Chef Lex: use of food as a health route

Alex Aquino, also known as Chef Lex, remembers the way he learned to cook. “I grew up looking at my father cooking and enthusiastically,” said Executive Director and Executive Chef of Brownsville Community Culinary Center (BCCC). “What I discovered later was that my father fought with depression and that cooking was very therapeutic for him. When he cooked, he was happy and very committed. ”

Chef Lex recalled how his father had learned new health trends and implemented them in the meals he has prepared. “Every two weeks, he told me about a new superinage that he learned, and we would have this food all week,” he said.

“I remember very distinctly from garlic week. I remember when he discovered nuts, and we (my brothers and sisters and me) would make our granola with nuts,” he continued.

“But my father was a huge inspiration for my start a career in the kitchen.”

Cultural heritage and its link with health

When he grew up, the Puerto Rican father of the chief Lex and the Trindadian mother instilled a feeling of self -esteem in him and his brothers and sisters. The years of training of his parents coincided with the era of black nationalism, a movement that celebrated African pride and the heritage of the Caribbean. “Health was a large part, especially because I have West Indian training,” he said.

“They were all homemade remedies and holistic healing. And the food was at the center of this. So, as a family, we were constantly looking for healthy ways to enjoy things that we love culturally, but in a healthy way. ”

One of the things that chef Lex will discuss is how healthy substitutions in the next BHM Harlem Week 2025 Health Summit & Expo. The event will take place at the Riverside church on August 14, 2025 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Healthy remedies of the earth

Alex’s grandmother’s house in Florida had a flourishing garden of herbs. However, she was not above her car if she saw one that she could use on the side of the road. “She would pull weeds, and she would be like, tell me anything, then we returned home, and she would boil him in tea, and we had to drink it,” he laughs.

“But my grandmother could grow much more than what we could in New York; she cultivated aloe. I mean, she had something in her backyard which was an element of healing for everything, Milk Thistle,” he continued.

The lessons he has learned still apply

What is important is the way in which his brothers and sisters and they still incorporate elements of this education in their lives today. The chief explained that during the cocovio-19 pandemic, his mother developed a plant-based remedy that helped them all recover more quickly.

He has an older sister and a younger brother. He and his sister both have children. During the winter, they are given what they nicknamed “Nanna Medicine”.

“It is a combination of garlic, red onion, fresh turmeric, lemon, manuka honey and ginger. Mixture, then you take a spoonful in winter; they all know that they must take a spoonful per day so that they do not care,” said the chief.

He thinks it’s funny because if they had to take Buckley, they could complain more.

The work of the Brownsville Community Culinary Center

Since 2018, the leader Lex and the entire Brownsville Community Culinary Center team have created career opportunities, offering tools for a healthy life, and much more in the heart of Brownsville.

The mission of the Brownsville Community Culinary Center is to provide free professional culinary training training to Brownsville residents thanks to our culinary training program. We collaborate with many site partners to provide a safe and comfortable space where neighbors can access fresh, healthy, affordable and culturally relevant foods, prepared by participants in the training program who learn alongside industry professionals. The BCCC is available for community groups seeking to organize and solve the problems affecting the neighborhood, as well as to celebrate, relax, learn, train and enjoy the company of the other.

Programs

While the program initially targeted Brownsville, he attracted students interested in the culinary arts of all New York, aged 18 to 40. However, this will require some funding to put them into service. This is a 24 -week program including 16 weeks of training and an eight -week internship to ensure a job.

However, the heart and soul of the programs take place at full speed, their labor development programs. “A culinary, pastry and maintenance training in a well-equipped kitchen,” he explained.

What they did during the pandemic

Another program they do has become the work they have done during the pandemic. “We have done a lot of work around food insecurity and health and well-being. The community has known us as a place where you can get affordable and healthy foods, “said Lex Lex.

The Brownsville Community Culinary Center distributed 10,000 meals per week during the pandemic in partnership with World Central Kitchen, and they have since expanded this work.

Cooking to manage chronic diseases

“More recently, we have implemented a” food as medicine “initiative as a pilot program, aligning us with the 1115 MEDICAIDI 1115 derogation, which provides funding by insurance for individuals to receive product bags and tailor -made meals prescribed,” said Chef Lex.

“One of our largest programs is to create meals certified by a recorded dietitian who are sensitive to people with diabetes, hypertension or any other chronic disease. It is linked to the regime, “he continued.

“Our meals are adapted to support their recovery, to support the prevention and management of these chronic diseases. Students learn to cook, and we use it as a kind of canvas so that they can paint with their culinary skills. This program is an opportunity to heal our neighbors with the food we cook. ”

Join us at the Summit & Expo of the BHM Harlem Week 2025

Come and hear some of the chef Lex’s advice on cooking good food, but make healthier choices that do not sacrifice flavor, especially if you manage a chronic disease or try to prevent one.

For more information on registration at the BHM Harlem Week 2025 Health Summit & Expo, in person or practically. Click here.