Today we’d like to introduce you to Gaby Acosta.
Gaby, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Growing up in Mexico, I was always surrounded by my family. We shared memories, milestones, and from one generation to the next, our love of cooking traveled through generations. At any given time of the day, you could find my mom, grandma, grandpa, and aunts and uncles busying themselves in our kitchen.
I spent much of my childhood with my grandfather, a caring man who took his position as the patriarch of the family quite seriously. In his youth, he had a talent for baseball and as he gained a name for himself, he was affectionately known as “Novato.” He could be rather strict at times, something I miss now, but his perfectionism is something that I apply to my recipes as I desire to create dishes that both taste delicious and honor my roots.
As much as I like to brag about my culinary skills, I have to admit that my grandma—’til this very day—makes the best Mexican food I’ve ever tasted. Her gift became my mother’s before landing at my fingertips, and even as a child, I knew I was being taught lessons in the kitchen that couldn’t be learned anywhere else in the world.
When I was three, my mother and I moved to Orange County, Calif., and began testing out what America had to offer when it came to Mexican dishes. I found some restaurants that I liked quite a bit, but when it came to tasting a salsa that reminded me of being home with my family in our Tijuana kitchen as the enticing aromas of spices filled the air, I was disappointed.
Over the years, I’ve become busy with life, but after becoming a mother, I had a wild idea: Why don’t we try to bottle some of our favorite salsa recipes? It didn’t take much convincing to get the ladies of my family on board, and soon, my mom and I were traveling to Tijuana every weekend. El Novato was born, birthed from the feeling of togetherness, and it’s taken years to evolve. We named the company after my grandpa in honor of his memory, as he passed away eight years ago. He was such an important man in my life—like a father to me and beloved by all of us—and I know that his love is the main ingredient in everything we create.
Professionally, I work as a costume designer/costumer/stylist in the entertainment industry, but whenever the opportunity presents itself, no matter how busy I am, I’ll switch hats and cater parties and special events. With the help of my cousin Becky Diaz Acosta, a nutritionist, and two of my aunts, Tia Carmen and Tia Rosario, we’ve developed a line of El Novato salsas that we’re sure you will enjoy.
Additionally, our family wants to make sure that we deliver a quality dishes so we only use organic products. Becky is in charge of balancing nutritional values while Tia Carmen helped me develop the taste, as she’s known as the salsa maker in our family. Tia Rosario helps manage our products and keeps us on our toes while making sure anything we cook up together is consistent and holds true to the heart of who we are.
All of this has brought me to a place where I feel confident in sharing our recipes. We are small family-owned business at the beginning of it all. But, all of my work as a Costume Designer the demanding aspects of it, have helped up push this dream forward.
Has it been a smooth road?
It hasn’t been an easy thing to see to fruition. Because of the demands of my career, it took a long time to actually have just the time and get recipes together. It took us years to figure out how we were going to make this work and if we were going to be based in Mexico or here in LA. Not only that but, the challenges financially to get this started. We are completely family-owned and decided to do this on our own, without investors. Another challenge of course has been covid. However, we took this time to finally do this because I finally had the time to focus and get all the decisions finalized. Yes, it is a difficult time for any company but especially a new one, to get interested during these difficult times makes it even that more challenging. But, I didn’t want to NOT do this. So, even though all these challenges or money and time (minus the covid) were always a key issue, so we decided that we weren’t going to stop no matter what.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with El Novato – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We are an Authentic Mexican Salsa company. We aren’t afraid to keep the real spice that we as Mexicans eat on a daily. We make everything to order, so nothing is made and jarred, we make everything fresh and jar per order. I think all these things make our company special. We bring real, natural, flavorful, bold, and spicy salsas. We are unapologetic about not changing the flavors we make because it’s too spicy! We feel the flavors are worth the spice. I’m so proud that we keep our true authenticity. That we can bring our culture and our family to people’s homes. That we tear down what salsa has been made to be and show you what salsa really is and can be!
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love La because of its acceptance of culture. I think La will embrace salsa like ours because everyone is always looking for something real. I also love that in LA, you can dream to be whatever you want. If you work hard enough, your dreams really can come true, just like mine have throughout all these years. From my start. In fashion, to working in movies and tv and finally to bring my ultimate dream to life, a company of our family that shares our culture and traditions.
What I like least is the traffic!
Pricing:
- $48.00 for our salsa box. includes 4 jars of 4 oz
- $40.00 for our salsa box subscription. Includes 4 jars of 4oz
Contact Info:
- Website: www.elnovatofoods.com
- Phone: 7147954500
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: elnovatofoods
- Facebook: elnovatofoods
Image Credit:
Photographer: Esteban Acosta
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