Chef Mo and Co. Create Delectable Colombian-Inspired Treats for Festival of the Holidays
Sure a visit to Disneyland Resort during the holiday season is nice for the decorations, seasonal events and more but let’s be honest, for most of us it’s all about the food! That’s why we owe a debt of gratitude to people like Chef Moises “Mo” Carranza who is helping us celebrate the season with the rich flavors of Colombian cooking.
If you’ve been following along with MickeyBlog you’ll know that Colombia is the setting of Disney’s 60th animated feature film Encanto and to celebrate it seems only fitting to include some special treats from the country at this year’s Festival of the Holidays at Disney California Adventure.
Chef Mo and team started dreaming up ideas for dishes months ago before landing on arepa! For those unfamiliar, this is a popular street food in South America.
“The arepa is basically a corn cake… I can compare it to the American burger, Mexican taco or the Italian pizza… You can fill it with anything you want,” Mo explained.
When buying this popular treat in Colombia, the corn cake is typically topped with chicken salad. However, Chef Mo and the team decided to go bold making a sofrito that uses Impossible plant-based meat along with dairy-free cheese. The result is the Arepa Encantada!
Mo is just one of the wonderful chefs that bring such scrumptious dishes to us each holiday season at Disney California Adventure. According to Disney, he has been at the resort since 1981 when he started as a steward at the Plaza Inn. “I have that very Disney story where it was just a summer job, and it really was,” he said. Forty years later, he has built a career as a chef. “I always think, ‘Man I’ve been here a long time,’ but I enjoy every minute of it.”
If you pop over to Festival of the Holiday’s at Disney California Adventure be sure to give Mo’s special dish a try and don’t miss Encanto in theaters now!
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