Tulsi Lathia is on a mission to bridge the cultural cap in New Zealand.
The 18-year-old Cantabrian cookbook editor is one of the trailblazing women under 25 on YWCA's inaugural Y25 list.
Tulsia Lathia. Photo: Supplied.
Tulsi was born in India and moved to New Zealand at three. She's lived here her whole life apart from two years back in India after the Christchurch earthquakes.
Last year, Tulsi and four of her fellow Rangi Ruru classmates released a multicultural cookbook called Spoonful of Spice. It features recipes and stories collected from refugees and migrants living in Christchurch.
Tulsi hopes that the book shows how multicultural this country really is.
"There is a cultural gap here in New Zealand that might not be addressed appropriately. We wanted to see how we could bridge that gap using food as a common medium because it's something that really ties together cultures that are miles apart."
Putting Spoonful of Spice together was a two-year mission, and Tulsi is proud of contributing to a cause she's passionate about.
Her favourite recipe in the book happens to be her own mum's recipe for Sev Paji – a vegetable mixture with a side of toasted bun, Tulsi says.
Before lockdown, she was working to put on an Indian food and culture day at her parents' supermarket.
In the future, Tulsi hopes to run other multicultural events in Christchurch.
A small number of copies of Spoonful of Spice are still available here.
