Isha’s Story
I, like so many others uptown in New York City’s borough of the Bronx, have chosen to continue to be of service to others. Ours is a culture rich in tradition that finds expression in our language, our music, our dance, and most joyfully in our cuisine. In my new Garifuna cookbook, “Weiga, Let’s Eat!” I’ve talked about what I call our 4 Big C’s; Coconut, Cassava, Community and Continuity.
I have learned great lessons in community development amongst my people, and to maintain our cultural continuity I have dedicated myself in the past 7 years to creating a comprehensive Garifuna cookbook that provides context and delves into our culture, shares vibrant pictures, and most importantly, shares our delicious recipes!
Isha walking through the market, Honduras
With a continued passion to share and preserve her own Garifuna culture, Isha has dedicated much of the past 5 years to documenting Garifuna cuisine in "Weiga, Let's Eat." Traveling back to Honduras with her assembled team, Isha has photographed and documented the depth and breadth of her people.
“Weiga, Let’s Eat” Is a passion project birthed by the need to share parts of the rich food culture of Coastal Central America.
Isha Gutierrez-Sumner was born and raised along the northern Caribbean coast in San Juan Tela, Honduras. As a Garifuna, her West African ancestors were originally shipwrecked off the shores of St. Vincent in 1635, and eventually intermarried with the Carib-Arawak natives giving existence to the Garifuna people who were exiled by the English in 1797 to the coast of Honduras, whereupon some migrated to Belize, Guatemala and Nicaragua at the turn of the 19th century. Garifuna people maintain a strong presence in Central America to this day.
Though Isha immigrated to the US at the age of 15, the foundation of her Garifuna culture remains central to her identity and sharing that, has been a major part of her life. As a professional Garifuna dancer, Isha was a member of the International Folkloric Garifuna Ballet of Honduras, which toured throughout Honduras & Europe in the early 1990's. From 1995 to 2000, she was a member of Wanichagu, a Garifuna dance company based in NYC, and performed at the likes of Lincoln Center and Harvard University. Isha's passion to perform onstage transitioned to more formal acting, and included a featured appearance speaking Garifuna in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit in 2007. In 2016 she completed her Associates Degree in acting at William Esper Studio in Manhattan.
Like many living in New York City, Isha has experienced scrumptious and creative cuisines from near and far across the globe. The distinctive Caribbean taste of the Garifuna foods she grew up eating (opulently rich fresh coconut milk seafood stews and soups, root vegetables, fruits, coconut tortillas, banana and pumpkin breads, just to name a few) are scarcely available to food lovers, unless you are somehow directly connected to a Garifuna person.
Noted food luminaries like Christopher Kimball (Milk Street Magazine/Radio), Andrew Zimmern (Bizare Foods), and Anthony Bourdain have reached out directly to Isha, to explore, cook and eat Garifuna cuisine with her. https://explorepartsunknown.com/queens/the-garifuna-kitchen/.
https://explorepartsunknown.com/queens/recipe-hudutu/
Isha knows that there is a broad-based appeal for Garifuna food made available to food lovers, immigrants and cosmopolitan friends that have tasted and relished Garifuna food. “Weiga/Let’s Eat” is poised to become that direct connection to a Garifuna person with access to their wonderful cuisine.