COMMUNITY VOICES | Conflict Kitchens in Minneapolis?

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In Issue 156 of Saveur Magazine, Pittsburgh’s Conflict Kitchen (a restaurant/project that changes its menus and only serves cuisine from a country in which the US is in conflict with) was featured. It’s a way to create dialogue and get people interested in what is going on in the rest of the world. Menus serve as fliers to inform diners on the situation. Servers are trained to be “conversationalists” on issues regarding each country.Food is a great way to start a conversation about history and politics. Growing up, the taste of Chinese “peasant” food such as salted fish and congee reminds me of gathering at the table and waiting for my parents to say enthusiastically, “Sik Fan La!” Continue Reading

COMMUNITY VOICES | Cookbooks at Magers and Quinn

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Who has the best cookbook collection in town?While I love going to the downtown Minneapolis library to look for old gems that I haven’t heard of because they aren’t displayed on bookstore window fronts, I do still love perusing what the folks at Magers and Quinn have sourced. About a year ago, I came upon Grandma and Grandpa Cook at Magers and Quinn. This is a cookbook that compiles stories from grandparents in Hong Kong, what they like to eat and a recipe. There are sentimental stories of childhood treats as well as stories of strife…a grandma who recounted her story of how she was sold as a child and somehow made it to Hong Kong is featured in this book…sharing a recipe.I love the photos of these grandparents, dressed in their style, so similar to what my own late grandparents wore when I saw them during my trips to Hong Kong. There is a grandma with the patterned long sleeved buttoned down shirt and matching pants that only women in their late 60’s wear (well, in the 1980s…I guess they’d be 80 now). There is the grandpa with his white shirt tucked into his trousers with a dark belt and sneakers. Continue Reading