by admin | Jun 26, 2020 | Taste From Home
Shailaja Kumar, Friend of Vandita Garg, Board Secretary, Chicago Cultural Alliance
Taste from Home is collection of recipes and stories inspired by the food that defines who we are and where we come from. As we are all home exploring new recipes and cuisines, we encourage you to share a recipe and story with us that connects you to your family and cultural heritage.
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today, if you are able. If you are unable to donate, you can still participate by sharing a recipe by using hashtags #tastefromhomechi, #thisischicago, & #chicagocultural on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
by admin | Jun 19, 2020 | Taste From Home
Suzanne Franklin, Board Member, Chicago Cultural Alliance
Taste from Home is a collection of recipes and stories can be used as a way to connect with others and facilitate conversations about race, culture, and identity over a new recipe.
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today, if you are able. If you are unable to donate, you can still participate by sharing a recipe by using hashtags #tastefromhome, #tastefromhomerecipe, & #chicagocultural on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
We are the stories we tell!
Years ago, my husband and I were Peace Corps volunteers in the remote village of Beysehir Turkey. We were young and very idealistic and were assigned to teach English in schools. Speaking very little Turkish, we felt overwhelmed and challenged navigating each day.
After several lonely months, one family opened their home and hearts to us. It was a passport into each other’s worlds. As we practiced our Turkish and became familiar with Turkish culture, they shared with us their lives and their dreams. We cherished our weekends together sharing meals and friendship. Their willingness to accept us was such a generous act and a lesson that has endured with us throughout our lives.
I first learned of Turkish lentil soup one memorable fall day. A neighbor of our family hosted us to dinner. I remember sitting with the mother and daughter of the house as we talked and laughed together. They embraced me as a daughter and a sister. They taught me not only how to make this delicious soup but, so much more in life. When I close my eyes, I can see us practicing Turkish and talking about our lives as we sipped Turkish tea, chopped onions, picked fresh tomatoes from their garden, and served this yummy soup with freshly baked bread for dinner. It was a wonderful afternoon that has lingered until now.
Whenever I make this soup, which has become a family legend, I think of that afternoon and smile and, share this story with all my guests and the many life lessons it has taught me.
Opening windows to other cultures is why I am so proud to be a board member of the Chicago Cultural Alliance. In these challenging times, we especially need to open our hearts and our wallets to help in the work of Alliance whose mission is to promote, connect, and support a more diverse and inclusive Chicago. At this critical juncture, please stand with me in making a difference by making a donation today.
The recipe is in the link. A donation is not required to view the recipe. Any donations made will support the Chicago Cultural Alliance’s mission to promote, support, and connect museums and centers of cultural heritage for a more inclusive and equitable Chicago.
by admin | Jun 17, 2020 | Taste From Home
Peter Vega, Executive Director, Chicago Cultural Alliance
Taste from Home is a collection of recipes and stories can be used as a way to connect with others and facilitate conversations about race, culture, and identity over a new recipe. Make a cultural dish and sit down with family and friends and have a discussion of the culture it represents.
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today, if you are able. If you are unable to donate, you can still participate by sharing a recipe by using hashtags #tastefromhome, #tastefromhomerecipe, & #chicagocultural on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
During our time in quarantine, my partner Stephen and his sister, Carolyn, and I decided to start cultural culinary adventures on the weekends! We alternated weekends on who would decide the menu and cultural cuisine. On my weekend, I wanted to make something that reminded me of home. One option I thought of was the delicious Puerto Rican family recipes that I have yet to perfect myself, however, I made it a personal goal to make Puerto Rican food more often in general. So, I thought about other dishes that remind me of home and New York City pizza and bagels immediately came to mind.
As of May, I’ve lived in Chicago for seven years, but New York City is home and more specifically the Bronx. I grew up on East 220th Street and Carpenter Avenue in the Northeast Bronx where in the 60s, this neighborhood was predominantly Jewish and Italian-American. As a kid in the 90s, living in the Bronx, children my age would hang out with their friends to eat cheap pizza. So I would indulge in the delicious cuisine of the New York pizza joints and Jewish delis that were such foundations of the community.
For my first Taste from Home recipe, I decided to share a Jewish deli classic, bagels and lox. At a young age, I learned the word lox is derived from the Yiddish word for salmon. I made my family a weekend brunch of homemade bagels and all the fixings, including capers, pickled red onions, tomatoes, and cream cheese. When I eat a bagel and lox, I am immediately brought back to my life in New York City.
Taste from Home is a storytelling initiative that promotes cultural understanding. Food elicits vivid memories especially when tied to cultural traditions, holidays, or simply experiences that remind us of family and home. We hope you can join us in sharing a Taste from Home story of your own.
The Chicago Cultural Alliance promotes and supports museums and cultural heritage centers that help us deepen our knowledge of the cultures in Chicago. I hope you can help us to promote cross-cultural experiences for a more inclusive Chicago by making a donation to the Alliance today.
The recipe is in the link. A donation is not required to view the recipe. Any donations made will support the Chicago Cultural Alliance’s mission to promote, support, and connect museums and centers of cultural heritage for a more inclusive and equitable Chicago.
by admin | Jun 15, 2020 | Taste From Home
Peter Vega, Executive Director, Chicago Cultural Alliance
Taste from Home is collection of recipes and stories inspired by the food that defines who we are and where we come from. As we are all home exploring new recipes and cuisines, we encourage you to share a recipe and story with us that connects you to your family and cultural heritage.
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today, if you are able. If you are unable to donate, you can still participate by sharing a recipe by using hashtags #tastefromhome, #tastefromhomerecipe, & #chicagocultural on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
I am humbled and honored to have the opportunity to lead the Chicago Cultural Alliance as its Executive Director and to advance its mission to support, promote, and connect museums and cultural heritage institutions.
The Members of the Alliance have taught me that museums and cultural heritage institutions are more than hosts for cultural events and performances. These institutions are pillars of their communities, neighborhoods, and the city overall. They are critical to the development of cross-cultural understanding by preserving and protecting the identity and characteristics of all the diverse cultures that make up the mosaic that is Chicago.
This is why it is imperative that we all participate in today’s historic Black Lives Matter movement. We must collectively support our Black communities and share the burden they’ve carried alone for hundreds of years. They need support from all of us. We must embrace, share, and amplify one another’s cultures, histories, and traditions.
Taste From Home was created to remind us of what makes us similar. Food and stories within each of our cultures help us to learn more about one another and celebrate our diversity, similarities, and differences. I hope you can join us in this celebration by participating in Taste From Home.
Tell us a story about your family and friends and how you all come together to celebrate your culture with food! The Chicago Cultural Alliance wants to elevate more diverse voices in our city. We do this by supporting cultural heritage museums and centers that promote and support cross-cultural understanding, diversity, and inclusion. We hope you will consider making a donation to help us continue this vital work.
by Marketing | Jun 8, 2020 | Taste From Home
Why I Serve as Board President of the Chicago Cultural Alliance:
I believe that cultural heritage matters and should be valued, shared, celebrated, and preserved. If you do not know where you come from, you will never know where you are headed. My cultural heritage is my personal compass. My parents and grandparents emigrated from the Philippines so our family could have opportunities that were not possible in the Philippines. I am proud to serve as the Board President of the Chicago Cultural Alliance because our work helping to connect, promote and support centers of heritage is so critical. I enjoy sharing stories about my heritage and traditions. I also love to learn about other cultures which we are so fortunate to have in our dynamic city.
Who Taught Me This Recipe/How did I learn it?
I learned this recipe by watching my Lola (grandmother in Tagalog) and Mom make it ever since I was a child. I experienced this recipe by taste, enjoying many wonderful servings of Lola’s birthday punch. So, I know how to make it by taste, not so much by precise measurements.
What culture/country is this dish from?
This recipe is a product of the Filipino-American culture. My Lola invented it! In the process of working on my Taste From Home essay, I learned that this punch is not actually a recipe from the Philippines as I had originally thought. I found out from my Mom that my Lola invented this recipe herself. My Lola wanted to come up with something special for my first birthday party and created this masterful birthday refreshment. Lola’s Birthday Punch was such a hit that my Mom and Lola had to refill the punch bowl twice during my 1st birthday party.
When Do you Normally eat this Dish? Is it for a Holiday or Celebration?
Normally, you would serve this punch at a birthday party. This recipe is also associated with any large family celebration, such as holidays like Christmas or New Year’s. Anytime we have a large family gathering, you can guarantee, you will find Lola’s Birthday Punch served.
Why is it important to you?
This recipe is important to me because it symbolizes joy, family, and love. It will forever be the iconic taste of my childhood. It transports me back to simpler times when the world seemed less complicated and more innocent.
Growing up in a large, boisterous Filipino American family, some of my fondest childhood memories revolved around birthday celebrations. Without fail, just about every birthday party I can remember would always include Lola’s classic Birthday Punch!
I remember my Lola proudly placing our family’s modest crystal punch bowl on our dining table. The chiseled bowl was always filled to the brim with the most refreshing and delicious punch I have ever had.
Fast forward several years later to now, when I have a 12 year-old daughter of my own. One of my proudest “Filipino Mom” moments was making Lola’s Birthday Punch for my own daughter’s birthday party. My daughter, of course, has had this remarkable birthday treat before, but this was the first time I had ever shared this secret treasure with anyone outside of our family. I asked my Mom for her “pro tips” for making Lola’s Birthday Punch. I was about to embark on a milestone myself – making my Lola’s Birthday Punch for a group of kids who had never experienced the delight of Lola’s special birthday libation. The kids had just come back from playing outside and were thirsty and eager to see what I had been working on.
Just as my own Mom and Lola had proudly stood by our family’s crystal punch bowl, I was now standing in my kitchen in front of a large bowl of my Lola’s Birthday Punch with a huge smile on my face, proud of the memories that got me to this moment and grateful for the memories I was sure to make once these kids came to know the joy of my Lola’s Birthday Punch. My daughter and her friends guzzled down several servings of my Lola’s treasured punch. They all wanted to know how to make it. They marveled at how there was just the right amount of fizz and how all the flavors came together. They wanted to know why they did not have a punch like this before. Each question begot another and produced a flurry of excitement and merriment, just as I had experienced as a child at every birthday and holiday gathering.
Remarkably, Lola’s Birthday Punch had transcended generations and cultures. My daughter and her friends had just gotten a glimpse into my childhood and were eager to try to make my Lola’s Birthday Punch at their own homes, too. I love sharing my culture with others: you learn by sharing and you grow by trying new things.
Vanessa Vergara
