Biography of Charmène Vega, a Culitritionist™
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Since her pre-teen years, Charmène Vega has been cooking and preparing meals from scratch without formal recipes. Her mother, a hematologist, and her father, a businessman, expected her to have meals prepared from scratch when they arrived home from work. Her mother would call her from work providing her with instructions allowing enough time between calls for the next step. The meals by today's standards would be considered gourmet; definitely not fast food. Some of the dishes were: bouillabaisse, fricassee chicken, paella, liver and onions, lasagna and even pepper steak with rice. Canned food was not an option.
Charmène's dad was a stickler on fresh food; so much so that no other family member could prepare his meals other than her mother or her. He was in the military and said he knew all about what really goes on in kitchens when nobody is looking. Little did she know her parents were preparing her for her future hobby that turned into a business career.
Her career choice when she began Boston University was pre-med. However, during her senior year of college she changed her major to special education because she got married and her husband aspired to be a doctor as well. Charmène felt that if they were to have children, two parents as physicians would leave the children too many hours without their guidance.
When her daughters were born she insisted on making their food from scratch because that is what she knew how to do best. While her husband at the time was in medical school, she was the only wife working (special education teacher) so to fit in, she created a gourmet club creating dishes from around the world. This was easy because living in Minnesota and affiliated with the Mayo Clinic with people from around the world, she was able to get firsthand experience in authentic preparations of dishes.
Fast forward to her creating her original Mama Vega Salsa Company and her nationally recognized award winning salsa which has now expanded of a full line of more than one hundred (100) nutrient dense healthy products. Charmène integrated many of her skills and family traditions into her company's development all along the way. With the company's expansion so did the name change to Mama Vega Enterprises Inc. As a fourth generation nutritionist using the holistic Navajo traditions of her grandmother, the herbal remedies taught to her by her mother, her biology and science knowledge from her years as a pre-med student, her more than 30 years of experience as a learning specialist and her intuition (natural gift), each product is carefully crafted weaving and massaging each aspect of herself into her unparalleled masterpieces of flavor and texture.
Charmène aka "Mama Vega" insists on using local seasonal produce and ingredients as much as possible given availability. Her ingredients are organic although not all are certified due to cost. She can be seen at the farmer's markets with her products as well as showing the general public how to use the products brought in by the farmers. She specializes in nutrient dense foods to feed the brain which she teaches is the engine fueling longevity, beauty and both physical and mental good health. She said, "the brain is like the engine in your car, give it crappy fuel to burn and it chokes every time". "your car engine does not have a choice and cannot pick its fuel, but you have a choice as to what will fuel your engine or not!"
Charmène "Mama" Vega is an outstanding compassionate Educational Culitritionist ™ always giving back to the community.
Culitritionist™ – What is a Culitritionist™? A Culitritionist™ is Mama Vega, a woman who combines the healing properties of foods, herbs and spices taking into account their nutritional and nutrient dense properties when creating recipes and dishes while simultaneously taking into account individual dietary needs and restrictions.
