Conectados con Daisy · Telemundo 51
She cooked her seafood paella with Daisy Ballmajó. Her segment starts at 13:17 (in Spanish).
Her story
Cuban by birth. Gallega by love.
Behind every paella is a woman who crossed the Atlantic twice and brought the taste of Spain with her.
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Cuba
Where it began
She was born and raised in Cuba. She studied pharmacy and worked at a 24-hour pharmacy, then as a secretary at a tobacco factory.
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Barcelona
15 years in Spain
At 29 she moved to Barcelona. She lived there 15 years, studied and worked in nursing, and opened a small restaurant where she baked in the kitchen. That is where Spanish cooking rubbed off on her.
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Miami
La Gallega Paellas is born
A few years ago she arrived in Miami. Her first job was in a kitchen. One day someone asked her to cook for a baby shower. She hesitated, said yes, and the compliments convinced her to go for more.
Why "la Gallega"?
In Cuba and much of Latin America, anyone from Spain gets called "gallego," a leftover from the many Galicians who emigrated to the island. The Real Academia Española dictionary lists it that way: a person born in Spain.
So when a Cuban woman comes back from 15 years in Barcelona with the accent and the recipes, the nickname comes on its own. Everyone in Miami started calling her la Gallega, and she named her business after it.
How she cooks
«It has to taste like you are eating it where it comes from.»
Lisbet, to La Nación (translated)
Spanish ingredients
Valencia rice and products from Spain.
Patience
Every piece of seafood in its time: the langoustines come out and go back in at the end.
Like home
Her main ingredient is love: she cooks as if it were for her own family.
In the news
LA NACION
La Nación
"She is Cuban, lives in Miami, and became famous for her unique recipe of a typical Spanish dish." October 2025 (in Spanish).
Read the articleBook your date
Got a party? She brings the paella.
Tell her how many guests, the date and where. She replies with your quote.