Family influenced his love of cooking

A childhood in the coastal city of Lima, Peru, ideally prepared chef Carlos Farias for a career concentrating on seafood.

A 2000 graduate of the Le Cordon Bleu culinary institute in Lima, Farias worked at the city's Sheraton Hotel and at a sushi bar. In 2001, he came to the United States and worked at McCormick & Schmick's Boston restaurant.

Later that year, Farias moved to Texas to work at a Bahama Breeze restaurant, and then rejoined McCormick & Schmick's in Chicago as a line cook at the Chestnut Street location. Farias moved up the ranks to his present position as executive chef at the restaurant's Schaumburg location.

What made you decide to become a chef? As a child, most of my time was spent in my grandmother's kitchen, watching her cook for the day. And my dad was five times a better cook than my mom. He grew up in an area full of fishermen, so he loves seafood. He can do anything with seafood.

He had a restaurant for about six months. That made me decide. I used to wait tables.

What brought you to Chicago? I graduated from culinary school in Lima. Then I went to visit my uncle in Miami, and a friend of mine was working at McCormick & Schmick's in Boston and said, "Why don't you come here?"

I went there, and then to Bahama Breeze in Texas. Then the head chef in Boston, he moved to Chicago and said, "Why don't you come here?"

Then I met my wife. She worked as a hostess.

Was it difficult to adjust to living in the United States? I got used to it pretty quick. I like it here. When I was in Miami, I was ready to go back, but Boston was different, and then I moved to Chicago.

Do you go back to Peru very often? Yes, all my family is there. We try to go once a year for one or two weeks. We're going to go to Machu Picchu. My wife wants to go. She saw (TV chef) Tony Bourdain go there.

Do you have any favorite South American restaurants on this side of the equator? Tango Sur (3766 N. Southport Ave., Chicago). I love that place. And Ay! Ay! Picante (4565 N. Elston Ave., Chicago). I think they have the best ceviche.

How much of the menu at McCormick & Schmick's is decided by the corporate chef and how much is yours? It's about 60-40, so I have some freedom.

To start with, in this new restaurant, we concentrated on our core dishes, but I'll be adding things as we go along. You make it and take a picture and send it to the corporate chef to be approved. My regional chef is very flexible.

What kinds of things will you be adding, anything Peruvian? I want to put in some ceviche, but it's not a cold-weather dish. We'll put it on in the spring. I make it with just plain lemon juice and yellow chilies.

Do you have favorite ingredients? I like anything fresh. And spicy food, things with lots of flavor.

What foods from Peru do you miss? Potatoes. Fresh potatoes, and herbs, like black mint, with seafood.

What do you do in your spare time? I don't have much time. I'm here 10-12 hours a day. I like to watch Japanese anime. It's pretty big in Peru. My brother sends me DVDs.

Who does the cooking at home? I do the cooking. My wife grew up in Peoria, Ill. She says her mother always cooked from a box. I've been married two years.

Tell us about this recipe. Pan-Seared Grouper with Soft Polenta and Morel Mushrooms Ragout. You can make this with grouper or bass or a fish like that.

Try this at home or at McCormick & Schmick's, 1140 E. Higgins Road, Schaumburg, (847) 517-1616.

Pan-Seared Grouper With Soft Polenta and Morel Mushrooms Ragout

1½ cups dried morel mushrooms

2 large shallots, peeled and chopped

¼ pound cold butter (1 stick), cut in pieces

3 ounces dry sherry

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

2 cups milk

1 cup instant polenta

3 tablespoons canola oil

2 grouper or black bass fillets, about 7 ounces each

Extra-virgin olive oil to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Rehydrate mushrooms in warm water for 15 minutes. Saute shallot in a couple of teaspoons of the butter, add the mushrooms and sherry. Bring to a boil scraping the pan and cook down until almost dry. Add half of the chopped parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm.

Bring the milk to a boil in a 2-quart pot and slowly add the polenta, mixing with a whisk. Whisk in the remaining cold butter, add salt and pepper to taste and keep warm.

Heat a saute pan over medium high heat. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Add the canola oil to the pan and wait until it starts to smoke. Place the fish skin side up and cook for about 4 minutes, turn and cook the other side for 4 minutes.

To serve, put half of the polenta in the center of each plate, top with fish fillets and cover with the mushrooms. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and garnish with the remaining chopped parsley.

Serves two.

Chef Carlos Farias, McCormick & Schmick's, Schaumburg

Momma's Meatloaf

Meatloaf

2½ pound ground beef

½ cup ketchup

½ yellow onion, chopped

1½ cloves garlic, minced

2 eggs

½ bunch chopped curly parsley

¾ cup bread crumbs

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

½ tablespoon dried oregano

½ tablespoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon kosher salt

Glaze

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

½ cup ketchup

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare sheet pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray.

Mix together glaze ingredients. If the mixture is too thick, add water by the tablespoon to thin. In a large mixing bowl, combine all meatloaf ingredients. Place mixture on sheet pan and form into a loaf. Brush glaze over the meatloaf.

Bake meatloaf for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until internal temperature registers 160 degrees on an instant read thermometer. If the meatloaf is getting too brown, turn the pan and cover with tin foil.

Makes eight servings.

Chef Andrew Welsh, A Chef and a Loaf of Bread Catering, Elmhurst