Born in the city of São Paulo and with roots in the Japanese prefectures of Wakayama (her paternal grandfather) and Iwate (her maternal grandfather), chef Telma Shiraishi, 52, attended preschool at a Japanese school and received her elementary education at a state school.
At age 10, she moved with her parents and two younger sisters to the countryside. After experiencing several robberies, her father, a branch manager of the old State Bank—his branch was located in Largo da Batata, in the Pinheiros district, near the Cotia Cooperative and the Pinheiros Market—became tire…