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For Chef Mateo Herrera, the art of cooking lies at the heart of ancient traditions and it’s for this Herrera seeks to preserve the authenticity of such methods when it comes to his business.

From turkey tamales to fresh handmade tortillas, Herrera seeks to share the value of these traditions in a new way with locals.

Herrera started in the kitchen at age 16 as a dishwasher. From there, his passion and fuel for food inspired him to pursue the field.

“I quickly started moving up and working with food, and just kind of fell in love with it,” Herrera says. “I noticed working in the kitchen was putting me through college and paying my bills. I loved going to work, the rush, the feel of it. I was good at it and kept climbing up the ladder.”

When in college, Herrera pursued an art major, a craft that would later be rediscovered through his passion for food. For Herrera, the art comes not only in the presentation of a plate, but also the work behind the scenes such as the preparation and sourcing of quality ingredients for his products.

One of the key elements is the freshness. According to Herrera, for the tortillas and tamales, he dedicates hours of his day to a process known as nixtamalization.

The traditional process consists of the maize preparation in which dried kernels are cooked and steeped in an alkaline solution, usually water and food grade lime. After draining the mix, the kernels are set to dry to form a dough which is the base for tortillas, tamales and other products.

“I consider my food to be art, in some ways and I’m not talking about all the fancy plates, I’m talking more of what it stands for,” Herrera and try to highlight what we have here. There are a lot of local plants and animals that people have forgotten about. For thousands of years, we existed and the main difference was our connection with the land.”

Located on Indigenous lands, Herrera believes this place of origin holds great significance that is meant to be shared with the community. According to Herrera, acknowledging the connection between the land and what it has to offer is a mindset worth exploring.

Herrera, who is a single father, teaches his daughter about the land and caring for it. Together they embarked in the chef’s business, and according to Herrera, teaching the younger generation to care for the planet is a value that starts at home.

“Everything we have, everything we need is given to us by the land and once you start working with it and see how much it offers, then you see the larger picture of what’s happening to the planet,” Herrera says. “If we don’t teach kids about the land, how are they going to grow and care for it? The more they learn about how our ancestors treated the planet, or used to make homes out of dirt, could help them learn to appreciate this land as well.”

For Herrera, the appreciation for this land translates into his project La Puerta del Sol, a business that was born during the pandemic to share his knowledge with others while building a business for his daughter.

The project’s name originates from the geographical borderline between Ciudad Juárez and El Paso.

“We’re literally the borderline and it has always existed, it’s not a physical door, but people have always been crossing through this land for thousands of years even,” Herrera said. “It’s documented that this borderland area and parcel has been an important crosswind. It’s an invisible doorway in the land of the sun.”

Owning a restaurant was the dream of a lifetime for Hererra, and the chef reaches people in the community with his weekly and monthly tortilla subscriptions, workshops and other products through La Puerta del Sol. Herrera says this allows him to build a connection with those who are interested in his process, which is also an important factor for his business model.

“If someone doesn’t really understand what I’m giving to them, it feels a little wrong in my heart to make a transaction. So, one way of counteracting this is through the online subscription,” Herrera said. “I want to be your tortilla guy, but I also want to know you and your needs for tortillas. I want to be that guy who can provide a service but also get to know you. It’s hard to balance it out, and a bit unconventional, but is tied with what I believe.”