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Meet the Cast

Morelys
Urbano

she/her

Baltimore, Maryland

Morelys De Los Santos Urbano is originally from the Dominican Republic. She has a poetry chapbook coming out soon.

Emmanuel Gonzalez Perez

he/him

Sacramento, California

Emmanuel is originally from Mexico. Emmanuel is a DACA recipient who hasn’t been able to visit Mexico and cooking his mother’s recipe helps Emmanuel feel connected to his family and birth country.

Dru
Lay

they/them

New York, New York

Dru comes from a Chinese-Indonesian background. Dru grew up cooking with their grandma in the kitchen and has a cooking style combines influences from both of their cultural backgrounds of China and Indonesia. 

Shruti
Khandelwal

she/her

Dayton, New Jersey

Shruti was born in India and pays tribute to her cultural history by way of cooking and recreating traditional recipes. Shruti not only cooks as a way to honor her Indian culture and grandparents but also danced on a Bollywood fusion dance team called Drexel Jhalak in college.

Betsabe
Perez Mertija

she/her

Austin, Texas

Betsabe is originally from Villa Clara, Cuba. Her cooking inspiration comes from her grandfather who opened a food stand after losing his job in Cuba before coming to the U.S. as a political refugee.

Estefania
Colamarco

she/her

Austin, Texas

Estefania is originally from Guayaquil, Ecuador. She’s currently attending Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts for pastry and baking to pursue her dreams of becoming a chef and shining a light on Ecuadorian cooking.

Yassin
Helmy

they/them

Austin, Texas

Yassin is originally from Cairo, Egypt and started cooking Egyptian food with their grandma as a child. When they came to Austin, TX and got their first taste of Mexican food, Yassin saw the parallels of flavors and began experimenting with dishes in the hopes of one day opening up an Egyptian/Tex-Mex fusion food truck.

Anteneh
Cooper

she/her

Baltimore, Maryland

Anteneh is first-generation American by way of Liberia. Her cooking inspiration is her mom, who she grew up with hosting gatherings and sharing Liberian food with their community.

Ema
Nascimento

she/her

Pawtucket, Rhode Island

Ema was born in Portugal to parents from Guinea-Bissau and immigrated to Rhode Island when she was 2 years old. Although she isn’t able to go visit her blood-related family abroad, Ema cites her “aunts” in Rhode Island who cooked together to feed their community as her family, and credits them and cooking as a way to feel connected to her culture. 

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