Chef Guadalupe Bluhm de Saldivar: Finding the Sweet Spot

By Stacy Moser | Photography by Justin Borja

There is no place in the world that Chef Guadalupe Bluhm de Saldivar would rather be than in a kitchen.

From the time she was a little girl, Guadalupe rose before the sun to help her grandmother prepare her restaurant’s kitchen in anticipation of the moment when customers streamed in for a hearty breakfast. “In Mexico, where I grew up, it was traditional for all the kids and grandkids to help in the kitchen. In my grandmother’s restaurant, we started serving tables at the age of 7,” she explains. “Of all the kids, though, I was the only one who stuck with it. I spent a lot of time at my grandmother’s kitchen table, chopping food. I would ask her if I could help her cook and she would say, ‘No, I’m not going to teach you. If you want to learn, you watch me.’ And that was the deal.”

Guadalupe (affectionately known as Lupita to her colleagues and friends) says that eventually her grandmother let her grind spices with a stone, the traditional way. “One day, when I was 13, she told me, ‘You want to do the turkey dish by yourself?’ and I told her I would love to. Then she left me completely by myself. I had to be brave and go kill the turkey. It’s not like we could run to the store to get what we needed. So I killed the turkey and began to prepare it just like I’d watched her do so many times.”

That’s when it happened. Lupita describes her horror when she realized that the turkey was not completely dead. “It scared me and I threw the turkey across the room! But then I knew I had to face my fear and do the job. When my grandmother came back, I told her what happened and I showed her the turkey dish I’d made. She quizzed me very sternly. Did I wash it? Did I make sure it was clean? Did I ruin the dish? When I told her, ‘Yes, I cleaned it,’ and she saw I did a good job, only then did she start to laugh,” Lupita smiles at the memory. “I was hooked then. I liked to be with her—the dynamic of waking up at 4 o’clock in the morning, praying with her, then working in the kitchen. On busy days, we went to sleep at midnight and then did it all again the next day. I loved it. She planted the seed of my work ethic right then.”

Later, Lupita met her future husband, Uriel, a dual Mexican/American citizen, through her sister. “When we married, he was in the Mexican Army,” she says. Then, in 2003, the couple moved to be near his family outside of San Francisco, California, where he joined the U.S. Army. Lupita moved around the world with Uriel throughout his military career and they eventually ended up in Killeen, where they remained until he retired in 2018.

“I supported him and took care of him,” Lupita says. “I moved from there to here and from here to there, to Germany and then back. I did everything I could to help him out. It was time for me to do something I love.”

That’s when Lupita set her sites on attending culinary school. In 2013, she learned of the brand-new Culinary Arts and Hospitality Program offered by Central Texas College and decided it was time to hone her already formidable cooking skills. Her children, Uriel, who is now 22, and Sofia, 19, were independent enough for Lupita to concentrate on her studies, so she threw herself into the classwork.

To practice her techniques and earn extra money, Lupita took on part-time jobs at local restaurants in Temple and Killeen. “When my grandma would say, ‘You have to do this a certain way,’ I never knew why—it was just because Grandma said so. Then, at school and in the restaurant, I started to understand the ‘why,’ not just the ‘how.’”
Lupita worked under Chef Robert Hernandez at Vinoteca in Temple. “Vinoteca closed, so he moved on. He called and asked if I wanted to work with him at Pignetti’s and The Cellar at Pignetti’s, owned by Clinton and Lidia Harwell. Then he moved me again and I was the executive chef of The Barton House in Salado, answering to him.”

Lupita’s stellar rise in the local culinary scene inspired her at school, too. She caught the attention of Hospitality Program Director Chef Ramona Lezo, who encouraged her to concentrate on baking, and cake decorating in particular. Lezo recognized in her a budding artistic talent, and encouraged her to paint and draw as well.

Chef Lupita graduated in 2017 with associate degrees in Baking & Pastry Specialization and Restaurant & Culinary Management. She has since been hired as a full-time faculty member at Central Texas College, overseeing two campus cafes and American Region Cooking and Wedding Cake classes. She recently created a healthy cooking guide for distribution at Metroplex Hospital. She continues to supervise the kitchen at The Barton House on weekends, too.

“My husband is happy and very proud of me,” she says. “He is over the moon.”

When asked what her family and friends clamor for when she cooks for them, she responds emphatically, “Pozole, a traditional Mexican stew. The best friends I made in life—it’s because they tried my pozole.”

Chef Lupita’s Chimichurri

“This Argentinian sauce recipe is incredibly versatile. Serve it over beautifully charred steaks or as a sauce for a mixed grill. It’s also perfect with grilled chicken or seared tuna. Use it as dressing or as a dipping sauce. It’s always made with fresh herbs to give that great flavor after they’ve marinated with olive oil and lime or lemon juice.”

Ingredients
¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. fresh oregano leaves
2 tsp. crushed red pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp. lime zest
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

In a food processor or blender, combine the first eight ingredients. Process until smooth; season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl. Pour olive oil over the mixture. Let stand 20 minutes, then drizzle over grilled meat or vegetables. Chimichurri can be refrigerated overnight. Serve at room temperature.