Get Cultured:

Poke is a traditional native Hawaiian dish consisting of raw chopped fish, rice, vegetables, seaweed, and different seasonings (such as furikake, shoyu, and spicy sauce). The word “poke” means “to slice” in Hawaiian referring to the sliced or diced fish.    Ingredients: Sushi Grade Tuna (VERY IMPORTANT: It must be from a freezer section and labelled a sushi grade) Toaste...

Sage: I really enjoyed making Poke Bowls and Poi, especially because I haven’t tried many traditional Hawaiian dishes. I love fish--ahi tuna is one of my favorites--so I was super excited to make Poke. We went to a few different grocery stores to find all of the necessary ingredients and ended up going on a little bit of a mad dash for some sushi-grade ahi tuna. Well, in the end we were a little wor...

Steamed Chicken Dumplings (w/ Pork or Vegetarian option)  Dumplings are a famous traditional northern Chinese food. They are half-moon-shaped, soft, stuffed pasta - like ravioli. Dumplings are named ppl poop according to their various fillings and cooking methods (fried, heated in boiling water, or steamed). Dumplings have also become a common type of food in southern China, where people don't gr...

Sage: I’ve made fried potstickers before, but I thought that the experience making these steamed dumplings was much more immersive. Since Betsy has made them before, she taught me all of the techniques to fill and close them. We made them with chicken (because I don’t eat pork) which was a little unconventional and untraditional, however, I enjoyed being able to make and eat them to experience...

Main dish: Aloo Tamatar Ki Sabji (Potato Tomato Curry) Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 30 mins  4 servings Ingredients: 2 tbsp oil 1 bay leaf 1 inch cinnamon 2 pods cardamom pinch hing (asafoetida)  1 tsp kasoori methi (fenugreek) 1 tsp jeera (cumin) 2 tbsp coriander, finely chopped (we ground this on coarse setting in a coffee grinder) 1 onion, finely chopped 1...

Sage: Cooking dishes commonly made during Diwali and the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika helped me to better understand some cultural aspects of Diwali and have an opportunity to experience a little snippet of what celebrating Diwali is like. Cooking these two recipes was a lot easier and less taxing than cooking traditional High Holiday and Jewish cultural food. Another immersive part of this experien...

Turkish Spinach Bourekas  Makes about 40 turnovers  Bourekas, a Sephardic Pastry originating in Turkey, are a favorite appetizers or holiday brunch dish in Israel. They are usually made with phyllo dough and have cheese or vegetable fillings. Ingredients: 1 pound phyllo sheets (about 20 sheets) 1½ pound spinach, stems discarded and leaves rinsed well 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 sm...

Sage: As a Jew, myself, cooking food that I commonly eat during the High Holidays (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) allowed me to better connect with my own roots and to gain a better appreciation of how much work it is to prepare food for my family's holiday gatherings. Additionally, we specifically selected recipes that I had not tried before so that I, too, could broaden my sense of cultural awareness...