The winner of 2022’s Love of Food’s Innovation Challenge, Chef Claudia Saldana-Rose looked to her roots to re-create traditional Peruvian ceviche with plant-based ingredients—including the celebrated ají amarillo, a hot yellow chili pepper. Claudia has always been passionate about food and cooked alongside her parents when she was growing up. She spent every Sunday at her grandmother’s house, enthralled by the cooking secrets her grandma shared. Claudia said that leaving her family in Peru to relocate to America was difficult, but she took a leap of faith to pursue her dream of cooking for others and expand her culinary career. She’s proven that’s a winning strategy!