Dayanary Vergara
“My expectation is to make Ecuador proud, showing the world the gastronomic richness of our country and the enormous potential of its ingredients, techniques and culinary traditions.”
Dayanary Vergara is from Manabí and is in her seventh semester of Gastronomy at the Universidad Técnica de Manabí. It was her parents, with their perseverance and unconditional support, who inspired her to train as a cook.
She is passionate about innovation and about restoring value to Manabí’s products, especially ingredients that have fallen out of use. She researches them, rescues their flavours and uses them in full, with a responsible and sustainable approach to cooking. She works alongside foragers, small producers, artisanal fishers and young farmers from Manabí, and even created a special salt together with an association of salt producers in Las Gilces, Crucita.
For Dayanary, every dish is a work of art that tells a story. She dreams of opening a café with her sister and of becoming an inspiration for other women.