Living Foodways: Afro-Cuban Cooking (Ropa Vieja and Congris) with Margarita

Some flavours don’t just feed us — they remember for us.

Living Foodways is a hands-on cooking and tasting series by Iyé Creative, exploring how food travels across lands, oceans, and generations.

In this gathering, Margarita will guide us through the preparation of Ropa Vieja and Congris — dishes rooted in Afro-Cuban foodways, shaped by African and Spanish influences, and carried across time through memory, resilience, and care.

Together, we will cook, taste, and reflect on what these foods hold.

Because even as ingredients change, lands shift, and people move — something remains.

What You’ll Experience

• Guided cooking of Ropa Vieja and Congris (vegetarian options available)

• Story-sharing grounded in Afro-Cuban food histories and diaspora journeys

• A shared meal held in community

• Reflection prompts exploring memory, migration, and continuity

• Contribution to Iyé’s growing Cultural Food Archive

Each story shared becomes part of a living archive — supporting intergenerational knowledge and climate-resilient food futures.

Reflection Prompt

What stayed the same in this dish, even when everything else changed?

Language

This workshop will be facilitated in Spanish, with English translation provided throughout — allowing participants to experience the rhythm, expression, and meaning of the language while remaining accessible to all.

See you there!