Carlito,
the cook from elsewhere

By Louis Perez y Cid
Carlos is a friend. I met him in the Legion, when he was in charge of the SRL/CTLE at Fort Nogent.
With him, there was never really a choice between two fires, the fire of the kitchen and the fire of arms. Both accompanied his life, with the same exacting standards, the same taste for hard work, and, above all, that insatiable curiosity that drives some men to see what's happening on the other side of the horizon.

At seventeen, Carlos walked through the doors of the restaurant "Le Plantié" in Bordeaux. There, he apprenticed under Claude Vitrac, the chef the young people called "Papa Vitrac." An authoritarian, old-school man, inflexible on principles, but fair and generous with those who knew how to earn his respect.
That's where his first adventure began.

Then one day came the Legion. For fifteen years, Carlos wore the uniform. And when that chapter closed, he didn't abandon either adventure or exacting standards. He became, in a way, a culinary globetrotter, bringing French culinary expertise and his passion for cooking to French embassies and diplomatic residences around the world.

From Bordeaux to the icy expanses of Antarctica, from the Djibouti desert to the palaces of the Gulf, whether under the white kepi or the chef's hat, Carlos continued his journey. Always with the same exacting standards. Always with his own unique way of seeing things through to the end.

His cuisine, moreover, is not simply about recipes. It is guided by aromas, encounters, memories, and emotions. Each dish becomes an experience, a story to be told in a different way. In the corridors of power as well as in the kitchens of diplomatic residences, Carlos has worked alongside decision-makers, diplomats, and sometimes those who work behind the scenes. He observed many things, met many people, but never lost sight of what was essential to his cuisine: his values ​​and his independent spirit.

In "Carlito, the Chef from Elsewhere," Carlos Marsal recounts this extraordinary life.

A life where adventure blends with excellence, where each step resembles a new mission, and where each dish can, in its own way, tell a story of struggle.

But this man didn't just travel and cook. A tireless adventurer, he also distinguished himself in sports and dedicated himself to humanitarian work, particularly with sick children.
At 63, the story is far from over; Carlos is currently in Kazakhstan.
So, a man straight out of a novel? Perhaps.

But there's a crucial difference between him and fictional characters: this life, Carlito truly lived. And for those who knew him in his white kepi, there is undoubtedly more to this book than just a tale of culinary adventures. It is the story of a comrade.

A cook who became a legionnaire, a legionnaire who became a traveling chef, and a man who never stopped seeking what lay beyond the horizon.