How it all started…

“I never meant to be a chef, Samia. It just happened.”

“What do you mean, it just happened?”

Seated next to the colorful kitchen curtain at Hektor, with the Lanzarote wind in our hair, Bert and I pondered how we got into (plant-based) cooking...

“Yves read “Eating Animals” by Jonathan Safran Foer, and we decided to never eat animal products again after that. I initially panicked: it took us almost a decade to find an alternative for practically everything we love to eat.”

“I feel you. Wooing my wife involved a lot of vegetarian and vegan trial and error in the kitchen. I would say you’ve done a pretty amazing job – have you ever considered a cooking book?”

Great things happen when two quirky queers with a heart for food and animals meet. We cut a deal. I would help Bert out, and he would publish those recipes.

Food is my love language. My Spanish nana would stuff me with homemade tortilla de patatas. My auntie Amparo’s paella was the annual centrepiece on New Year’s Day. And growing up, my mom spoiled us with a mouthwatering creation daily.

Cooking food for loved ones is a magical place. There is just something about observing a group of people from the safety of the kitchen as they stuff their faces with the meal you made and chat away.

“Enough with the chitchat, Samia. It’s time to create memories. Let’s meet at the table.”

“All of the happiness. None of the cruelty. Let’s do it.”

This series of classic Hektor plant-based brunch recipes will spark joy, not hurt a living soul, blow your (and everyone else’s) mind, and create memories for life.

Happy cooking. See you at the table.