Wepa is a versatile Latin-American Spanish slang exclamation expressing excitement, congratulations, and joy.

Food and cooking kept me out of trouble.

I escaped to my grandmother’s kitchen to hide from my teasing cousins. I escaped to culinary school from the “nothing to do, nowhere to go ‘ness” of young adulthood.

Puerto Rican identity is diverse, and Puerto Ricans are passionate. Puerto Rico’s complicated relationship with The United States and its status as a colony creates dissonance between those from the island, those from allá fuera, and those that fall somewhere in between. It can be difficult to know where you belong.

Food has always been there. It was there when I needed a place to go. It’s there as I embrace myself and learn more about who I am.

I hope when people eat my food, they share in the joy of community, self-discovery, and the complexities of the Puerto Rican experience.

WEPA!