Panama Gourmet | Original Tropical Creations by Chef Melissa De Leon

Panamá Gourmet’s Chef Melissa De Leon is originally from Panama. She has managed to successfully marry her love for cooking to the passion she feels for technology, including the internet, web design and marketing.

Chef Melissa is a Personal Chef graduated from the USPCI, and a Certified Personal Chef by the USPCA (United States Personal Chef Association). She is a culinary professional trained California, the U.S., in Mexico, Panama, South America and in Asia. In March 2002, she traveled to Thailand and completed an intensive Thai cooking course at the internationally famous “Oriental Hotel Cooking School” in Bangkok.

In Panamá, Chef Melissa worked as the Pastry Chef, Fine Bakery Department of the Riba-Smith Group. By special request from Ing. Javier Riba, president of the Group, she developed many products using Panama’s tropical fruits. She created the famous Cake de Zanahoria con Piña y Nueces (carrot cake with fresh pinneaple and walnuts), Cake de Camote y Nueces (yam cake with walnuts), Cake de Guineo Rainforest (rainforest banana cake), Cake de Marañòn con Pepita (cashew, apple and nut cake) and more!

Chef Melissa loves to travel; she has been all around the globe! She’s not shy and looks forward to creating exotic meals and introducing them to her adventurous clients.

As an added seasoning: Chef Melissa’s persona is as inviting as her food. She cooks with passion, personality, and caring. She is an Active Member of the United States Personal Chef Association, The International Association of Culinary Professionals, and The Women Chefs and Restaurateurs.

We are especially fond of her online culinary journal, The Cooking Diva Blog. The name says it all.

For more information on Personal Chef Services, Team Cuisine Programs, and Private Cooking Classes, contact Panama Gourmet by calling completing this form.

Global Cuisine

Since January 2006, Melissa has written a number of international food blog articles under Global Voices.

Global Voices seeks to amplify, curate and aggregate the global conversation online - with a focus on countries and communities outside the U.S. and Western Europe. We are committed to developing tools, institutions and relationships that will help all voices everywhere to be heard.

Sensual Food

For The Gilded Fork, the sensual experience is an ethereal one, where food is an intimate subject we approach with utmost sincerity; but the sensuality is equally an intellectual pursuit. The why behind the rapture.

Rather than spotlight the trendy, The Gilded Fork focuses on the roots of cuisine itself, and celebrating the art of experiencing food and wine via the senses — in cooking, in tasting, and in understanding. In short, we are food philosophers.

Chef Melissa is a member of The Test Kitchen Team