It started as an idea from some people involved with The Advocates for Human Rights in Minneapolis about 4 years ago: create a cookbook of immigrant recipes.
Among this group of people were Linda S. Svitak and Christin Jaye Eaton, lawyer and attorney, respectively, who volunteer with the Advocates. Food writer and former editor of the Minnesota Star Tribune Taste section, Lee Svitak Dean was eventually brought in, as well as Minnesota Star Tribune photographer, Tom Wallace.
The result of this group effort is a beautiful book with contributors’ immigration stories and culinary journeys, followed by their cherished recipes from home. In a recent What We’re Reading interview, Lee Svitak Dean recalled how the book became much more than a cookbook.
“As we started collecting recipes…and we started talking with people and realizing that the stories behind the recipes were so compelling that we really had to feature those stories as well. You couldn't have one without the other. And so, I like to think of this as a book where you come for the stories, you stay for the recipes.”
As far as the recipes themselves, many in Kitchens of Hope are comfort foods: cabbage rolls, dumplings, rice, soups, and stews. Lee noted, “Either that or a dish that they would use for a celebration…So these were the really important dishes.”
Some dishes that stood out for Lee particularly, included khichdi, a lentils and rice dish from Pakistan. She explained, “It's a combination of rice and a very specific kind of lentil called moong lentils. And they're cooked together. It's a very simple dish, very, very homespun, but it's served with this fabulous cream sauce and little cucumbers and tomatoes and frankly anything you want…it’s simple and just really great.”
Lee also noted that besides chicken, rice was one of the most popular ingredients to show up in the recipes. She noted, “There were a couple versions of biryani, which is a rice pilaf dish. Basically, we've got a version from India and another version from Iraq and another rice dish called uzbek palaw from Afghanistan--kind of all variations of the same thing where you've got lots of spices, vegetables, and meat.”
It would be difficult to read this book and not think about how immigration has always been a complex issue in this country and even more so now with the current administration’s controversial immigration policies and actions. But this makes Kitchens of Hope even more timely and relevant.
Lee explained, “We wanted to show that immigrants, all sorts of immigrants--they're not coming here taking things; they're coming here bringing things with them. The people that we interviewed have really amazing stories of not only the resilience and determination to get here, but what they have done for their communities as well. Both their communities here in the U.S. as well as the obligations that they feel towards those in their homeland. And to me, those are just really quite remarkable tales to tell.”
For more information on Kitchens of Hope, visit the University of Minnesota Press website.
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