Food & Nutrition Scholar
I am thrilled to share that my book, Caribeños at the Table: How Migration, Health, and Race Intersect in New York City, is scheduled to come out this October 2021 via University of North Carolina Press. The book has been the result of a long and transformative process, beginning back in 2013, when I moved … Continue reading Book announcement: Caribeños at the Table
Post dedicated to pitorro – an important component of Christmas celebrations in Puerto Rico, missed from my table this year.
Post honoring the ongoing historical protests in Puerto Rico, including using casseroles to voice the national discontent.
This post is a love letter to rice. But not any rice. I am writing of the delicious, crispy, salty rice, that forms gently and patiently at the bottom of the pan. I grew up knowing such special rice as pega’o. That is the Puerto Rican term for “pegado”, which translates to stuck-on, or perhaps … Continue reading Pega’o: Celebrating the shared love for a special rice
Afro-descendant women have been key in the keeping and sustaining of food traditions in societies with a history of colonialism and slavery. Examples I have encountered in my work are Francisca Falú, the woman who taught iconic Puerto Rican cookbook, Carmen Aboy Valldejuli, how to cook, and Margot Bacallao, the assistant to Nitza Villapol, the … Continue reading Preserving cuisines: Quick thoughts at the intersection of gender, race and Diaspora
This post is dedicated to the work of the Centro para el Desarrollo Politico, Educativo y Cultural (CDPEC). The CDPEC organizes the comedores sociales in Puerto Rico – “social dining rooms” or community kitchens that serve food through a grassroots approach. The work of the CDPEC demonstrates the use of food as a vehicle to sustain … Continue reading Comedores Sociales in Puerto Rico
After months agonizing over news coverage of the 2017 Hurricane Maria passing through the Caribbean, I was finally on my way to Puerto Rico. After landing, as I walked towards the airport exit, I was hit by a sudden trepidation of not knowing what to expect on the other side of the airport doors. I … Continue reading Starting 2018 in Puerto Rico
On September 30th, 2017, Brooklyn College hosted the event, Weathering the Storm. The event started with the keynote address from the Mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz. She arrived to the venue to a standing ovation, in a basketball ball court full with fellow faculty, students and community members, including this group that proudly … Continue reading Weathering the Storm: A note of the event
Celebrating the work of World Central Kitchen and local chefs at the start of the post-Hurricane Maria holiday season in Puerto Rico.
A look at the continued humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico.
Melissa Fuster, PhD 