Cava’s Chris McDonald has invited me to join him to cook a special Latino dinner for Slow Food Toronto’s culinary series, and I’m excited. This will be the first time working with Chris, his Cava partner Doug Penfold and Carlos Rodriguez from Hart House. It will be the second time working with Marina Quierolo, owner [...]

After a much needed holiday, I’m back in business. Last week I started the 2010 Pan-Latino cooking series at IQliving and at the LCBO. Happy to report the two first classes were sold out. It’s great to see how much interest has grown in Latin cuisine, not just in Toronto, but all over Canada as [...]

This year’s event was all about ‘world cuisine’ using local and organic products. It was an honor for me and my crew, to have been invited to the picnic, thanks to the event organizers decision to recognize cultural and ethnic groups from around the world that make Toronto home. Connecting the global palate using foods [...]

I met Mary Luz Mejia last year when she and I were asked to judge some dishes in a Latino culinary competition. Mary Luz is a Colombian-Canadian food journalist and Gemini-nominated TV writer, producer and director. One of her impressive credits is At the Table With ….. Each episode is a biography of a  well-known [...]

I was reading an article in the NY Times about biblio-burros, donkeys that carry a library through the Columbian jungle. Luis Soriano is the teacher who has been bringing education and hope through the books he shepperds with his five trusty burros for the last 10 years. Luis believes that doing so he is helping [...]

Like food, peliculas are an entrance into understanding a culture. Naturally, as part of how I celebrate Latino culture through food, I’m excited about today’s opening of the 6th annual Toronto International Latin Film Festival, at the Royal Theater on College Street. With films showing the diaspora of the Spanish language, the festival reveals an [...]

Chayote was a major part of what I decided to serve at Feast of Fields this year. It’s a relatively unknown vegetable if you’re not Latino, Caribbean or an adventurous explorer of world foods. Finding organic chayote was a challenge, but luckily Whole Foods had some that was naturally grown, which means it wont be [...]