Melissa Alvarado Sierra

• Melissa trained in international cuisine at the Escuela Hotelera de San Juan and is currently studying for a Court of Master Sommeliers (CMS) certification.
• A self-proclaimed tea nerd, she owns more loose-leaf blends than pairs of shoes — and once held a serious debate over the proper temperature for oolong.
• Her doctoral research has led her to explore the role of food in literature, memory, and identity.

Experience

Melissa is a food writer, serious home cook, and literary scholar whose work explores the intersections of culture, flavor, and technique. She has contributed to The New York Times, Lonely Planet, USA Today, Orion, The Window Seat, and Royal Caribbean, covering everything from cultural storytelling to travel and culinary trends. Raised in Puerto Rico and now based in the Virgin Islands, Melissa has explored the world through its kitchens — from Italy to Mexico — getting to know a place by what simmers on its stove. Her writing also turns to the land, highlighting farming communities and agricultural traditions, including her contribution to The World We Need (The New Press), where she wrote about grassroots farming projects in Puerto Rico. Whether she's unpacking the history of Icelandic hákarl (fermented shark), breaking down the layers of a perfect Catalan romesco sauce, or mapping literary references to food in PhD-level research, Melissa writes with a cook's intuition and a scholar's lens.

Education

Melissa studied literature at the University of Barcelona, where she first explored the history of food writing and culinary texts. She earned her MFA in creative writing from Southern New Hampshire University and is currently a doctoral student researching expressions of cultural memory in literature, with food as one of the narrative threads.