The death of Carlos Llaguno, a mexican chef from the famous french restaurant Brasserie Les Halles in New York, shed light on the abuse that thousands of immigrants suffer in U.S kitchens.
Television celebrity and professional chef Anthony Bourdain, who was mentor and close friend of Llaguno, spoke up and revealed some interesting information.
"The truth is that restaurant industry, not only in New York but in the whole country, would collapse if Mexican and Central American manpower disappear", Bourdain told The Associated Press.
"Everything is a big lie, a hypocrisy. If you are a white young man from the suburbs enrolled in a culinary college and you get a job in a restaurant, the person who is going to teach you everything you need to know isn't going to be the chef but the mexican that has been working there for years. And the odds of the white guy being promoted soon are greater than the mexican's. This is something that makes me go mad," he added.
Llaguno started to work in Les Halles, a Manhattan restaurant, as a dishwasher in the 90s, when he was 17 years old. Llaguno, who illegally entered U.S. in 1994, used to sleep in the floor of Queens' apartments and subway stations. Step by step, Llaguno was promoted until he got the position of Head Chef or Chef de Cuisine.
Carlos was made famous when in the fifth season of Bourdain's food and travel show No Reservations, in which Llaguno takes him to meet his lovely family in Puebla and they end up eating real Mexican food in the streets
Llaguno died on Wednesday from cancer. He was 38 years old.
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