## SHORT BIO (50 words)
Elena Vasquez plucks flavors from the Andes to feed her Brooklyn table. In *Whisper of the Andes*, she intertwines family migration stories with recipes like her grandmother's quinoa chuño stew. A former journalist, she now writes cookbooks that bridge old worlds and new kitchens.

(48 words)

## MEDIUM BIO (150 words)
Elena Vasquez spent two decades as a journalist chasing stories across South America before turning her lens on the kitchen. *Whisper of the Andes* captures her family's migration from highland Peru to urban New York through 40 recipes, like the slow-simmered locro de papa that sustained generations. Potatoes dug from volcanic soil meet corner bodega staples in dishes that taste like memory. She balances single motherhood with midnight recipe tests, her daughter's laughter the best critique. Elena teaches cooking classes in Brooklyn community centers, where newcomers swap tips in Spanglish. Now at work on a sequel exploring street foods from Lima to Queens, she lives in Brooklyn with her daughter and a persistent craving for rocoto peppers.

(142 words)

## LONG BIO (300 words)
Born in a remote Andean village where potatoes outnumbered people, Elena Vasquez learned early that food tells the truest tales. Her parents migrated to Lima during El Niño floods, packing her childhood with street vendors' anticuchos and her abuela's herbal remedies. A scholarship sent her to journalism school, where she honed a nose for narrative amid political unrest—covering Shining Path remnants and indigenous land rights for outlets like El Comercio. But the newsroom grind clashed with raising her daughter alone after a sudden divorce. Cooking became refuge: chuño (freeze-dried potatoes) shipped from cousins revived Sunday suppers. *Whisper of the Andes* emerged from those nights, weaving 40 recipes—like papa a la huancaína spiked with her mother's secret aji amarillo paste—into a tapestry of migration's quiet triumphs and losses. Smuggled family photos and market haggling tips ground the ethereal in the everyday. Influences range from Laura Esquivel's magical realism to Fuchsia Dunlop's precise ethnobotany, fueling Elena's obsession with ingredients as portals. No glossy chef cred here; her test kitchen is a Formica counter scarred by knife slips. Published by a small indie press after self-publishing a viral recipe zine, the book hit shelves amid a nostalgia wave for immigrant stories. Elena now leads sold-out workshops at Brooklyn's immigrant resource centers, demoing how to char ají peppers without a gas flame. Critics praise her unpretentious voice: "Vasquez doesn't romanticize; she seasons." Next up: a street food odyssey tracing her parents' path, from Lima cevicherías to Queens halal carts. She lives in Bushwick, where plantains sizzle nightly and her daughter experiments with fusion.

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## FIRST-PERSON "ABOUT ME" (100 words)
I write to keep my family's Andes alive in Brooklyn's bustle. *Whisper of the Andes* shares 40 recipes—like the quinoa chuño stew my abuela made during tough harvests—tied to our migration saga. Once a journalist dodging deadlines, now I chop onions and spill stories for my daughter. Join me in the kitchen; we'll turn potatoes into passports.

(78 words)

## SOCIAL HANDLE BIOS
- **Twitter/X (160 chars):** Elena Vasquez cooks up Andean migration tales in *Whisper of the Andes*—quinoa stews & family lore from Peru to Brooklyn. Ex-journo feeding memory one recipe at a time. #FoodStories #AndesEats [Book link]

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- **Instagram (150 chars):**
Andean roots in  
Brooklyn pots.  
*Whisper of the Andes*:  
recipes like abuela's  
locro de papa,  
migration stitched in.  
Ex-journo, mom,  
spice chaser.  
🍠🌶️ Let's cook stories.  
[link in bio]

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- **LinkedIn (220 chars):** Elena Vasquez, former South American correspondent (El Comercio), now author of *Whisper of the Andes*. Blends journalism with 40 ancestral recipes tracking family migration—chuño techniques to NYC adaptations. Workshop leader, Brooklyn. Open to collabs on food/culture storytelling. [Book site] [contact]

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## AUTHOR PHOTO CAPTION
Elena Vasquez in her Bushwick kitchen, mid-stir on a pot of locro de papa from *Whisper of the Andes*.

## MEDIA CONTACT BLOCK
Elena Vasquez  
elena@whisperoftheandes.com  
(718) 555-0123  
whisperoftheandes.com  
Twitter/X: @ElenaAndesEats | Instagram: @WhisperAndes | LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/elenavasquez