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Ixta Belfrage and Bel Coelho talk to Polly Russell

Matters of Taste: A Tour Around the Food of Latin America

Hay Festival 2026, 

How can we really understand another culture? Through its food, as chefs Ixta Belfrage and Bel Coelho will show you. Come and experience the real Brazil on this culinary journey into the heart of Amazonia. Belfrage and Coelho talk to food researcher and British Library curator Dr Polly Russell about recipes new and old, the interplay between heritage and relationship with food, and how Brazilian cuisine is travelling across the world.

São Paulo-based chef Coelho’s Tasting the Forest explores food, culture and biodiversity. She reveals ancient recipes which intertwine with her lived experience as a writer and activist for social justice and rural traditional farming. Belfrage offers up fresh takes on the food of her mother’s homeland, sharing personal stories as well as vibrant recipes from her cookbook Fusão.

This event features consecutive interpretation from Brazilian Portuguese into English.

Ixta Belfrage and Bel Coelho talk to Polly Russell