ABOUT claudia
Dr. Claudia Serrato is an Indigenous culinary anthropologist, a public scholar, a professor of ethnic and food studies, and an Indigenous/Mesoamerican traditional plant-based chef.
She was born and raised in East Los Angeles, California, predominantly on a Mesoamerican (P’urhépecha, Huasteca, and Zacateco) sazon and diet. She began to cook alongside her elders at an early age, gaining time-tested food knowledge.
Claudia centered these knowledges in her academic studies, concluding in 2007 that decolonizing the diet was essential to the survival of Indigenous culinary epistemologies, foods, and foodways.
The following year, in addition to offering private chef, pop-up, and catering services, she began presenting, speaking, publishing, and facilitating workshops on these topics in local and regional communities, educational institutions, and conferences, gaining public and national honor and recognition.
Since 2014, Claudia has been actively involved in the Native food justice and sovereignty movement, cooking alongside reputable Indigenous chefs at cultural food gatherings, summits, and pop-ups throughout Turtle Island (North America).
In 2015 she was granted an honorary title of sous-chef de cuisine by the Native American Culinary Association (NACA).
Claudia was a featured chef at the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society and the Association for the Study of Food and Society Conference in 2018.
She has been invited to speak on public radio and podcast programming such as Feminist Magazine, Animal Voices, Toasted Sister, Native American Calling, NPR Good Food, and For the Wild.
Claudia has also been featured by the LA Times Food Bowl, LA Ford Philharmonic Association, New York Times, New York Times Cooking channel, ABC Primetime, Univision, Popsugar, LATV, REMEZCLA, Los Angeles Daily, and most recently on Telemundo’s “Inspirando a América.”
She is co-founder of Across Our Kitchen Tables, a women of color culinary hub and event series founded in 2017 that generates and supports socially responsible food-based work by women of color.
Claudia holds a stream of degrees starting with a Bachelor’s degree in Gender, Ethnicity, and Multicultural Studies, a Master’s in Chicano/a Studies, a second Master’s in Anthropology, and a a Ph.D. in sociocultural anthropology from the University of Washington, Seattle.
She teaches for the California State University (CSU), is a primary first foods and baby nutrition researcher with the First Nations Development Institute, and provides culinary anthropological and chef services through her consulting business.
Claudia lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.
