How Sobremesa Culture Helped My Relationship With Food [Video]

In Latinx families, sobremesas are liminal spaces that are hard to define. Growing up in a Colombian family, sobremesas were sacred. The table was always buzzing with people and conversation. It was where I learned that meals weren’t just about eating—they were about sharing, storytelling, and feeling rooted in something bigger. It was through these conversations, surrounded by the aroma of ajiaco, that I began to understand the richness of my Colombian heritage and how food and family are inextricably linked. To me, it is the hours I spent as a child sitting at my grandparents’ table, learning to play cards and word games long after the plates from lunch had been cleared and dessert had been passed around. It is where I heard my uncles talk about soccer and where my grandmother used to hold a needle over the palm of my hand to predict if my future children would be boys or girls. …