My name is Gleides Garcia and the kitchen is where my passion, my inheritance and the flavours of my land come alive.
As part of the first Colombian refugee families welcomed into Aotearoa, I carry the stories of our community’s resilience and the journey to rebuild our lives here. In Auckland, I’ve found deep connections between Māori and Latin American cultures - especially the shared belief that kai, whenua, and ancestry carry identity and memory.
These values guide how I honour my roots while raising Kiwi children and adapting our traditional foods to this land. In my workshop, I teach the craft of making arepas, an Indigenous food of the Americas. By learning this simple tradition, participants experience how migrant and Indigenous foodways continue to evolve, weaving Colombian heritage into the cultural fabric of Aotearoa.