Daisy Martinez (Culinary ’98) learned to cook at her “mother’s and grandmother’s elbows” amid a sinkful of soaking salt cod and pots of bubbling beans. From the house that her family shared with Abuela, to the summers in Puerto Rico with Mama Clotilde, Daisy was enchanted by the kitchen from a young age.

It’s this enchantment that she brings to her popular PBS show, Daisy Cooks, which debuted in April. Through her series—along with the recently released companion cookbook, Daisy Cooks: Latin Flavors That Will Rock Your World—Daisy is swapping stereotypes about “Spanish food” for a love and understanding of regional cuisines from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Santo Domingo, Central and South America, Spain and beyond.

While Daisy’s grandmother, Valentina, and her mother, Conchita, helped “make the kitchen the happiest room in the household,” Daisy says it’s The FCI who has made this dream a reality. “There’s no way I’d be doing this if I hadn’t gone to The FCI. It gave me the confidence to work a kitchen in a professional capacity. It taught me discipline, structure, and organizational skills. Having those skills under my belt made it feasible for me to accomplish projects that I never dreamed were possible—not in a million years.”

Daisy had done some modeling and acting previously (while raising four kids and helping husband Jerry through medical school), but she never thought she’d host her own cooking show. She confides, “This is too good to be true! Cooking food that I am passionate about, and sharing it with a television audience. And, as if that weren't incredible enough, in the written word, as well! Quick, somebody pinch me!”

Enrolled at The FCI as a 40th birthday present from her husband, Daisy says attending The FCI’s Classic Culinary Arts program was the ultimate gift. “I can honestly say that I loved it all...every last bit. It was like being a kid in a candy store. I was the first one in in the morning and the last one out in the afternoon. The only bad part was that it went by too quickly.”

Daisy praises how each instructor brought something unique to the table, from Chef Sixto’s excitement about “the vibrant green of a bundle of seaweed, or the perfection that is tartar sauce” to Chef ‘Suzy’s’ encouragement to take her pastry prowess off-road. Ironically, Daisy says the best advice she got was from an instructor that she never had [for a level]—Chef Henri. “He said to me, ‘Daisy, one must be passionate about cooking to be any good. If you don't cook with your heart, believe me, it will be reflected on the plate.’ I took his advice so far that I called my final project ‘The Passionate Palate’. It won first place.”

As for how her home-grown Latin fare fared with that French flair, Daisy says, “French technique is like the Internet. You are okay without it until you discover it, then you wonder how you ever got ANYTHING done without it! It taught me organizational skills in the kitchen, how to plan a balanced menu, and how to time four to six burners so that everything comes together at the same time. It also taught me how to respect the product, and be creative in utilizing every aspect of it. I learned how to ‘build’ dishes so that they are multi-dimensional.”

According to Daisy, that professional training “is essential for success in a culinary career.” After graduating, she got a job through The FCI’s Job Menu as a kitchen assistant on the set of PBS’ Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen. There, she caught the eye of the show’s Executive Producer, Geof Drummond, who expressed an interest in working on a show with her. In addition, Daisy worked as a private chef for a high profile family in New York City and ran her own catering business, The Passionate Palate.

Of course, these days, Daisy Cooks is the only thing on Daisy’s plate. The demand has been so heavy that 26 more episodes of the show were released to coincide with the cookbook. And response to the cookbook has already exceeded expectations. “Geof and his company (A La Carte Productions) have a stellar reputation and a long record of successful television productions, and he usually has companion books with his shows,” explains Daisy. [But] I think even Geof was surprised at how ready everyone was for a book on Latin American cuisine.”

Daisy continues, “I am, without a doubt, one of the luckiest women in the world. I get to do what I love most—cook—in the language that my mother taught me to say "I love you" —in Spanish—for thousands of people! But I think Chef Henri was right—be true to your passion, and the rest comes easy.”