‘Indigenous People Are Still Here’
Chef Andrea Murdoch highlights Andean Venezuelan roots through food
Chef Andrea Murdoch describes herself as living in multiple worlds — a woman in a man’s world, a person of color in a white world, and an indigenous person in a colonized world.
“I am actually an adopted Venezuelan,” Murdoch, 33, said. “My father was a lieutenant colonel in the Army. My mom was with him when they were in Latin America, and they got me out of an orphanage in Venezuela. My indigenous side is from the San Cristobal region, which is the far west side of Venezuela.”
Through her catering company, Denver-based Four Directions Cuisine, Murdoch combines those multiple worlds to create dishes that celebrate her background and other indigenous cultures.
Four Directions, she said, is a symbol of her Andean Venezuelan roots and stands for the four-sided Inca cross that she carries around her neck. It also represents the four main pillars of her business: to source ingredients indigenously, purchase goods from local vendors, educate others on indigenous culture, and partake in community service and social justice efforts.
By using ingredients from her Andean roots, like quinoa and amaranth, or sourcing from other native tribes, she tells a different story in every dish.
