A Flavorful Celebration of Jewish Culinary Identities

Despite making up just about two percent of the U.S. population, Jews remain keepers of an incredibly varied culture. We see this first-hand in the wide range of Jewish identities which exist in America alone — an Israeli Jew may arrive in the U.S. cooking with chickpeas and pomegranates, only to balk at the copious amounts of “white food” which many Ashkenazi Jews consume. Likewise, latkes and gefilte fish may seem so intrinsically Jewish to these Eastern European Jewish communities that shunning them is to eschew Judaism entirely. Jewish culture is, therefore, dependent upon the interpreter’s own experiences, creating a collection of identities as varied as its people. Yet despite their differences, these groups unite themselves under the larger “Jewish” title, celebrating tradition and commitment to the community in similar ways: Through food.

Hawi: Authentic Ethiopian Cuisine

If you’re like me, you’ve often wondered how “authentic” some ethnic cuisine in America truly is. For example, is Panda Express poorly done Chinese food, or is it just cultural appropriation? Well, I went on an investigation to find out about one of Ithaca’s own!

Scenes From an Italian Restaurant: ZaZa’s Cucina

While I wouldn’t consider it to be in the upper echelon of Ithaca restaurants, it is definitely a solid eatery worthy of a visit for a date night or merely on a night you want to treat yourself to a tasty and reliable Italian dinner.

Student Chefs Bring Taste of Africa to Duffield Hall

In a dimly lit Duffield Hall on Saturday evening, students lined up for a “night market” to sample cuisine from Ghana, Ethiopia and Nigeria and enjoy the diverse culinary culture of Africa. “The purpose of the Africa Night Market is to expose the Cornell community to different African cultures because there is misconception that we’re all kind of the same,” said Maame Ohemeng ’20, organizer of the event and president of Ghanaians at Cornell. “We have different foods, different music, different people and it’s a way to bring us together and expose us to that.”
Dishes offered included — among many others — jollof rice from Ghana and Nigeria; waakye, a Ghanaian dish of rice and beans; and tibs, a type of grilled beef from Ethiopia. Ohemeng said the food was cooked by members of the community. The home-made quality of the buffet presented a logistical problem for the organizers, as they experienced difficulty trying to get the student volunteers “out of their comfort zones” to cook for the Cornell community.