ML on Sun TV's Colombia Episode

Posted by Mary Luz Mejia Jan 17, 2008

If you've read my profile here on Suite, you'll know that I worked on Sun TV's flagship show, "Street Eats" for its three seasons. I ate my way across the GTA as the show's researcher, Associate Producer, script writer and occasional director. Along the way, I met truly inspiring people from every walk of life who have for numerous reasons, decided to share the foods of their homelands with an appreciative, food-loving crowd here in Toronto.

In Season III, when the show's creator decided to include my birth country, Colombia, I cheered aloud. The Colombia I know is truly stunning- a land of contrasting faces, climates, and geographies including powder-white beaches and turquoise clear water to lush jungles and majestic mountains. Mainstream media only report on the problems- and there are many to be sure. Having worked in news for a few years myself, I know the game and what it takes to get ratings so you’ll only EVER hear about the cocaine cartels, the kidnappings, the FARC and the poverty.

But Colombia is much greater than the sum of those labels. It’s a country alive with history, award winning writers, artists, artisans and regional dishes that bring comfort and joy to my tastebuds. So I was more than delighted to participate in Street Eat’s Colombia episode, in the Los Arrieros Colombian restaurant segment where host Ali Rizvi and I go into Doña Laura’s kitchen as she prepares a typical Bandeja Paisa from my neck of the woods- the Antioquia area of the country.

The show airs Sunday, Jan. 20th at 6pm on SUN TV in the GTA (or channel 15 in Toronto). If you catch it, drop me a line and let me know what you think!