Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on February 24, 2022

For khachapuri and steaming bowls of Uzbek rice, hit the boulevard.

Riekers Prime Meats is on our list of Northeast Philly food spots. | Photo by Noah Tanen

I get it: Northeast Philly is big, and maybe even a little mysterious unless you live there. (Fox Chase? Juniata? Rhawnhurst?) So Im beyond excited to let you know that the food there is good. Extremely good. So good that I once rode my bike miles down Roosevelt Boulevard for a pastrami sandwich at Steve Steins Famous Deli. While I cant condone that two-wheeled trek, I can recommend you make a trip one way or another, especially if it means trying something new. Northeast Philly is a good place for that.

Picanha, Oxford CircleSometimes overshadowed by its more popular (and expensive) counterparts, Picanha is certainly the most underrated Brazilian steakhouse in Philly. The buffet is solid, with salads and black beans. And the mashed potatoes are surprisingly good. Its everything a churrascaria should be: a haven for the appreciation of meat. 6501 Castor Avenue.

Mayfair Diner, MayfairDiner competition is stiff in Philadelphia, and I dont like to see Mayfair Diner left out of the conversation. Its ancient, unwavering and soul-nourishing. Get anything you want: Its open 24-7. 7373 Frankford Avenue.

Steves Prince of Steaks, Oxford CircleThe original Steves location makes the controversial choice of adding full, unchopped slabs of meat to their cheesesteak. Its not an easy style to pull off perhaps why so many people are wary of it but I dont think every cheesesteak needs its beef chopped into oblivion. Pile on the cherry peppers and enjoy. 7200 Bustleton Avenue.

China Gourmet, MayfairChina Gourmet is huge massive, actually, and the menu is as expansive as the space. The roving dim-sum carts are bursting with custard buns, rice-noodle rolls and other things that are all generally steamy, chewy and delicious. 2842 Saint Vincent Street.

Steve Steins Famous Deli, BustletonThis is one of the last standing Jewish delis in a neighborhood that, at one point, was brimming with them. Steve Steins is more than a relic though; its a great place to get a sandwich. Pastrami on rye or a bagel with lox are the go-tos. 1619 Grant Avenue, suite 39.

Sweet Lucys, HolmesburgGood barbecue is hard to come by in Philadelphia, but there are a select few spots that satisfy the craving when it hits. I promise you Sweet Lucys is one of them. 7500 State Road.

Riekers Prime Meats, Fox ChaseThe endless deli counter at Riekers is packed full with house-cured and smoked meats. Its a lovely place to lose yourself in. The leberkse in particular is so rich and delicate and perfectly salted. I almost dont want to recommend the kielbasa here; it sets too high a standard. But definitely get the liverwurst, even if you think you wont like it. 7979 Oxford Avenue.

Finks Hoagies, TaconyFinks is one of the best hoagie spots in Philly. The signature sandwiches all somehow taste both distinct and classic, especially the Original Italian, which is kicked up by a very sharp provolone and a proprietary olive spread. The seeded French Liscios roll is, of course, non-negotiable. 4633 Princeton Avenue.

Georgian Bread, SomertonYou need to get the khachapuri here: The adjaruli style is ideal. What better vehicle for butter, bubbling cheese and a soft egg than freshly baked bread? 10865 Bustleton Avenue.

Mini sampler at Alshami | Photo by Noah Tanen

Alshami Mediterranean Cuisine, TorresdaleAlshami is a relative newcomer to the neighborhood. The specialties are fatayer and manakeesh Levantine breads topped or stuffed with meat, cheese and herbs. Get the hummus and baba ganoush sampler, too. It comes with dolmas, which are exceptional, and very crispy falafel that are vibrant green with herbs. 3217 Willits Road.

Plov House, BustletonIts right in the name: Get the plov. The classic Uzbek rice dish is transformative if youve never had it: subtly fragrant rice with sweet carrots and chunks of beef as soft as butter. They do sell dishes pre-packed for reheating, so be sure to ask for your plov to be made fresh. And order a samsa, too. 9969 Bustleton Avenue.

Mallu Cafe, BustletonMallu serves up generous portions of Kerala-style South Indian food. Try the biryani and flaky porotta, or go for something more regionally specific like the beef cutlet, a kind of potato and beef fritter flavored with ginger and chili. 10181 Verree Road.

Shish Kabob Palace, BustletonShish Kabob Palaces blend of Central Asian cuisine with Sephardic Jewish and Russian influences hits your plate hot from the grill. The hefty kabobs are charred and piled high with onions, evoking flavors of the Middle East and Eastern Europe. 1683 Grant Avenue.

Uzbekistan Restaurant, SomertonLike many Uzbek spots in the neighborhood, Uzbekistan Restaurant serves great manti, vareniki and plov, but the digs are elevated with old-school decor. Its both cozy and refined in the way a good bowl of borscht is. 12012 Bustleton Avenue.

Salad bar at Bells Market | Photo by Noah Tanen

GaetasGaetas is a classic Philadelphia bakery that makes an exceptional tomato pie. The crust is just thin enough, and the sauce is just sweet enough. Its crunchy and deeply layered with rich tomato flavor. Its textbook. 7616 Castor Avenue.

Lipkins BakeryLipkins is known for their traditional Jewish baked goods, but in addition to bagels, rye and challah breads, theyve got a killer pound cake. The knishes, however, are the main attraction. 8013 Castor Avenue.

Bells MarketThe selection of Russian and Eastern European groceries at Bells Market is unmatched. Theres an overwhelming variety of unique caviar, cheeses, breads and smoked fish from which to choose. They have prepared foods as well, so make sure to grab some dumplings or blintzes on the way out. 8330 Bustleton Avenue.

Cantinho BrasileiroCantinho is a casual spot with great Brazilian food. Its a different experience than the steakhouses you may be used to: The food is all sold by weight, so load up your plate with as little or as much as you can manage. 7536 Castor Avenue.

Morning Star PastriesHit Morning Star early for a breakfast of Hong Kong-style buns. Come back later or just never leave and dive deep into a steaming bowl of congee or rice-noodle soup for lunch. 6918 Bustleton Avenue.

Tio PepeTio Pepe is the spot for Portuguese food in Northeast Philly. Start with a bit of chourico sausage, served on a flaming ceramic grill, and finish with a big pan of paella Valenciana. Wash it all down with a glass of sangria. 6618 Castor Avenue.

Delicias CriollasThe pastries here span the entire gamut of Colombian baked goods. They have empanadas, pan de bono and a variety of things both savory and sweet all perfect to eat with coffee. 6039 Castor Avenue.

On CharcoalThe arepas and tostones are great, but the whole chicken, beef ribs and steaks really anything cooked on charcoal are what make this place special. Finish what is likely to be a heavy meal with a light passion-fruit mousse for dessert. 6516 Castor Avenue.

Photo by Noah Tanen

Pupuseria Sabor Latino #2, JuniataA good pupusa sticks with you for days. The lingering memory of lightly charred corn dough, hot cheese and rich salsa roja is hard to shake. Suddenly Im back at Pupuseria Sabor Latino piling curtido, a Salvadoran pickled slaw, onto a hot pork and cheese pupusa. When you go, know that it may take a little time: The pupusas are all made fresh to order. 1446 Hunting Park Avenue.

Cafe Saigon, LawncrestCafe Saigon makes great and cheap banh mi sandwiches. Beyond that, youll find a menu of bright and flavorful Vietnamese dishes: rice vermicelli, noodle soups and crispy spring rolls. 827 Adams Avenue.

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Where to Eat in Northeast Philly: The Ultimate Guide - Philadelphia magazine

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Posted By admin on February 24, 2022

When Jordan Urnovitz won the fourth annual Top Home Chef cooking competition held by The Arizona Republic newspaper in 2016, he had no idea that that experience would lead to an appearance on Guys Grocery Games hosted by Guy Fieri on Food Network.

Initially, Food Network reached out to Urnovitz at the beginning of 2020 to discuss possible plans for him to appear on a new, geographical-based home chef show they were working on. Then COVID-19 hit and they called back to say that they were putting things on pause.

So, every three or four months, they would call me and they would say, Hey, weve got an idea for something. It looks like COVID-19 is ending and sure enough, COVID never ended, said Urnovitz. Then they called and said, We know that COVID is not going away, but wed still love to have you do something. Would you be interested in doing Guys Grocery Games? and I was just ecstatic.

The Food Network call happened on a Friday and Urnovitz was on a plane that Sunday headed to Santa Rosa, Calif., where Guys Grocery Games or GGG (Triple G) as it is known to its fans is filmed. The setting for the show, known as Flavortown Market, is both a television set and a full-fledged grocery store located inside a 15,500-square-foot warehouse.

It has the design of a grocery store and everything youd find in a grocery store but it was the best ingredients, said Urnovitz. They bring all the produce, meat, seafood everything is fresh every single day. Then at the end of the day, they donate to local charities, which I thought was super cool.

Another thing Urnovitz found super cool was that he had been invited to participate on a show that had 90,000 people apply when Food Network put out the call for home chefs.

Fieri has a reputation as a mensch, serving meals to firefighters who worked to contain the California wildfires and raising more than $20 million for restaurant workers struggling during the pandemic. When Urnovitz met Fieri, he immediately felt he was authentic and genuine.

He came out to greet us and he knew everything about me, said Urnovitz. Like he had read all the bio background on me. He came out and said, Marissa is going to be so proud and Ezra will love seeing you on television. Your bubbe would be so proud. I was taken aback that he knew everything about me. Marissa is Urnovitzs wife and Ezra is their 3-year-old son.

The Urnovitz family, from left, Marissa, Ezra and Jordan.

The premise of GGG is a cooking competition between chefs, but challenges are thrown in to test the competitors culinary skills. The first challenge that Urnovitz and his two competitors encountered in the Global Food Fanatics episode that aired on Jan. 19, was to pick two items from the markets sample tables. The items were mini pizza bagels, mini chicken corn dogs, boxed mashed potatoes and peanut butter filled pretzels.

Im not a fast human being and you really have to think on your feet. You have 30 minutes to shop, cook and plate, said Urnovitz. I grabbed the mini chicken corn dogs and the mashed potatoes.

He prepared chicken shawarma on top of mejadra with Turkish ezme. Urnovitz had 20 to 30 dishes in his head that were familiar and that he knew he could make in the time allotment.

Growing up in a Jewish household, everything revolves around food, said Urnovitz. He remembers his mother and bubbe making traditional foods like kugel, but he also grew up eating a lot of Middle Eastern food at the restaurants in his hometown of Detroit, Mich. Theres a lot of similarities in the spices to Israeli cuisine and Ive always gravitated towards that food.

Urnovitz was not eliminated in the first round, so he went on to round two. This time the challenge was that everything needed for your dish had to fit in a small brown paper bag.

For his second dish, he planned to prepare shakshuka Bolognese over Israeli couscous but when he returned to his station after picking out items in the store, he realized he was missing a key ingredient.

I use a lot of harissa paste in what I cook and normally its really small but the jar that I grabbed was large. When I looked in the bag, I thought it was tomato sauce, said Urnovitz. They didnt talk about this on the episode, but of course I know shakshuka has to have tomato. So I went back to my station, emptied my bag and looked and thought, Oh my God! There was no tomato sauce.

He proceeded to prepare the shakshuka and had another surprise. Ive cooked my entire life and Ive never had a double egg (yolk) and I had three of them. Thats supposed to be good luck though it wasnt so much.

In the end, Urnovitz lost because his shakshuka lacked the tomato sauce. The contestants were told before the show began that its more of a cooking game show and if youre going to say something is something, then it has to be that.

Now that I look back, if I would have called it a rag I probably would have won, but I called it a shakshuka, Said Urnovitz. I dont think I lost because I delivered a dish that wasnt as good; I lost because I dont think I played the game as well.

He said after the show the producers told him that he was great on camera and in the kitchen and that they would love to have him back. GGG does redemption shows so Urnovitz figures that he might get invited back. In the meantime, he will enjoy his happy place in the kitchen.

In 2015, Urnovitz moved to Arizona and currently resides in Gilbert. When we moved here, I just cooked at home. Then I ended up winning Top Home Chef and I cooked at the Arizona Food and Wine Festival, he said. Ive done a dozen events for nonprofits, 30 different catering jobs and now Im on Guys Grocery Games. Its laughable to me because Im not a professional chef I just like to cook. JN

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Local home chef appears on Food Network's 'Guy's Grocery Games' - Jewish News of Greater Phoenix

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Posted By admin on February 24, 2022

BEACHWOOD, Ohio David Page, creator of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, is scheduled to speak at the Mandel Jewish Community Center about American cuisine.

Pages appearance, part of the Mandel JCCs Cleveland Jewish Book Festival, is 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, March 3. Its at Mandel JCC Stonehill Auditorium, 26001 S. Woodland Road, Beachwood. A Q and A also will be held. Ron Block, manager at Cuyahoga County Public Library in Cleveland, will moderate. Block serves on the board of the Cleveland Independent Restaurants Association and is a judge for the James Beard Cookbook Awards.

Page, a two-time Emmy winner, has written Food Americana: The Remarkable People and Incredible Stories behind Americas Favorite Dishes, billed as a mix of food culture, pop culture, nostalgia and everything new on the American plate. He will share stories behind Americas favorite dishes and explore a range of topics, including how America created a national cuisine from the foods of many other countries.

Go online for tickets, which are $10 (students and seniors, $5).

Guy Fieri, who hosts Food Networks Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, recently was in Cleveland for the NBA All-Star Game.

I am on cleveland.coms life and culture team and cover food, beer, wine and sports-related topics. If you want to see my stories, heres a directory on cleveland.com. Bill Wills of WTAM-1100 and I talk food and drink usually at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning. Twitter: @mbona30.

Get a jumpstart on the weekend and sign up for Cleveland.coms weekly In the CLE email newsletter, your essential guide to the top things to do in Greater Cleveland. It will arrive in your inbox on Friday mornings - an exclusive to-do list, focusing on the best of the weekend fun. Restaurants, music, movies, performing arts, family fun and more. Just click here to subscribe. All cleveland.com newsletters are free.

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Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives creator Page to speak in Beachwood - cleveland.com

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Posted By admin on February 24, 2022

A gift from Sicily under Arab rule

By Mariella Radaelli

Published: Thu 24 Feb 2022, 8:53 PM

Nothing is more classic Italian than a plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. It is the premier dish, especially in the eyes of foreigners who are not entirely familiar with the finesse and the rich regional variety of la cucina italiana. Pasta is the culinary symbol par excellence of Italian identity. Eating pasta is the number one Italian experience that anybody can carry out globally with the availability of the right ingredients.

Italian cooking starts with authentic ingredients, a feast of colours, and mouthwatering flavours that rely on recipes. Pasta can be fresh or dried, rolled or filled. There are more than 350 types of pasta, and each shape is suitable for several recipes. Individual Italian cities and rural areas contribute their typical pasta dishes. And each preparation has its history.

THE ORIGINS

Pasta dishes entered the Italian kitchens in the Middle Ages. But where and when exactly did the pasta industry begin? The dried pasta with durum wheat tradition began in Sicily under Arab rule around 800 AD. The Arabs occupied Sicily in the ninth century the Sicilians remained under Islamic domination for more than 200 years until the Norman conquest of the 11th century.

Arab culture deeply penetrated Sicily.

An extraordinary historical account proves the existence of a very active dried pasta industry in Trabia, Sicily, around 1150. The account came down to us from Muhammad al-Idrisi, a North African nobleman, traveller and geographer, who became an adviser to the Norman King Roger II. al-Idrisi revealed the existence of a pasta industry in his Arabic book Tabula Rogeriana, which focused on the territories all around the Mediterranean Sea. When writing about Trabia, a town only 19 miles southeast of Palermo, al-Idrisi noted the presence of perennial waters that move several mills and of farms where a lot of pasta was produced. That was the first pasta industry in history, writes Massimo Montanari in A Short History of Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce, a book by Europa Editions that inquires into pastas origins. It was a true industry that controlled all phases of the productive cycle: from the harvesting and milling of the wheat to the fabrication and marketing of the pasta, explains Montanari, a professor of Medieval History and History of Nutrition at the University of Bologna. The cultural and political context of the time was extraordinarily open-minded and featured collaboration among Christians, Jews, and Muslims, he notes.

Sicily invented and revolutionised pasta. The beloved Italian tradition of making pasta has nothing to do with the history of Chinas noodles that followed its routes. It was a widespread belief that Marco Polo had a role in the history of pasta. But that is just a myth. Marco Polo did not introduce noodles in Italy until 1296 upon his return to Venice from China. When Marco Polo came back, Italians had already eaten pasta for more than 200 years!

THE MIDDLE EASTERN INFLUENCE

Italian pasta culture is autonomous, yet Middle Eastern cultures have affected our starting point. The search for origins takes us to the Fertile Crescent, the Middle Eastern regions to the east of the Mediterranean, explains Montanari. Around 10-12 thousand years ago, the agricultural revolution began, and with it, the culture of wheat and its derivatives first among them, bread, which became the symbol of that revolution.

Pasta originated as a variation of unleavened bread, occasionally dried to enhance conservation. That thin dough, flattened with a rolling pin or worked by hand into elongated or other shapes, was called Lakhsha, explains Montanari. Another term, Rishta, indicated a type of pasta cut in strips or strings (like tagliatelle or spaghetti) before being dried, he writes.

Both the Greeks and Romans took up the Middle Eastern practice of rolling dough. The Romans used the Latin word lagana, a dish similar to our lasagna. They fried it or baked it without first boiling the noodles in water. Possibly, Jewish merchants introduced the procedures for preparing dried pasta to the western Mediterranean countries, explains Montanari. Pietro Ispano, a medical doctor who became pope in 1276, referred to dried pasta as Jewish food (Cibus Iudaeorum).

But the Arabs spread the culinary custom of dried pasta throughout the regions they governed Sicily, North Africa and Andalusia, insists Montanari. Thanks to their mediation, the new practice was superimposed on the Greek and Roman tradition of fresh pasta.

For a fact, 12th century Sicily paved the way for the development of the pasta industry. And in the early 13th century, Sicilians realised that Sardinians were their first competitors in producing and exporting pasta. A few decades later, the Italian maritime cities such as Genoa, Pisa, and Venice would establish pasta factories to develop a flourishing import-export trade.

During the Renaissance, Italy saw a boom in the consumption of filled pasta such as tortellini, ravioli and agnolotti. All three combined the tradition of Ancient Romans lagana a dish similar to lasagna but cut into smaller pieces with the skill of making savoury pastries or torte in medieval times.

In the mid-16th century, Naples took a dominant role in producing dried pasta, generally known as macaroni. In 1576, the Arte dei Vermicellari, the corporation of pasta makers in the Kingdom of Naples, broke off from the corporation of the bakers to assume managerial autonomy, and vermicelli, a long pasta slightly thicker than spaghetti, became the local staple food. The Neapolitans were soon dubbed macaroni eaters, much like the Sicilians centuries earlier as Sicily was the incubator of the culture of pasta or macaroni. In the 17th century Naples, macaroni would become the street food par excellence and pasta stands would become places of entertainment for gentlemen visiting the city, says Montanari.

The villages overlooking the Gulf of Naples, such as Gragnano, still have the ideal climate for drying pasta, thanks to the Maestrale, a sea breeze blowing through Provence into the Mediterranean that mixes with hot winds from Mount Vesuvius.

The Italian pasta market remains the most concentrated market in the world. Italy is the leading dry pasta producing country, and Italians have the highest per capita consumption, with 23.5 kilograms per year, followed by Tunisia, 17 kilograms, and Venezuela, 12 kilograms.

So where did the word spaghetti originate? The Italian word spago means thin string, and spaghetti is the plural of spago a description of what spaghetti looks like. In the mid-15th century, Maestro Martino, a chef from the papal court, explained how to make Sicilian macaroni, pasta sticks as thin as a straw. The spago mentioned in the Sicilian macaroni recipe refers to the wire for piercing the dough, explains Montanari.

However, people started using the term spaghetti only in the mid-1800s. And today, in Naples, the word maccheroni (macaroni) remains in current use to refer to spaghetti.

All Italian cookbooks, even the earlier culinary literature, speak about pairing pasta perfectly with aged cheese such as Parmigiano, Grana, and Pecorino, whose dry nature is ideal for balancing the moist nature of its companion.

Grating cheese fine favours its blending with the still boiling-hot pasta.

WHAT PERFECTION LOOKS LIKE

For centuries, Italian pasta has been served white with cheese. Butter and spices would enrich the cheese in recipes destined only for wealthy dinner tables. A mid-1300s novella from Boccaccios masterpiece, The Decameron, portrays the fabulous Bengodi, an abundant food town where they had a mountain made of grated parmesan cheese, where people did nothing but make ravioli and gnocchi that they cooked. Then they would toss them down below, and the more you picked up, the more you had.

Montanari points out that cheese on macaroni soon entered the world of Italian proverbs to indicate an ideal combination. In contrast, macaroni without cheese became the metaphor for imperfection.

The very first plate of pasta with olive oil was made for aristocratic tables only at the end of the 1600s by Antonio Latini. Dressing pasta with extra-virgin olive oil became normal only in the 1950s when the concept of the Mediterranean diet, known as a food model, took shape.

Olive oil has been a distinctive element of Mediterranean culture for millennia ancient Romans used it both as a condiment and cosmetic. Yet later in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, olive oil was costly, a luxury only a few could afford.

On a different note, the marriage between pasta and tomato sauce is fundamental, yet it did not happen right away. Even though the first tomato plants arrived from the New World around 1544, the tomato sauce was entirely welcome into Italian cooking of the late 1700s.

When Goethe was in Naples in 1787, he observed that macaroni is cooked simply in water and dressed with grated cheese. Only a few years later, in 1781, Neapolitan chef Vincenzo Corrado wrote: Tomatoes do a lot, with their acidic juice, to facilitate digestion, particularly during their summer season, during which, overcome by the heat, mans stomach is relaxed and nauseous. In the early 1800s, making spaghetti with tomato sauce became a chefs classic.

In her reportage, Il Ventre di Napoli (The Belly of Naples, 1884), journalist and novelist Matilde Sarao writes: All the streets in the four lower-class neighbourhoods have one of these taverns that have their cauldrons set up in the open air, where macaroni is always boiling, the pots where the tomato sauce is bubbling, mountains of grated cheese.

Italian businessman and writer Pellegrino Artusi spread the Southern custom of dressing pasta with tomato sauce throughout the country. In his famous cookbook Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well, published in 1891, he told how to make a good tomato sauce. Artusi was a businessman and writer who established a truly national Italian cuisine, and even the French cook Auguste Escoffier took inspiration from him. Artusi is the father of Italian cuisine because he included recipes from all the different regions of Italy in a single cookbook for the first time.

According to Artusi, tomato sauce requires a rich battuto (chopped seasonings) made with a quarter of an onion, a clove of garlic, a rib of celery, a few basil leaves, enough parsley. Add oil, salt, and pepper to the mix. Then cut seven or eight tomatoes into small pieces and put everything on the fire together.

Artusi ladled tomato sauce over hot pasta dishes already dressed with cheese and butter, as in the most established Italian tradition. In the 20th century, the roles reversed: Now, we add Parmesan cheese to tomato sauce.

Italian identity seems to be living in a simple plate of homemade spaghetti served al dente. The red of the tomato sauce, the white of spaghetti and cheese, and the green of basil leaves will always evoke the Italian flag.

wknd@khaleejtimes.com

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Dig deep into the evolution of good, old Italian pasta - Khaleej Times

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Posted By admin on February 24, 2022

Members can discover their familial history through food!

Award-winning writer Michael Twitty isteaching aMasterClass about lineage tracing through food, the Washington Informer reports.

In 2018, Twitty made history as the first African American author to receive the James Beard Award for Book of the Year, for his work The Cooking Gene. He is also the founder of Afroculinaria, a blog that explores culinary history, African and African American foodways. Now, Twitty is set to lead a unique digital MasterClass, helping others discover and document their family food histories through storytelling, genealogy and writing. Twitty hopes to use food culture to help others uncover unique cultural and familial history about their ancestors, emphasizing the importance of archiving and preserving family food history.

As someone with many intersections of identities - Black, gay, Jewish, Southern, male - all of those things put together means that if my experience is something rich and worthy of dialogue, so is yoursUnderstanding the culinary journey of our ancestors gives us something to be proud of and in my class, I will teach members how to preserve their ancestors legacy and continue telling their story through food, said Twitty.

In the class, Twitty will take a deep dive into the meaning and importance of foodways, those cultural and social practices regarding food that are inherited. He will also explore the history of foodways as it pertains to the transatlantic slave trade and the antebellum South, taking a deeper look at racisms impact on Black culinary offerings and customs. Twitty will also give a detailed guide on how to interview family members to create your own unique cuisine DNA story. And of course, the class wont be complete without some firsthand cooking lessons, Twitty guiding viewers on how to cook African American staples like black-eyed pea fritters and okra stew.

The goal is for users to not only walk away with a renewed appreciation for food and its complex history but also to shine light on their own food stories, allowing them a deeper and more personal connection to their family and culture.

Michael is a culinary historian who has revolutionized the way we understand what we eat. He roots his class in his personal journey, teaching members how to see food as the lens and vehicle for understanding who we are, where we come from and how to preserve a family legacy, said David Rogier, founder and CEO of MasterClass.

Twitty joins a new roster of MasterClasses shining light on Black history this month. The platform recently announced a roster of more than 50 free MasterClasses that include lessons from the likes of Angela Davis, Nikole Hannah-Jones and Cornel West.

Michael Twittys MasterClass is currently available on http://www.masterclass.com.

Photo Courtesy of MasterClass

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Award-Winning Writer Michael Twitty Will Teach MasterClass About Lineage Tracing Through Food - Because of Them We Can

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Posted By admin on February 24, 2022

Dumplings, which are ubiquitous throughout many cultures, serve much the same purpose as grits and polenta in that they make a soft, easy-to-swallow, and satisfying side dish to accompany any number of savory, saucy dishes. However, dumplings, which are made with flour, water, and salt, tend to be softer and even easier to swallow than grits and polenta, which are made from ground corn (which is coarser than flour).

Depending on the culture, dumplings may have other ingredients as well. For example, Italian dumplings, aka gnocchi, are typically made from mashed potatoes and/or ricotta cheese, in addition to flour. German dumplings, or spaetzle, meanwhile, are smaller than gnocchi and eggier, according to Fox Valley Foodie.

Chinese har gau (or har gow) dumplings are made from a mixture of wheat flour and tapioca starch and are usually formed into thin pancakes and filled with a soft, savory mixture of meats and/or vegetables, per the School of Wok. Still other Chinese dumplings may be made with rice or rice flour, while other Asian cultures will have their own unique take and flavor, too.

The Jewish knaidel dumpling is made from matzo meal rather than flour, and is almost always served in chicken soup (via TIME). Southern cuisine has its own version of dumplings as well, which are typically served with a slow-cooked chicken stew, as they are in this chicken and dumplings recipe.

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25 Soft Food Ideas That Will Leave You Feeling Full And Satisfied - Tasting Table

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Posted By admin on February 24, 2022

SOLON, Ohio -- One day after City Council approved agreements that will allow construction of the Solon to Chagrin Falls Trail to move forward, Mayor Ed Kraus spoke about another trail project the city hopes will become a reality as well.

During his annual State of the City address Wednesday (Feb. 23), Kraus discussed the citys interest in acquiring land for a trail on the former Norfolk Southern rail line.

Its one of the coolest old rail lines in town, he said at the event, hosted by the Solon Chamber of Commerce and live-streamed on the citys website.

Kraus said the abandoned rail line starts in downtown Cleveland and cuts through Solon, behind City Hall. It then travels east, through Aurora and on to Youngstown.

The city seeks to acquire land for a 7.1-mile trail from Harper Road in Solon to Treat Road in Aurora, he said.

Kraus told City Council Tuesday (Feb. 22) that the city will likely pursue a grant to help fund the purchase of this land.

Were going to be meeting with Norfolk Southern to be able to acquire the right-of-way to make sure this happens, he said.

The state of the city

In his 46-minute speech, Kraus said the city has much to look forward to again this year after experiencing much success last year.

He thanked Angee Shaker, the citys director of economic development, for her efforts, which resulted in 33 businesses opening in the city last year despite the coronavirus pandemic.

All these folks found a way to open up a new business in our community, he said. It says a lot about Solon, and it says a lot about the entrepreneurial spirit of our community.

The citys highlight of 2021, Kraus said, was the opening of Swagelok Co.s new global headquarters and Innovation Center in August. The 124,000-square-foot building is located on the same site where Swageloks headquarters has sat since 1965, at 29500 Solon Road.

Meanwhile, Nestle, which has its corporate office at 30003 Bainbridge Road, continues to grow in the city, with two major projects planned for this year, Kraus said. The companys Culinary Innovation Center will undergo a renovation, and a redevelopment of the test kitchens and main auditorium is also slated.

As the citys first Jewish mayor, Kraus said he was proud to welcome the first mosque in the city when the Chagrin Valley Islamic Center opened its new 7,000-square-foot facility in November. The $3 million building sits on 5.3 acres on Liberty Road.

Kraus urged residents to check out some of the citys great new restaurants.

He said City Barbeque is expected to open on SOM Center Road, between Station Street and Aurora Road, in a couple weeks.

Elle Restaurant and Lounge, a new upscale eatery on Bainbridge Road that features Mediterranean cuisine, opened in December and recently had its grand opening. In addition, a Korean barbecue restaurant is coming soon to the Solon Square shopping center, he said.

Development highlights

In terms of development, Kraus said hes excited about the 105 single-family homes that will be built for people 50 and older at the 32.6-acre site next to the former Hawthorne Valley Golf Club on Aurora Road.

We hope there will be an agreement someday with the Cleveland Metroparks, so that they will be able to take over and have beautiful walking paths like they did on Acacia (Reservation in Lyndhurst) on the 150 acres that will hopefully be developed there, he said.

Kraus said hes also very proud of the development that will become Solon Community Living on Aurora Road, west of Portz Parkway. The nonprofit was founded by Solon residents Ara and Leslie Bagdasarian to create a safe and community-accessible neighborhood for those who have disabilities.

When voters approved Issue 19 in April 2020 to make this housing project possible, Solon became the first municipality in the country to rezone a property for adults with disabilities, according to Kraus.

That says a lot about who we are and the values in the community, he said.

To encourage redevelopment in the citys central retail district, City Council approved the creation of a community reinvestment area last year. Kraus said that means property owners could be eligible for tax abatements for new construction and the remodeling of aging buildings.

It makes it a lot easier to provide tax incentives, he said.

The old Liberty Ford site and some of the aging shopping plazas that no longer align with todays market demands will be able to benefit from this CRA that will greatly enable us to attract much-needed new development in the central retail district.

Kraus said the city has a potential developer for a possible mixed-use project at the former Liberty Ford site on Aurora Road.

Kraus said the Cuyahoga County Public Library has partnered with the city to invest in a new Innovation Center that will promote the manufacturing workforce as a positive career path to build the future in safe, clean, cutting-edge facilities.

The center, which will be located at the Solon branch library on Portz Parkway, will enable the city to engage with its business community for ideas and support, he said.

Kraus said the city hosted a successful jobs fair last year, with more than 70 local businesses participating, and looks forward to partnering again with the Solon Chamber of Commerce for another jobs fair from noon to 4 p.m. May 19 at Solon Community Park.

Solon Mayor Ed Kraus discusses the Solon Connects plan during his State of the City address Wednesday (Feb. 23). (Screenshot)

Solon Connects plan

The city collaborated with the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission during the last two years to develop the Solon Connects plan, which received an award last year from the Ohio chapter of the American Planning Association.

The intent of the 12-year plan is to build stronger bicycle and pedestrian connections throughout the city, Kraus said.

If you build a community for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic, he said. Weve done that for a long, long time.

But if you build a community for people and places, you get people and places. So we are doing a complete shift in how were planning and building our community.

The plan, divided into four separate time frames of three years each, will expand the citys bike infrastructure to create a web of connectivity throughout the city, Kraus said.

Kraus said the city will create connectors to what he considers its two most difficult roads to bike and walk on: Harper Road and Liberty Road.

Theres going to be a reconstruction project to make sure folks who are on Harper Road will be able to access Hawthorn Parkway, he said. Liberty Road is probably the single-most dangerous road in the city, so were going to make a connector road there.

By the end of (the 12-year plan), we will have a completely transformed, connected community, so you will no longer feel unsafe getting on your bike, walking or running through our community.

The Solon Connects plan is not just about community safety, Kraus said.

Its about business attraction, he said. This is what businesses want when they come into our community. Its about attracting new families and its about healthy living.

Ashley Holloway, the citys new director of planning and community development, is going to lead an update of the citys master plan, Kraus said. The city will partner with City Architecture of Cleveland on the plan.

We want to make sure what were doing (with the master plan) is compatible with Solon Connects, he said. Were looking to put new buildings closer to the road, to make it more inviting for people to walk or ride their bikes there.

The city also has hired Brandstetter Carroll, a Cleveland-based architectural firm, to evaluate its entire park system via a parks master plan.

We have a beautiful park, but its underutilized, he said. We can do a lot more to our Community Park.

Were also going to look at Bicentennial Park, across the street from City Hall. Hopefully, well be able to have some shows there.

The city plans to reconfigure Bainbridge Road so that children will be able to cross the street more safely from the Solon Center for the Arts to Bicentennial Park, adjacent to the Solon Historical Society building on Bainbridge Road.

Kraus presentation also featured a video tour of the citys industrial area to show how important transportation and mobility is and how it affects our job hubs and businesses.

Narrated by Kraus, the video included stops at about 10 businesses in the citys industrial area, which he called the heart and soul of Solon.

Kraus closed by saying that everything the city does -- whether its hiring, promotion or how we treat people -- has to be done through the lens of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.

Tom Jackson, chair of the Solon Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, served as moderator for the program.

The event was sponsored by Mazanec, Raskin & Ryder Co., a Solon-based law firm. Its available for viewing on the City of Solons YouTube page.

Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun.

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Solon mayor highlights another trail project in State of the City address - cleveland.com

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Posted By admin on February 24, 2022

All weekendThere's a Camellia Celebration at Chiswick House

COMIC CON: Time to dust off that costume, as London Comic Con returns. Doctor Who's Jodie Whittaker, Game of Thrones' Leigh Gill and Bob Elmore from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are among the famous faces scheduled to appear. Olympia, from 16 adult/10 child, book ahead, 26-27 February

JEWISH BOOK WEEK: More than 70 events are on the impressive Jewish Book Week programme, covering topics as diverse as ghosts, music, vaccines and Margaret Thatcher. The festival celebrates the work of Jewish authors, many of whom appear at events, and addresses issues which affect Jewish people. Kings Place (King's Cross) with some virtual events, various prices, book ahead, 26 February-6 March

CAMELLIA CELEBRATION: Chiswick House and Gardens is home to one of the oldest collections of rare camellias kept under glass in Europe, with 33 different varieties and this is the first of two open weekends when the public can have a gander. Photography is encouraged, while a pop-up shops sells camellia-themed goodies. Chiswick House and Gardens, free, just turn up, 26-27 February (and 5-6 March)

THE TRAIN: Southbank Centre opens exhibition Chihoi: The Train, a slideshow of artworks from Hong Kong artist Chihoi's graphic novel. That itself is based on a story written by Taiwanese poet Hung Hung, about a train that runs day and night around the island. Southbank Centre, free, just turn up, 26 February-19 June

LAST CHANCE SKATING: Though Christmas is but a distant memory, the last of London's seasonal ice rinks carries on until the end of this weekend. Ice Rink Canary Wharf is located at the base of east London's skyscrapers, with twinkling lights, and a rinkside bar for those who just want to watch. Ice Rink Canary Wharf, 17.95 adult/11.95 child, book ahead, until 26 February

FASHION WITH PURPOSE: Showcase With A Difference: Product & Purpose is a free exhibition on the topic of sustainable fashion. It gives an insight into how clothes are made, with the work of 10 designers on show to demonstrate how they are rejecting the fashion industry's bad habits. The Lab E20 (Stratford), free entry, book ahead, until 27 February

LAST CHANCE DRER: It's the final weekend of Drer's Journeys: Travels Of A Renaissance Artist, a National Gallery exhibition charting the travels of German Renaissance artist Albrecht Drer. Paintings, drawings, prints, and letters tracks his journey through the Alps, Italy, Venice and the Netherlands, looking at the influences he picked up from other artists along the way. The National Gallery, 20, book ahead, until 27 February

LAST CHANCE LIGHTS: Also coming to an end this weekend is Battersea's light festival, a free trail of six flowing installations located in the area around the power station. Look out for a glowing greenhouse, and a digital origami tiger, among other works. Battersea, free, just turn up, until 27 February

STRANGE ECHOES: Poet Olivia Douglass curates a six-day programme of spoken word, short films, listening sessions and workshops, themed around poet and writer M. NourbeSe Philip. Philip's work is considered deeply influential on today's Black experimental writing in Britain. ICA (The Mall), various prices, book ahead, 22-27 February

BEATLES PHOTOS: Snaps of The Beatles which have never been on public display before can be seen in Belgravia for a short time. The windows of The Hari hotel host an exhibition of 48 candid photos by pop culture photographer, the late Tommy Hanley, including pictures of John Lennon which are on loan from the private collection of Yoko Ono. The Hari (Belgravia), free entry, just turn up, until 2 April

SURREALISM BEYOND BORDERS: In its latest exhibition, Tate shows us that Surrealism is a truly global phenomenon. The show spans 80 years and 50 countries, ranging from Prague to Cairo, Buenos Aires to Tokyo, highlighting the stories of artists inspiring one another across borders. Tate Modern, 18, book ahead, 24 February-29 August

SINGIN' IN THE RAIN: Introduce younger members of the family to classic 1952 film Singin' In The Rain, starring Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds. It's Barbican Family Film Club, which means kids must be with an adult, and adults must be with a kid to attend. Barbican Cinema, 3.50, book ahead, 11am

RAVI SHANKAR: Who was Ravi Shankar? Celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Indian composer's birth (in an event that's two years late, due to Covid...) with his wife Sukanya Shankar and biographer Oliver Craske. They chart his rise to fame, from India to the international stage, and look at the impact his work had on other genres, including jazz, pop and film scores. Southbank Centre, 25, book ahead, 12pm

GIN TOURS: After a long break, historian Dr Matthew Green's immersive gin tours of London are back. Accompanied by musicians and actors, learn about the history of gin in the capital, from the setting of Hogarth's Gin Lane to the sites of some of London's most splendid gin palaces. Your ticket includes as much 18th century gin as you can drink. Church of St Giles in the Fields (Tottenham Court Road), 36, book ahead, 2.30pm

ANTON & ERIN: Missing your Strictly fix? Anton du Beke and Erin Boag take to the stage to dance, with a soundtrack of tunes by the likes of Elton John, Shirley Bassey and Frank Sinatra, accompanied by a 23-piece orchestra. Expect dazzling costumes, and an audience Q&A session. Barbican Hall, 21.50-49.50, book ahead, 2.30pm

LEYTON ORIENT: Catch some EFL League Two action at Leyton Orient, as 'the O's' face Carlisle, who are battling to stay out of the relegation zone. We highly recommend a visit to the club bar beforehand. Leyton Orient (Leyton), from 18 adult, 8 under-18, book ahead, KO 3pm

EARL'S COURT PRIDE: Celebrate the golden Earls Court gay hey days at Earl's Court Pride. Taking place at The Bolton pub, one of the area's original gay pubs, it's an evening of film, fun, friendship, music, memories, drag queens, and celebrities. The Bolton, free, book ahead, 6pm

MARDI GRAS PARTY: Regular prohibition-style party The Candlelight Club brings a touch of New Orleans to London for its Mardi Gras party. Enjoy Big Easy-style cocktails and cuisine, live New Orleans music from the Candid Jug Orange Band Central, plus cabaret and more. London location, from 25, book ahead, 6pm

THINKING DRINKERS: Ben McFarland and Tom Sandham, together known as the Thinking Drinkers, are experts at combining booze and comedy, and do so with aplomb at their regular Thinking Drinkers Pub Quiz nights. Expect an onslaught of amusing facts and trivia, and five free drinks for every audience member. Leicester Square Theatre, 18.50, book ahead, 7pm

BLACK TO THE FUTURE: Mercury-nominated quartet, Sons of Kemet perform their award-winning tunes including those from their latest album, Black to the Future. The album begins and ends with powerful lyrical and musical statements of rage and frustration, in the wake of George Floyds death and the subsequent BLM protests. Roundhouse (Camden), 23.50, book ahead, 7pm

SURVIVING SUICIDE: An event designed to offer ways to combat the ever growing problem of people wanting to take their own lives, SOS-Surviving Suicide features six poets sharing their work and back stories. Experts from leading suicide charities are also on hand to share experience and advice. Rich Mix (Shoreditch), free, book ahead, 8pm

SUMMER OF SOUL: Ever head of the Harlem Cultural Festival? It took place just 100 miles south of Woodstock in the summer of 1969, and was huge celebration of Black history and culture. Now, filmmaker Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson has used archive footage to bring the event back to life for documentary Summer of Soul, with performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King and many more. Bertha DocHouse (Bloomsbury), 9/7, book ahead, 8.20pm

WHITEWEBBS MUSEUM: It's the final Sunday of the month, which means Whitewebbs Museum of Transport opens to the public. It's home to model vehicles, motorbikes, vintage fire engines and more read about our visit to get an idea of what to expect. Whitewebbs (Enfield), 9, just turn up, 10am-4pm

ANTIQUES FAIR: On the look out for some antiques? Head along to the long-running Adams Antiques Fair, featuring over 100 dealers selling jewellery, collectables and more. Royal Horticultural Halls (Westminster), 4.90, book ahead, 10am-4.30pm

LIVE MUSIC: Singer-songwriter Sherika Sherard takes to the stage at this month's Sunday Buzz, a relaxed performance taking place in the cafe at artsdepot. Get yourself a coffee or some lunch and kick back to enjoy the show. artsdepot (North Finchley), free entry, just turn up, 1pm

FAMILY RAVE: Who says parents can't party? Big Fish Little Fish family raves are just that raves that the whole family can attend. DJ Jerome Hill plays club classics, with bubbles, foam balloons and confetti to entice younger family members onto the dance floor, plus craft tables, face painting and a chill space. Fancy dress theme is space and aliens. West Five Bar (South Ealing), adult 11/child 8, book ahead, 2pm-4pm

RADICAL WOMEN: Join Footprints of London guide Oonagh Gay to discover where Sylvia Pankhurst and Millie Lansbury campaigned to improve the lives of women in the East End. The guided walk looks at where struggles for social justice took place, as well as talking about modern Bow on the way. Bow Church DLR, !2/9, book ahead, 2pm

SIMPLY SINATRA: Celebrate Ol' Blue Eyes as the London Concert Orchestra, as Matt Ford and Katie Birtill perform some of Frank Sinatra's best-loved songs, including Come Fly With Me, My Way, and Fly Me To The Moon. Southbank Centre, 16.50-48.50, book ahead, 3pm

QUEER HORROR: The Castle Cinema launches a new film club devoted to queer, cult and classic horror cinema and they're starting with the 1931 version of Frankenstein, directed by the openly-gay James Whale. There's a pre-screening intro and post-movie social in the bar. The Castle Cinema (Hackney), 11, book ahead, 5pm

PIANO TRIO: The Linos Piano Trio span an impressive seven languages and five nationalities between them, so it's no surprise their performances have been described as 'multifaceted'. See for yourself at this afternoon's Sunday Concert. Conway Hall (Holborn) or online, 10-14, book ahead, 6.30pm-8pm

COLLYWOBBLERS COMEDY: Fiona Allen of Smack the Pony fame, and Welsh Zimbabwean comedian Tadiwa Mahlunge are among those on the bill tonight at one of Streatham's best pubs. A great way to laugh off those Sunday eve blues. The Railway (Streatham Common), 7, book ahead (or 9 on the door), 8pm-10.45pm

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Things To Do This Weekend In London: 26-27 February 2022 - Londonist

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Posted By admin on February 24, 2022

The University of Chicagos Council of the University Senate approved a new Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity (RDI) at its meeting on Feb. 22. The new interdisciplinary department will be a home for ambitious scholarship on concepts that have helped shape the modern world and continue to reverberate in contemporary thought, culture and policy.

The approved plan emerged from a process among our faculty in which strongly differing points of view have been put forth, through which many people changed their minds as they listened and engaged, and by which the proposal itself evolved in response to ideas of colleagues, said President Paul Alivisatos and Provost Ka Yee C. Lee in a message to the University community. We look forward to working with the Division of Social Sciences, as well as faculty, students, alumni and friends of the University as we build for the success of this new department.

This outcome is the culmination of years of dedicated collaboration and discussion among faculty and students across the University, said two of the faculty leaders of the proposal, Adom Getachew, Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of Political Science and the College; and Leora Auslander, the Arthur and Joann Rasmussen Professor in Western Civilization in the College and Professor of European Social History. Our collective work has produced an original approach that will benefit our colleagues, students and this field of study as a whole. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has contributed to this process.

At the University of Chicago, the proposal of a new academic department is a faculty-driven process. The Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity, which will have its academic home in the Division of the Social Sciences (SSD), emerged from such a process that began in Autumn 2020. A committee consisting of faculty members and doctoral students from SSD and Humanities studied departments at peer institutions, invited external speakers to help inform the process, and engaged with faculty and students across campus, including colleagues across SSD and Humanities and the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. The discussions included deans and department chairs, students, program directors and other colleagues.

We took part in hundreds of conversations reflecting an immense diversity of viewpoints. There were many tough questions along the way, and we engaged in good faith, which led to a constructive evolution of the proposal over time. This not only helped gain support for the proposal, it deepened our intellectual vision and the vision for the department, said faculty committee member Adrienne Brown, an associate professor in the Department of English.

In addition, the Office of the Provost supported the committees exploratory work, which included a series of invited panelists in Winter 2021, forums open to UChicago faculty, students and staff. Those discussions and feedback informed the final proposal.

Of the 223 faculty members with primary or secondary appointments in SSD, 150 participated in an advisory vote on the RDI proposal in November 2021. Among those who participated, 83 percent supported the proposal. After that, Amanda Woodward, SSD dean and the William S. Gray Distinguished Service Professor of Psychology, sent the proposal to the Committee of the Council and the Council of the University Senate for consideration, discussion and a vote on whether to approve the proposal.

Race, diaspora and indigeneity are among the most important topics studied across the socialsciences, Woodward said. This new department offers an exciting advance in scholarly work in these areas because it aims to go beyond the study of particular social identities to investigate the historical and social processes that give rise to conceptions of race and human difference, processes that integrally involve the movements of people and connections between identity and place.

The Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity is the fourth academic department created at the University of Chicago in the last decade. Proposals for the creation of academic departments follow the same process a faculty proposal, consideration by the appropriate division, and discussion and vote in the Committee of the Council and the Council of the University Senate.

Faculty and students connected with the new department will explore topics increasingly viewed as interrelated and co-constituted, within the categories of race, diaspora and indigeneity. Uniting these subjects in a single department is a novel approach that will generate new questions and push the boundaries of existing fields. Race is commonly understood by scholars as a social construction that defines difference and shapes relations among people; the new department will encompass questions such as why race has been viewed in biological terms during some periods in history and in social or cultural terms at other times. Diaspora, based on a Greek word meaning scatter, refers to processes of migration and the ways in which groups separated by distance derive meaning from shared cultures. The concept of indigeneity has distinct meanings in different parts of the world, but it refers in part to the evolving self-identity of peoples in the context of often violent occupation or settlement of their land. Increasingly, scholars have examined complex intersections involving race, diaspora and indigeneity, including how concepts of modern political and social life are reconfigured from the perspective of indigenous political thought and cultural practices.

The novel intellectual framing of the new department contributed to its support. The new departments comparative, historical and transnational approach will help advance areas of interest that are shared with other departments across the University. The departments commitment to engaging with diverse theoretical perspectives and methodologies was also viewed as a strength.

In outlining the scope of the new department, the faculty committee acknowledged that the core subjects of race, diaspora and indigeneity are contested concepts and categories. Bringing them together will create new opportunities for field-defining research to advance understanding of these concepts, generate new research agendas and train a new generation of scholars.

The Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture has fulfilled vital functions on campus since its founding in 1996, and it will continue to serve as an institute devoted to the study of race. The CSRPC will support scholars and artists across the University and city, engage with communities on the South Side, host conferences and workshops, and support a range of projects among faculty and students. The new department will assume responsibility for all educational programs currently housed in the CSRPC.

The department will immediately begin its undergraduate program. Opportunities for graduate study will follow, including a Ph.D. certificate and collaboration with masters programs. Plans for a doctoral program will be developed over the next several years.

Colleagues both nationally and internationally have expressed remarkable enthusiasm and excitement about this initiative. This gives us confidence that we will be able to attract some of the most eminent and innovative scholars in these fields to our campus, Auslander and Getachew said.

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Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity established at the University of Chicago - UChicago News

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Posted By admin on February 24, 2022

All Photos Courtesy Of Bites of Blessings

In the If religion, food acts as spiritual medicine, an offering to deities, and a conduit for community bonding.

Aboru aboye abosise, I greet the two Babalawos waddling past me with a weathered container full of piping-hot jollof rice between them. Agbo ato, the priests grunt, passing through the doorway and placing the container on the crowded kitchen table. The red-hued rices peppery aroma floods my nostrils and sends a rumble through my stomach. I busy myself transporting palm oil and pounded yam between the kitchen and shrine room, ignoring the internal countdown until I can savor a large bowl of fluffy rice.

Jollof rice is the mother of jambalaya, a red rice dish essential to my Creole heritage. In my four years of practicing If, I connected with the culinary relatives of many dishes from my Gulf Coast-influenced upbringing. The African ancestral wisdom tradition, dating back at least 5,000 years, originated from the Yoruba ethnic group of West Africa; it centers on the oral transmission of knowledge about nature, mythology, and history to support spiritual transformation for practitioners. In this increasingly chaotic world, the intentional way of life required by ancient traditions like If offers support for the weary in modern times and a roadmap revealing the link between familiar foodways.

Continue Reading Article After Our Video

Food serves as spiritual medicine in If, and many African Traditional Religions such as Bukongo, Vodun, and Serer offer divinities and a conduit for community bonding. As an Iyanifa, I am learning how to ethically butcher and prepare a chicken or goat is just as important for a priestess as memorizing thousands of scriptures. Cooking large pots full of stew for drum feasts and making fresh popcorn for the spirits that sit on my living room floor renders the overwhelming magic of the tradition real.

According to recent Pew studies, Black millennials are the most religious among their peers, yet, compared to older generations, the least connected to historically Black churches. They found Black adults view cultural origins and a strong connection to familial roots as central to their identity more than peers of other races. The enthusiastic response to culture-shifting media like Beyoncs Black Is King shows the trend of many young Black Americans returning to African Traditional Religions and Diasporic Traditional Religions: they desire a connection with their African history and spiritual practice that acknowledges their humanity in the physical world.

Our connection to food anchors this reclamation since If ritual work often requires cooking West African cuisine. Social gatherings set up a culinary family reunion where diasporic dishes share a table with their kin like fufu and its junior, mofongo. Banquet-sized aluminum pans line the tables and countertops with smoked and slathered pork ribs, tender cubes of goat floating in a fragrant brownish-green curry, and creamy beans simmered with herbs from someones garden.

I enjoy ritual cooking, but the necessary changes in personal eating habits test my faith. Sacrifice is at the heart of the If tradition, and Ive sacrificed time, money, and favorite foods. My beloved mid-day snack, almonds, and my once daily protein, chicken, are now food taboos I must adhere to lest I incur negative consequences. Almost every other day, I spend an hour preparing red beans and rice, freshly roasted yam with coarse sea salt, and other dishes to lay down as offerings to ancestors and Orisa, forces of nature in If, for their spiritual assistance and nourishment. I adjusted the grocery line item on my financial spreadsheet to account for the extra food. Depending on the obstacles of the moment in my life, the cost to appease them and earn assistance breaks my budget.

If says humility and sacrifice are rewarded with blessingsincluding a community with a mutual understanding about expanding your palate in the name of faith and being that friend with dietary restrictions. But together, we show special care with the variety of ancestral foods available at social events. These moments of iwa pele, demonstrations of good character, remind me how these ancient pearls of wisdom survive only when followers of the tradition embody the principles.

The mother of the child I helped watch over during a ceremony slides me a pack of cookies from her bag. One of the Babalawos packs me freshly butchered goat meat to take home and cook. An Iyanifa in the kitchen sneaks me a piece of fried fish while asking me about my recent date. The shared vulnerability from spiritual family and occasionally strangers feeding me and feeding into me reassures me.

With every dish of pounded yam I pray over, for every bite of kola nut I ingest for the collectives blessings, others show the exact same care towards me. My life grew more complicated when I switched out my local chain supermarket for the African markets further away in crowded strip malls, but in the aisles of those markets, I found my heritage at my fingertips.

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How the Black Diaspora Uses Food to Connect With African History and Spiritual Practices - Fodor's Travel

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