Melting Pot Food, Memory and Belonging

Eddie Bulatao

Eddie Bulatao is Head Chef at the award-winning events and catering company Gather Foods. He is passionate about sharing locally sourced produce and native foods that bring ‘60,000 years of Aboriginal wisdom and sustainable practices to every dish, event and food experience’. 

Jenny Lam

Jenny Lam says she learnt to cook traditional Vietnamese dishes at eight years of age from her father and by 13 she was cooking all the family meals. Jenny’s passion for cooking saw her splashed on our screen as a contestant on MasterChef Australia and she has gone on to become a much-loved local restauranteur (Bunn Mee, Leederville), entrepreneur and award-winning cookbook author.  

Cecilia Leong-Salobir

Cecilia Leong-Salobir is a food historian and research fellow at the University of Western Australia (UWA) who has published widely on what food tells us about world history and the impact of colonialism on identity and food culture. 

Matt and Marcela O’Donohue Valencia

Matt and Marcela of Marcelita’s Empanadas are a husband-and-wife team bringing Colombian street food and flavour to WA’s already diverse culinary scene. Matt, a food blogger, and his Colombian born wife Marcela can be seen behind the counter of their food truck business at festivals, night and hawker stall markets serving their blend of a taste of home.   

Tamara Rodriguez

Tamara Rodriguez is a Venezuelan journalist turned caterer who spent over ten years in Malaysia and Singapore’s hospitality industry learning about how different ingredients and flavours have a habit of crossing continents. She now runs her own catering company Casa Latina as well as working with the Australian Red Cross on resettlement projects for refugee women. 

Sisonke Msimang

Sisonke Msimang is the author of two books, Always Another Country and the Resurrection of Winnie Mandela. She has been widely published including in the New York Times, Al Jazeera, Newsweek and the Guardian.