The standard daily diet of any Colombian is based on much animal protein, along with carbohydrates in rice and "papa" potatoes. The most common vegetables are lettuce, tomato and onion, in a salad with a vinegar/lemon dressing. This does not sit well with the dining table as seen by Denise Monroy, revelation chef at Bogotá Madrid Fusión 2021. "Our fare tries to break down the idea that vegetable food is boring", she explained on the second day of Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España. "We wanted to come up with a different look, more friendly, and take a risk", she said about the concepts at Elektra, her restaurant in Bogotá.

Monroy's fun cuisine is based on street food transformed so that it does not lack any nutrients. "It's very important to me for customers to feel they're not eating junk food", she explained while making cheese with double-fermentation seaweed and saps, one fermentation with probiotics, wine and miso, and another with fermentation agents. To obtain this texture, similar to cheese sticks, she conducted research into a number of saps which "stretch like chewing gum" under heat.
She also presented her Bolognaise pasta and a miso and shitake sandwich. "We knew that customers wanted something more than just tasty salads", she added. So this necessity led to a ricotta salad with almonds, baby carrots, spring onion and tamarind vinaigrette. But Monroy's plan is not just vegetable-only recipes - she also focuses on the quality and contribution for diners. In this regard she also produced milk coffee enhanced with herbs and fungi, and a piña colada with nutrients.

"We want to change the future of Colombian gastronomy in this way", said Monroy as she demonstrated one of her latest creations. The recipe originated on a television programme where she had to come up with a recipe using the ingredients of a Colombia "departamento" or region. She was given the Vichada "departamento", next to the Amazon, and she invented a fermented cheese with "marañón" (cashew), in a anacardo) in a bag of "Eryngium foetidum" coriander. Underneath, creamy "catara" sauce and a bed of nuts.