Kristina grew up in Darug (Western Sydney) and on a grape and citrus farm in Millewa-Mallee region (VIC), and has lived in Naarm since she was 15. She completed a Bachelor of Health Sciences majoring in Nutrition and Health Promotion, working as a nutritionist, cooking teacher, cook, and within the public and community health sector for over 13 years.
Kristina loves sharing the food and stories from both her cultural backgrounds, as a way to continue and preserve the family and community recipes, knowledge, and practices, as well as connect like minded people who want to experience and learn more. Her work strives to encourage a shift towards a greater appreciation for sustainable living through permaculture, buying direct from farmers and artisan producers, and decolonising the way we approach food and life.
Kristina’s mum is from Western Mindanao, moving across the mountain regions of Misamis Occidental and Zamboanga Del Norte, with lineage on her father’s side to the Subanen tribe indigenous to the region, as well as historical ancestral lineage to the island of Bohol in Central Visayas from both her parents. Her family have a long history of living resourcefully off the land in Western Mindanao, farming coconut, rice, corn, and market vegetables, while living in the rich nature, culture, and community life in the mountainous probinsya.
Kristina’s father is ethnic Hungarian from former Hungary and former Yugoslavia (now Serbia + Croatia) with a long history of farming as well, living in the countryside next to the Duna river, where his family grew grapes, sugarbeet, and seasonal produce, fleeing to Australia as a refugee, together with his parents as a child.
Kristina hosts pop-up lunches and dinners, teaches cooking workshops, and takes private bookings for events and gatherings across Naarm - Melbourne.