Ana Ortiz is a chef and co-director of Fire Made which she runs from Somerset with her husband Tom Bray; the pair design and produce fire cookery equipment for chefs, restaurants, and consumers worldwide, as well as running experience days and training in all things asado.
Ana grew up on the Galapagos islands and her earliest memories of cooking are in her grandfather’s beautiful fire kitchen where they would prepare traditional feasts for all the family. They would slaughter an animal on the farm and the family would gather to cook a nose to tail meal over fire. As a young child Ana would get involved helping to stuff the morcillas or go fishing with her uncle and this period of her life ignited her passion for cooking and entertaining. Ana’s joy for cooking over fire was further fuelled by her father who became obsessed with Argentinian asado from his travels around South America with work and it soon become a Sunday ritual for the family.
It was this passion for fire cookery which inspired she and husband, Tom, to start Fire Made in 2016 having moved to live in England. Ana loves to host and wanted to bring the way she and her family cook and enjoy food, to the UK – keen to teach how you can cook meat, fish and vegetables over fire in the most wonderful of ways. Ana can regularly be found popping up at festivals and guest chef nights around the country, known for her vibrant Ecuadorean food.