Aníbal Criollo

Familiar with cooking from an early age, Aníbal grew up in a territory traditionally owned by the indigenous Quillasinga people. Executive chef at the Suizo Guamuez hotel restaurant, he returned to his homeland following the death of his parents; land that had been used for generations by people to produce charcoal by felling trees and burning the forest. 

This indigenous chef – also an environmentalist and activist – has set up a complex called Naturalia consisting of a restaurant, hotel and chagra (a small farm where vegetables are grown and animals are raised) near Lake Cocha (Pasto, Nariño): its aim is to highlight Colombia’s wide-ranging biodiversity. In addition, Criollo is striving to stop traditional crops and recipes from disappearing as a result of globalisation, and has founded the first school in the region to teach chagra farming and traditional cooking.