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minoanmissGastro Obscura: How people of color are changing the food world
Includes articles on Chinese food and culture and diaspora, the cuisine and practices of India's Jews, Chinese-Jewish food, the story of an enslaved chocolatier in 18th century Virginia, the Ghetto Gastro Collective, and so much more. I can't pick one article so here's the whole issue.
View this email in your browser
(https://mailchi.mp/atlasobscura/how-people-of-color-are-changing-the-food-world?e=ccc419914c)
A platter of rice, chopped bananas,prunes, oranges, limes, and various round whole
fruits sits in the foreground on top of a tablecloth. Two hands place rose petals on
the platter.
** India's Bene Israel Jews prepare platters for the Prophet Elijah. Photo: Courtesy
of Esther David
------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, April 8th
A Seat at the Table
** By Sam Lin-Sommer
Gastro Obscura Editorial Fellow
------------------------------------------------------------
I have a confession to make: I haven’t always loved Chinese food. I was the product
of a predominantly White suburb, where people tended to view my grandparents’
complicated cuisine as, at best, cheap takeout. I preferred chicken nuggets and
pasta with butter as a child, and it wasn’t until adolescence that I began eating my
mom’s mapo doufu with gusto.
Luckily for kids of color everywhere, a new generation is fighting to ensure that
non-Western foods get the respect they deserve. Afrocentric pop-up dinners
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ghetto-gastro-cookbook-black-power-kitchen?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
in New York, indigenous-focused Tex-Mex restaurants
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/texas-mexican-food?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
, and documentaries on the trials and triumphs of Peruvian-Chinese restaurateurs
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/chinese-food-around-the-world?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
all proudly proclaim the deliciousness and sophistication of their cuisines.
Last fall, Gastro Obscura launched a Q & A series with people of color who are
reclaiming their culinary heritage and creating today’s food culture. We’ve titled
it A Seat at the Table
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/a-seat-at-the-table?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
. Former U.S. Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman in
Congress, once said,
(https://www.emkinstitute.org/explore-the-institute/dynamic-educational-experiences/online-resources/seat-at-the-table?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring in a folding chair.” In the
spirit of trailblazers like Chisholm, these chefs, storytellers, and entrepreneurs
make room for themselves in a multicultural world.
The phrase “a seat at the table” has also been linked to the poem "I, Too" by
African American writer and activist Langston Hughes
(https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47558/i-too?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
:
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
“Besides,” he writes, “They’ll see how beautiful I am/And be ashamed.” Here are some
of our favorite Q & As with people of color showing the world just how beautiful
their cuisines are.
** The Sweet and Sour Origins of Amish Soul Food
------------------------------------------------------------
A birds-eye shot of a slice of peach cobbler on a charcoal-colored plate, topped
with vanilla ice cream.
** Growing up, Chef Chris Scott enjoyed peach cobbler, a Southern classic. Photo:
Brittany Conerly/Courtesy of Chronicle Books
------------------------------------------------------------
Lemonade fried chicken, vinegared sweet potato pie, stewed turkey neck with egg
noodles: chef Chris Scott’s dishes might sound like the whimsy of a former Top Chef
star, but they’re actually the cuisine of the African American community Scott grew
up around in Pennsylvania’s Amish country.
Amish soul food, as Scott calls it, reflects the co-mingling of Amish and Southern
African American food traditions, two cuisines that make the most of limited
resources for delicious meals. In my conversation with Scott, he talks about how he
overcame prejudices against Black cuisines to bring the story of his grandmother’s
delicious, largely plant-based Amish soul food to the world.
Read more →
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/amish-soul-food?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
** How Thailand's 'Happiness Farmer' Built an Oasis of Simple Living
------------------------------------------------------------
An smiling Asian man in a light blue T-shirt stands in front of a beige wall holding
a basket with what seem to be several large bundles of garlic with shoots.
** Jon Jandai believes that indigenous crops are key to an easier, happier life.
Photo: Courtesy Pun Pun Center for Self-Reliance
------------------------------------------------------------
In Thailand, where cash crops are rapidly replacing long-cultivated plants, Jon
Jandai has created a viable alternative based on indigenous fruits and vegetables
such as small, sweet eggplants and white-fleshed cucumbers. At the Pun Pun Center
for Self-Reliance
(http://www.punpunthailand.org/?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
, Jandai and his wife, Peggy Reents, have taught thousands of students how to grow
their own food, build their own homes, and tend to their own ailments.
Adherents to Jandai’s model don’t make much money, but they keep their costs low,
and only have to work a few hours a day, leaving them most of the day to enjoy
themselves, he says. I spoke with Jandai about his childhood in a village in
Northeastern Thailand, the plants and cooking techniques he is busy preserving, and
the appeal of a simple, blissful agricultural lifestyle.
Read more →
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/thailand-happiness-farmer?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
** Remembering Caesar, Colonial Virginia's Enslaved Chocolatier
------------------------------------------------------------
An African-American man in colonial attire chops vegetables on a table full of
containers and spices in front of a brick background.
** Dontavius Williams thanks Caesar, the 18th-century enslaved chef who managed
Stratford Hall, before beginning a demonstration in the historic hearth where Caesar
once cooked. Photo: Courtesy of Dontavius Williams
------------------------------------------------------------
“It’s a life mission to be able to help the world understand that people like Caesar
existed,” says historical interpreter Dontavius Williams. Caesar was the head chef
of Stratford Hall, the birthplace of Robert E. Lee, during the mid-1700s, where he
was one of the colony’s only chocolatiers as well as the maestro of a 24-hour
kitchen that would prepare roast pheasant, oyster stew, and elaborate cakes at
banquets for the elite.
Williams shares Caesar’s story with visitors to Stratford Hall, many of whom are
nostalgic for the old Confederacy, and uses food to change their minds about Black
culture in the South.
Read more →
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/enslaved-chocolate-maker-virginia?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
**
------------------------------------------------------------
** The Woman Preserving The Endangered Cuisine of Indian Jews
------------------------------------------------------------
** Esther David wrote about Bene Israel cuisine in her novels before embarking on
her countrywide research project. Photo: Courtesy of Esther David
------------------------------------------------------------
As a Chinese-Jewish food writer, I’ve often been dismayed at the lack of recognition
of non-Western Jewish cuisines. Indian-Jewish novelist, journalist, and researcher
Esther David fills this literary void and then some in her new book Bene Appétit:
The Cuisine of Indian Jews.
David visited five major Jewish communities scattered throughout the country, each
with a distinct origin and cuisine. Her book is the first coast-to-coast collection
of the Jewish-Indian recipes, from the spice-rich foods of the Western Cochin Jews
to the black rice pudding of the Northeastern Bnei Menashe Jews.
Read more →
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/indian-jewish-food?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
** How Chinese Food Won Over the World
------------------------------------------------------------
** At New Outlook Café in Saskatchewan, Canada, Founder Noisy Jim sits with cousin
Chow Fong. Photo: Tissa Films
------------------------------------------------------------
Chinese-Canadian Filmmaker Cheuk Kwan traveled some 200,000 kilometers to tell
stories of 15 Chinese restaurateurs on six continents. “Running a Chinese restaurant
is the easiest path for new Chinese immigrants to integrate into a host society,”
Kwan writes in Have You Eaten Yet? Stories from Chinese Restaurants Around the
World.
In his book, Kwan documents the varied dishes restaurateurs adapt to their new
surroundings—a Cantonese-style tilapia caught fresh from the Galilee in Haifa,
Israel, for example— but keeps his focus on the unsung heroes preparing them. He
believes that the creativity of countless immigrants hustling to survive is what
created the global phenomenon of Chinese food that we all know and love.
Read more →
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/chinese-food-around-the-world?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
** In This 'Black Power Kitchen,' Joy and Activism Collide
------------------------------------------------------------
Three men face the camera behind a shiny, blue table in a restaurant with painted
red walls, dim lighting and television in the background.
** The Ghetto Gastro collective tells the story of the Bronx through food. From
left: Lester Walker, Jon Gray, and Pierre Serrao. Photo: Joshua Woods, Excerpted
from Ghetto Gastro Presents Black Power Kitchen (Artisan Books) © 2022.
------------------------------------------------------------
“Food is a weapon.” That's the motto of culinary collective Ghetto Gastro, and the
thesis of their book Ghetto Gastro Presents Black Power Kitchen. The cookbook
details the way that cuisine has been used as a weapon against Black communities,
how Black cooks wield it against oppression, and how to celebrate the brilliance of
the African diaspora with dishes such as Caribbean green juice, saltfish takoyaki,
and chopped stease sandwiches (their plant-based take on “chopped cheese”).
Designer Jon Gray and chefs Lester Walker and Pierre Serrao formed Ghetto Gastro in
2012 to bring the Bronx and Black culture into culinary and fine dining spaces,
hosting a series of pop-ups ranging from an artistic collaboration drawing attention
to anti-Black police violence to a Black Panther-inspired “Taste of Wakanda” meal.
My conversation with Ghetto Gastro and co-writer Osayi Endolyn offers a snapshot of
the world according to this avant-garde team.
Read more →
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ghetto-gastro-cookbook-black-power-kitchen?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
A large bunch of unripe bananas hangs from a tree.
** Tracing Lisbon’s Culinary Roots
------------------------------------------------------------
Journey beyond Lisbon’s tiled buildings and narrow streets to discover the city’s
long legacy and vibrant innovations in culinary inventiveness. On this trip, you’ll
learn about the voyages and trade routes that stocked Europe’s pantry with spices,
and sample the contemporary fare that inflects traditional dishes with influences
from Goa and beyond.
Book now
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/unusual-trips/lisbon-culinary?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
→
** More of Gastro Obscura’s Favorite Things
------------------------------------------------------------
Spicy Pixie Dust ✨
I have a weakness for Flamin' Hot Cheetos, the tongue-singeing snack with a
contested origin story
(https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-05-16/flamin-hot-cheetos-richard-montanez?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
. Last year, the company came out with a Cheetos Duster
(https://www.amazon.com/stores/Cheetos/CheetosDuster/page/51614514-9947-4428-83EB-24F5602D448F?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID#/)
made specifically for adding crushed Cheetos to your favorite foods. It's sold out,
but you can use its existence as inspiration for making Flamin' Hot tacos, Flamin'
Hot popcorn—even Flamin' Hot sundaes.
Designing Immersive Gatherings 🥂
In this four-part seminar, acclaimed immersive theater director and experience
designer Zach Morris of Third Rail Projects will walk you through the elements of
immersive gatherings and guide us through the process of designing our own. This
course is designed for everyone; whether you’d like to design a celebration or
social event, create a memorable product launch, fold elements into a performance,
or more, this class will offer something meaningful for you. Enroll today
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/experiences/immersive-gatherings-course?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
!
The Donut King 🍩
California boasts over 1500 Cambodian-American-owned donut shops, usually selling
fried treats in pink boxes. This all started with Ted Ngoy, sometimes known as the
Donut King, a Cambodian refugee who started a donut empire that employed thousands
of Cambodians fleeing the Khmer Rouge. Read his incredible story here
(https://www.foodandwine.com/travel/southern-california-donut-empire-origin-story?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
Includes articles on Chinese food and culture and diaspora, the cuisine and practices of India's Jews, Chinese-Jewish food, the story of an enslaved chocolatier in 18th century Virginia, the Ghetto Gastro Collective, and so much more. I can't pick one article so here's the whole issue.
View this email in your browser
(https://mailchi.mp/atlasobscura/how-people-of-color-are-changing-the-food-world?e=ccc419914c)
A platter of rice, chopped bananas,prunes, oranges, limes, and various round whole
fruits sits in the foreground on top of a tablecloth. Two hands place rose petals on
the platter.
** India's Bene Israel Jews prepare platters for the Prophet Elijah. Photo: Courtesy
of Esther David
------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, April 8th
A Seat at the Table
** By Sam Lin-Sommer
Gastro Obscura Editorial Fellow
------------------------------------------------------------
I have a confession to make: I haven’t always loved Chinese food. I was the product
of a predominantly White suburb, where people tended to view my grandparents’
complicated cuisine as, at best, cheap takeout. I preferred chicken nuggets and
pasta with butter as a child, and it wasn’t until adolescence that I began eating my
mom’s mapo doufu with gusto.
Luckily for kids of color everywhere, a new generation is fighting to ensure that
non-Western foods get the respect they deserve. Afrocentric pop-up dinners
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ghetto-gastro-cookbook-black-power-kitchen?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
in New York, indigenous-focused Tex-Mex restaurants
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/texas-mexican-food?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
, and documentaries on the trials and triumphs of Peruvian-Chinese restaurateurs
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/chinese-food-around-the-world?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
all proudly proclaim the deliciousness and sophistication of their cuisines.
Last fall, Gastro Obscura launched a Q & A series with people of color who are
reclaiming their culinary heritage and creating today’s food culture. We’ve titled
it A Seat at the Table
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/a-seat-at-the-table?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
. Former U.S. Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman in
Congress, once said,
(https://www.emkinstitute.org/explore-the-institute/dynamic-educational-experiences/online-resources/seat-at-the-table?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring in a folding chair.” In the
spirit of trailblazers like Chisholm, these chefs, storytellers, and entrepreneurs
make room for themselves in a multicultural world.
The phrase “a seat at the table” has also been linked to the poem "I, Too" by
African American writer and activist Langston Hughes
(https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47558/i-too?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
:
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
“Besides,” he writes, “They’ll see how beautiful I am/And be ashamed.” Here are some
of our favorite Q & As with people of color showing the world just how beautiful
their cuisines are.
** The Sweet and Sour Origins of Amish Soul Food
------------------------------------------------------------
A birds-eye shot of a slice of peach cobbler on a charcoal-colored plate, topped
with vanilla ice cream.
** Growing up, Chef Chris Scott enjoyed peach cobbler, a Southern classic. Photo:
Brittany Conerly/Courtesy of Chronicle Books
------------------------------------------------------------
Lemonade fried chicken, vinegared sweet potato pie, stewed turkey neck with egg
noodles: chef Chris Scott’s dishes might sound like the whimsy of a former Top Chef
star, but they’re actually the cuisine of the African American community Scott grew
up around in Pennsylvania’s Amish country.
Amish soul food, as Scott calls it, reflects the co-mingling of Amish and Southern
African American food traditions, two cuisines that make the most of limited
resources for delicious meals. In my conversation with Scott, he talks about how he
overcame prejudices against Black cuisines to bring the story of his grandmother’s
delicious, largely plant-based Amish soul food to the world.
Read more →
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/amish-soul-food?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
** How Thailand's 'Happiness Farmer' Built an Oasis of Simple Living
------------------------------------------------------------
An smiling Asian man in a light blue T-shirt stands in front of a beige wall holding
a basket with what seem to be several large bundles of garlic with shoots.
** Jon Jandai believes that indigenous crops are key to an easier, happier life.
Photo: Courtesy Pun Pun Center for Self-Reliance
------------------------------------------------------------
In Thailand, where cash crops are rapidly replacing long-cultivated plants, Jon
Jandai has created a viable alternative based on indigenous fruits and vegetables
such as small, sweet eggplants and white-fleshed cucumbers. At the Pun Pun Center
for Self-Reliance
(http://www.punpunthailand.org/?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
, Jandai and his wife, Peggy Reents, have taught thousands of students how to grow
their own food, build their own homes, and tend to their own ailments.
Adherents to Jandai’s model don’t make much money, but they keep their costs low,
and only have to work a few hours a day, leaving them most of the day to enjoy
themselves, he says. I spoke with Jandai about his childhood in a village in
Northeastern Thailand, the plants and cooking techniques he is busy preserving, and
the appeal of a simple, blissful agricultural lifestyle.
Read more →
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/thailand-happiness-farmer?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
** Remembering Caesar, Colonial Virginia's Enslaved Chocolatier
------------------------------------------------------------
An African-American man in colonial attire chops vegetables on a table full of
containers and spices in front of a brick background.
** Dontavius Williams thanks Caesar, the 18th-century enslaved chef who managed
Stratford Hall, before beginning a demonstration in the historic hearth where Caesar
once cooked. Photo: Courtesy of Dontavius Williams
------------------------------------------------------------
“It’s a life mission to be able to help the world understand that people like Caesar
existed,” says historical interpreter Dontavius Williams. Caesar was the head chef
of Stratford Hall, the birthplace of Robert E. Lee, during the mid-1700s, where he
was one of the colony’s only chocolatiers as well as the maestro of a 24-hour
kitchen that would prepare roast pheasant, oyster stew, and elaborate cakes at
banquets for the elite.
Williams shares Caesar’s story with visitors to Stratford Hall, many of whom are
nostalgic for the old Confederacy, and uses food to change their minds about Black
culture in the South.
Read more →
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/enslaved-chocolate-maker-virginia?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
**
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** The Woman Preserving The Endangered Cuisine of Indian Jews
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** Esther David wrote about Bene Israel cuisine in her novels before embarking on
her countrywide research project. Photo: Courtesy of Esther David
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As a Chinese-Jewish food writer, I’ve often been dismayed at the lack of recognition
of non-Western Jewish cuisines. Indian-Jewish novelist, journalist, and researcher
Esther David fills this literary void and then some in her new book Bene Appétit:
The Cuisine of Indian Jews.
David visited five major Jewish communities scattered throughout the country, each
with a distinct origin and cuisine. Her book is the first coast-to-coast collection
of the Jewish-Indian recipes, from the spice-rich foods of the Western Cochin Jews
to the black rice pudding of the Northeastern Bnei Menashe Jews.
Read more →
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/indian-jewish-food?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
** How Chinese Food Won Over the World
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** At New Outlook Café in Saskatchewan, Canada, Founder Noisy Jim sits with cousin
Chow Fong. Photo: Tissa Films
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Chinese-Canadian Filmmaker Cheuk Kwan traveled some 200,000 kilometers to tell
stories of 15 Chinese restaurateurs on six continents. “Running a Chinese restaurant
is the easiest path for new Chinese immigrants to integrate into a host society,”
Kwan writes in Have You Eaten Yet? Stories from Chinese Restaurants Around the
World.
In his book, Kwan documents the varied dishes restaurateurs adapt to their new
surroundings—a Cantonese-style tilapia caught fresh from the Galilee in Haifa,
Israel, for example— but keeps his focus on the unsung heroes preparing them. He
believes that the creativity of countless immigrants hustling to survive is what
created the global phenomenon of Chinese food that we all know and love.
Read more →
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/chinese-food-around-the-world?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
** In This 'Black Power Kitchen,' Joy and Activism Collide
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Three men face the camera behind a shiny, blue table in a restaurant with painted
red walls, dim lighting and television in the background.
** The Ghetto Gastro collective tells the story of the Bronx through food. From
left: Lester Walker, Jon Gray, and Pierre Serrao. Photo: Joshua Woods, Excerpted
from Ghetto Gastro Presents Black Power Kitchen (Artisan Books) © 2022.
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“Food is a weapon.” That's the motto of culinary collective Ghetto Gastro, and the
thesis of their book Ghetto Gastro Presents Black Power Kitchen. The cookbook
details the way that cuisine has been used as a weapon against Black communities,
how Black cooks wield it against oppression, and how to celebrate the brilliance of
the African diaspora with dishes such as Caribbean green juice, saltfish takoyaki,
and chopped stease sandwiches (their plant-based take on “chopped cheese”).
Designer Jon Gray and chefs Lester Walker and Pierre Serrao formed Ghetto Gastro in
2012 to bring the Bronx and Black culture into culinary and fine dining spaces,
hosting a series of pop-ups ranging from an artistic collaboration drawing attention
to anti-Black police violence to a Black Panther-inspired “Taste of Wakanda” meal.
My conversation with Ghetto Gastro and co-writer Osayi Endolyn offers a snapshot of
the world according to this avant-garde team.
Read more →
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ghetto-gastro-cookbook-black-power-kitchen?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
A large bunch of unripe bananas hangs from a tree.
** Tracing Lisbon’s Culinary Roots
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Journey beyond Lisbon’s tiled buildings and narrow streets to discover the city’s
long legacy and vibrant innovations in culinary inventiveness. On this trip, you’ll
learn about the voyages and trade routes that stocked Europe’s pantry with spices,
and sample the contemporary fare that inflects traditional dishes with influences
from Goa and beyond.
Book now
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/unusual-trips/lisbon-culinary?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
→
** More of Gastro Obscura’s Favorite Things
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Spicy Pixie Dust ✨
I have a weakness for Flamin' Hot Cheetos, the tongue-singeing snack with a
contested origin story
(https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-05-16/flamin-hot-cheetos-richard-montanez?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
. Last year, the company came out with a Cheetos Duster
(https://www.amazon.com/stores/Cheetos/CheetosDuster/page/51614514-9947-4428-83EB-24F5602D448F?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID#/)
made specifically for adding crushed Cheetos to your favorite foods. It's sold out,
but you can use its existence as inspiration for making Flamin' Hot tacos, Flamin'
Hot popcorn—even Flamin' Hot sundaes.
Designing Immersive Gatherings 🥂
In this four-part seminar, acclaimed immersive theater director and experience
designer Zach Morris of Third Rail Projects will walk you through the elements of
immersive gatherings and guide us through the process of designing our own. This
course is designed for everyone; whether you’d like to design a celebration or
social event, create a memorable product launch, fold elements into a performance,
or more, this class will offer something meaningful for you. Enroll today
(https://www.atlasobscura.com/experiences/immersive-gatherings-course?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
!
The Donut King 🍩
California boasts over 1500 Cambodian-American-owned donut shops, usually selling
fried treats in pink boxes. This all started with Ted Ngoy, sometimes known as the
Donut King, a Cambodian refugee who started a donut empire that employed thousands
of Cambodians fleeing the Khmer Rouge. Read his incredible story here
(https://www.foodandwine.com/travel/southern-california-donut-empire-origin-story?utm_source=Gastro+Obscura+Weekly+E-mail&utm_campaign=4e81bec51c-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4e81bec51c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=4e81bec51c&mc_eid=UNIQID)
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Date: 2023-04-09 01:04 am (UTC)Happy Easter, if that is appropriate.
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Date: 2023-04-11 10:08 pm (UTC)Remember when all those Cajun chefs were the culinary superstars? Well, Cajun and/or Creole cooking is po'folks'food. But with French flair, African seasonings, and a willingness to eat anything that didn't eat them first, those swamp dwellers made some interesting things to eat.
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Date: 2023-04-09 09:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-04-09 11:47 am (UTC)*devours*
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Date: 2023-04-09 06:14 pm (UTC)It wasn't until I lived in Stamford that I came across Indo-Chinese food, which I fell in love with immediately. Then there's arroz chaufa, aka Peruvian fried rice. I had no idea there was a good-sized Chinese population in Peru. Blame the white-centered American public school education. There's also a Japanese population in Peru that has its own unique cuisine, though the name escapes me.