen. Social media has enough of that. I’m a playful free spirit and I’m far from perfect.

Sometimes I drop things or stutter or uncontrollably laugh. But that’s what makes me a unique ingredient. If I can inspire people through my cooking and feed them delicious food, or at least bring a smile to their face, then I feel like I’ve done my job for the day.