Cultural Diplomacy at the Table
Edited by Anna Popper
Colombian gastronomy is a rich and diverse fusion of Indigenous, Spanish, and African traditions, varying by region – Andean, Caribbean, Pacific, and beyond. This originality and authenticity, alongside its natural and cultural treasures, make Colombia so compelling to discover through food.
This unique culinary heritage was the focus of a special seated dinner – a gastronomic tasting – hosted on 14 November 2025, by the Embassy of the Republic of Colombia in Hungary at Kemenes Cukrászda & Bisztró in Budapest. The event – part of a growing wave of gastronomic dimension of cultural diplomacy – was themed “Afro-descendant cuisines of the Colombian Pacific: memory, resistance, and flavour”, and was framed as “Tastes and Memories of the Colombian Pacific”.
The guest list reflected the diplomatic nature and cultural reach of the dinner: Ambassadors and diplomats accredited in Hungary, representatives of the cultural and academic sectors, journalists from major local outlets and leading figures from gastronomy and pastry came together by a shared table and a shared curiosity.
This high-level culinary event demonstrated how food can build bridges between nations, traditions, and people. The participants were welcomed into a warm setting of neatly arranged tables and were served throughout the evening in a relaxed seated tasting that encouraged discovery and conversation.
The evening opened with a speech by the Ambassador of the Republic of Colombia in Hungary, H.E. Mr. Ignacio Enrique Ruiz Perea, who set the tone for the event:
“Thank you for accepting the invitation from the Embassy of Colombia. Today’s event is part of the Plan for the Promotion of Colombia Abroad, a cultural diplomacy strategy through which we aim to bring our country closer to the world by showcasing the many facets of Colombia’s cultural development.
Tonight, gastronomy takes us to Colombia’s far southwestern edge: the Pacific. As unexplored as it is profound, it holds an ocean of surprises – one that provides the ingredients for some of the most delicious seafood dishes along the Pacific Rim, from Chile all the way to the United States. Meanwhile, the Andean region is not far behind. The Cauca area, in Colombia’s Western Cordillera – whose capital is Popayán – contributes one of our most flavourful stews, used to season empanadas and tamales: pipián. The best of these two culinary regions comes together today so that Vanessa Lourido may delight us with her specialties, which we can enjoy anon.
A few words about the Guest Chef: Vanessa Lourido Von Orb. She is a representative of Colombia’s gastronomic professionals and food culture. Her career combines entrepreneurship, flavour research, and cooking shaped by diverse influences. Born in Cali and raised in an environment touched by Austrian culinary traditions thanks to her ancestors, she found an appealing contrast to Colombian cooking that broadened and enriched her gastronomic outlook. From her youth and university years, she experimented with pastry-making, and later opened her own restaurant in Cartagena, taking on a major personal challenge: interpreting Caribbean cuisine through Austrian and German flavours.
Vanessa has contributed to gastronomic publications in Colombia and Switzerland, where she currently lives. Her culinary signature is cultural fusion – bringing Austrian-German and Colombian influences into a distinctive dialogue. She is the co-founder and event-manager of Queen Criolla in Zurich, a project that explores Latin and European culinary heritage and highlights the flavours of the Caribbean and Colombia through design and curated experiences.
With over 16 years of experience, Chef Lourido ran two renowned restaurants in Bogotá and Cartagena, celebrated for their inventive interplay of Central European and Caribbean tastes. She also taught gastronomic design and development at the Universidad San Buenaventura and the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Cali). Based in Zurich, she continues to develop initiatives such as Queen Criolla, dedicated to showcasing Ibero-American flavours rooted in Caribbean and Pacific traditions.
This evening, we also wish to highlight something essential: ancestral cuisine is not only a source of pleasure, but also a vehicle of memory, identity, and the transmission of traditional knowledge – often safeguarded and passed on, generation after generation, by women. In this spirit, I invite you to discover these tastes and stories with openness and joy, and to let Colombia’s Pacific speak to you not only through ingredients, but through culture itself.”
The Chef and the Concept: “K’lele, a Cry of Joy”
The Embassy’s Colombian Pacific-flavours evening was titled “K’lele, a cry of joy”. The concept revolved around K’lele, a word of African origin used on Colombia’s Pacific coast to express celebration, festivity, and collective joy.
Chef Vanessa Lourido Von Orb, a recognized specialist in traditional Colombian cuisine, designed the evening as more than a tasting: it was a narrative of memory, resistance, and flavour – showing how cuisine can become an expression of identity and a living archive of traditional knowledge.
Her presentation was inspired by her article “Sabedoras of Afro-Colombian cuisine: The feminine power behind Pacific cooking”, in which she explains how the Petronio Álvarez Festival, through its Sabedoras – wise Afro-Colombian women who safeguard culinary and medicinal knowledge – reclaims and elevates the cultural wealth of regions like Chocó, Valle del Cauca, Cauca, and Nariño, while making visible a history shaped by slavery, exclusion, resilience, and cultural survival.
The Menu: Pacific and Andean Flavours, Course by Course
After setting the cultural and historical context, Chef Lourido’s menu began with Pipián tamalitos, served with a mango-and-spinach salad and peanut ají. The next course consisted of Shrimp encocado with “azotea” herbs and crispy plantain. It was followed by Pork tenderloin (cañón) in chontaduro sauce, accompanied by creamy coconut-and-saffron rice and purple cabbage with passion fruit.
Dessert offered a comforting finale: Pandebono cake with arequipe sauce, cottage cheese, and bocadillo, paired with Colombian coffee – all framed within the Pacific region’s culinary tradition. Each course was accompanied by exquisite wines from the Sauska winery, a family-run estate with vineyards in the Hungarian regions of Tokaj and Villány.
By the end of the tasting the Afro-Colombian cuisine of the Pacific proved to be a true surprise: vibrant, aromatic, and deeply rooted in tradition – each course revealed something new.
To conclude the dinner, Chef Lourido engaged directly with the international guests, answering questions about traditional ingredients and preparation methods, thus expanding on the depth of Afro-Colombian Pacific cuisine. This interaction underscored the purpose of the night: not only to taste, but also to understand – through context, conversation and shared appreciation.
The gathering demonstrated how gastronomy – beyond taste – functions as a powerful tool of cultural diplomacy, building bridges of dialogue, recognition, and respect between nations through shared experiences at the table.
The Budapest event is a remarkable example of cultural diplomacy: it combined Pacific Afro-Colombian cuisine, storytelling, and high-level networking to foster connections and pave the way for future institutional cooperation based on trust and mutual visibility.
Closing Note
On behalf of the Diplomatic Press Agency, I am grateful for the invitation and for the privilege of sharing this exceptional evening of Colombian culture and cuisine. My heartfelt thanks to H.E. Ambassador Ignacio Enrique Ruiz Perea and to the Embassy of Colombia in Budapest for an event that showcased the Colombian Pacific with exquisite flavours and elegance – offered with mastery, innovation, meaning, and dignity. Congratulations to Chef Vanessa Lourido: an outstanding professional, a captivating personality, and a true entertainer. Her impressive knowledge shone throughout her presentation, and the creativity behind each dish made the dinner a great success, crowning this already unforgettable occasion. K’lele – what a beautiful cry of joy that accompanies us as we recall this evening!
Source: Embassy of Colombia in Budapest
Photos from the Embassy of Colombia in Budapest, and Diplomatic Press Agency
