Blog Post 9 Community Kitchen Picnic
Blog Post 9
Community Kitchen Picnic
April 24, 2018
Gentle Reader,
Welcome to the Community Kitchen Picnic at Kara Tepe! This is a Monday evening tradition here, where volunteers and residents come together to cook with and for one another.
I was pleasantly surprised to see so many young men cooking in the kitchen last night. This is contrast to the kitchens which are usually filled with almost entirely women throughout the daytime.
Katap, a resident volunteer who works as a translator in The Shop, was making falafel. This is a pretty labor intensive process, as it takes a long time to fry the falafel in oil. He would store each batch in a drawer below the burners as he finished each skilletful.
One woman made a biryani, using a recipe from Iraq. The dish contained both meat and fruit, which was a beautiful flavor combination, reminding me of some Moroccan dishes I have cooked at home.
The potato pancakes were wonderful, too! The conversation in the Community Kitchen enabled us to share food traditions with one another as we cooked. I talked about how potato pancakes were a part of my Slovak tradition, and that we ate the with sour cream. As a child, I always knew when my mother was going to cook up some potato pancakes because a large container of sour cream would appear in the refrigerator. I remember sneaking dollops of sour cream by dipping my fingers in the container. In my Eastern Europe background, the potato pancakes are called belinis. We also use sour cream for the dough when we make kolachi, which is a pastry generally filled with nuts or fruits. I also shared that many German versions top the potato pancakes with applesauce.
I chopped up all the ingredients for the Greek Salad: purple onions, feta cheese, spinach, cucumbers, green peppers, celery, and tomato. The feta cheese was a little old and smelled a bit of wine, but a few of us tasted it and decided it was still just dandy for eating.
Here is Katap's falafel, sizzling away in the skillet.
Another dish for the picnic. Didn't catch the name of this one.
Kelly, one of the volunteers, made a version of Carbonara. She used spaghetti and then added mushrooms, onion, cream, garlic, and smoked chicken pieces. It was a hit of the party!!!
To honor the many hands that were involved in preparing the meal last night, I will end today's blog with some quotes about cooking....
Community Kitchen Picnic
April 24, 2018
Gentle Reader,
Welcome to the Community Kitchen Picnic at Kara Tepe! This is a Monday evening tradition here, where volunteers and residents come together to cook with and for one another.
I was pleasantly surprised to see so many young men cooking in the kitchen last night. This is contrast to the kitchens which are usually filled with almost entirely women throughout the daytime.
Katap, a resident volunteer who works as a translator in The Shop, was making falafel. This is a pretty labor intensive process, as it takes a long time to fry the falafel in oil. He would store each batch in a drawer below the burners as he finished each skilletful.
One woman made a biryani, using a recipe from Iraq. The dish contained both meat and fruit, which was a beautiful flavor combination, reminding me of some Moroccan dishes I have cooked at home.
The potato pancakes were wonderful, too! The conversation in the Community Kitchen enabled us to share food traditions with one another as we cooked. I talked about how potato pancakes were a part of my Slovak tradition, and that we ate the with sour cream. As a child, I always knew when my mother was going to cook up some potato pancakes because a large container of sour cream would appear in the refrigerator. I remember sneaking dollops of sour cream by dipping my fingers in the container. In my Eastern Europe background, the potato pancakes are called belinis. We also use sour cream for the dough when we make kolachi, which is a pastry generally filled with nuts or fruits. I also shared that many German versions top the potato pancakes with applesauce.
I chopped up all the ingredients for the Greek Salad: purple onions, feta cheese, spinach, cucumbers, green peppers, celery, and tomato. The feta cheese was a little old and smelled a bit of wine, but a few of us tasted it and decided it was still just dandy for eating.
Here is Katap's falafel, sizzling away in the skillet.
Another dish for the picnic. Didn't catch the name of this one.
Kelly, one of the volunteers, made a version of Carbonara. She used spaghetti and then added mushrooms, onion, cream, garlic, and smoked chicken pieces. It was a hit of the party!!!
To honor the many hands that were involved in preparing the meal last night, I will end today's blog with some quotes about cooking....
The greatest dishes are very simple.
Cooking is like painting or writing a song. Just as there are only so many notes or colors, there are only so many flavors - it's how you combine them that sets you apart.
Instead of going out to dinner, buy good food. Cooking at home shows such affection. In a bad economy, it's more important to make yourself feel good.
The smells of slow cooking spread around the house and impart a unique warmth matched only by the flavour of the food.
*********************
May your day be filled with food that nourishes both your body and your soul... and may you enjoy the many flavors, all day long, as they grace your tongue...
Namaste,
Marianne
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