We are always writing stories in our kitchen. Creating the traditional meals that serve as the foundation of our holiday memories, late night chats with teenagers over ice cream, messes with toddlers. The time we spend at the table, together, around food forge our identities and our relationships. So, we want our kitchens to be places of calm, of invitation, and we mostly want them to be places that represent us, our values, and our treasured stories.
Every guest that comes on The Storied Recipe Podcast shares a recipe that tells a story. I make, photograph, and share every recipe with you, here on this website. Then, during the interview, we use the recipe to dive deep into my guest's culture and heritage, memories and experiences, and their work and life. Here are some of the stories we've heard here on the podcast. Which one resonates with you?
Which collection will make the perfect wall art set for your kitchen?
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1) A Southeast Asian Story {Roti Canai}
Roti Chanai was a revelation to me – a simple bread dough is formed into balls, stretched very thinly, scrunched, spiraled, and reflattened. After being coated in ghee every step of the way, the flat bread is then fried in more ghee. Finally, the hot, crispy, buttery layers are pulled apart and eaten. While new to me, this bread represents stability and family and love and home to my guest Shakila. The bread connects her the multi-cultural family that somehow made living together on one compound work in Singapore. The bread follows her to England and eventually the U.S. and finally, it was this bread that brought Shakila’s American son back to his Singaporean roots. If any of us ever doubted the power of food, this episode will convince us that food is family, love, and memories.
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2) A Purim Story {Hamantaschen}
For Lauren and her sister Jenny, Purim is about two things: hamantaschen and remembering their mother, Maxine. Every year without fail, these two sisters gather to carry on their mother’s tradition of making hundreds of Hamantaschen to share with their expectant, grateful children and community. And I can see why their children and neighbors treasure this tradition – these soft, flaky, triangular cookies are three bites of perfectly balanced crust and sweet (but not too sweet!) filling.
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3) A Greek Love Story {Stewed Peas}
There’s a surprise to every interview, and what I didn’t expect from this one was to be so smitten by the beautiful love story of Helen and Billie’s (the sisters who blog at Mia Kouppa) parents. Today we meet a courageous, trailblazing woman who made a path in Canada, then returned to Greece to marry a man who knits, gardens, shops, and loved his wife so much, every day for 10 years, he left his job at a factory to join her at her job, so she could finish more quickly and return home with him. And what did they do when they returned home together? Why, they cooked, of course. Their story may be humble, but just like their food, it will nourish and uplift your soul.
Before I knew their parents story, I was itching to know the Mia Kouppa ladies for a while. There’s a lot to appreciate about sisters Helen and Billie. They are warm, friendly, and funny ( and on that note: I highly recommend the opening paragraph to their post on today’s recipe, for Stewed green peas) and they blog with a mission: They take the delicious, healthy, flavorful simple Greek dishes of their parents generation, which have only ever been measured in relation to “Mia Kouppa” – a coffee cup in a cupboard – and translate them to actual recipes, with measurements the rest of us can use and replicate.
Shop The Greek Love Story Prints
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4) A Venezuelan Story {Arepas}
When Yessica left her home country of Venezuela forever and arrived in Holland (the same country, funny enough, that her mother always dreamed of living), there was one thing she had to do first – find the correct cornflour to make Arepas. As Yessica’s candid speaking style made me laugh out loud over and over, she also taught me about the recent history and struggles in Venezuela and how she has leveraged – one step at a time – a job at her local McDonalds into a graphic design career, a paid education at some of the finest culinary institutions in the world, and finally settled in as a freelance food photographer with her own studio. I’m so honored to introduce you to Yessica.
Shop A Venezuelan Story Prints
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5) An Indian Story {Halwa}
Today, I’m so pleased to introduce you to Karishma, an Indian-born woman who relocated to Australia when she married, 2 years ago. Today, Karishma is teaching us about halva, a Indian sweet served at celebration times, made from whole wheat flour, ghee, and simple sugar water. Although the ingredients are simple, the process is not, but Karishma’s grandmother, who cooked many years for a household of 20 people, perfected this recipe in a way Karishma believes very few have perfected it. Karishma’s grandmother often brought this dish to the temple as an offering, where others would receive it and bring it home as a symbol that “no one who seeks blessing will leave empty-handed.” Now, to Karishma, Halva is an embodiment of nostalgia and the love of her grandmother, and like her grandmother, Karishma now makes the dish in large quantities not only for celebrations, but whenever she or her family crave it.
Listen to Karishma - "Women Are The Makers"
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6) A Ukrainian Story {Pierogis/Varynyky}
An American-born Ukranian named Lydia reached out to me in December. She wrote , “Our memories are so tied up with food. I found my entire family in a Ukranian village. When I turned around, there on the table were the same foods I had grown up eating.” I was immediately intrigued and wanted to hear more of this story. As Lydia shared this beautiful story centered around Varenyky (otherwise known as pierogies), I learned why she is so very proud to call herself Piotr’s Granddaughter. I also came to understand how proud Piotr would be of his granddaughter Lydia.
Listen to Lydia "I Am Piotr's Granddaughter"
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7) A Nigerian Story {Jollof Rice}
Welcome today to Ify Ogbue, a nutritionist by profession and food blogger by passion, sharing a classic – well, I think we could even say THE classic Nigerian dish – Jollof Rice. (PS – Please allow me to just wave the white flag here and say I’m not in the middle of any national debates over Jollof recipes! I’m just a woman following a recipe from my good friend and podcast guest, Ify.) Anyhow, Ify and I caught up way back in August to discuss Jollof Rice, of course, and also maintaining relationships and roots in Nigeria as an immigrant to Canada. Ify educated me on the history and meaning of Ankara cloth and addressed my concerns about appropriating it in photos. Finally, we talked about Ify’s background as a nutritionist and her unique approach to food blogging based on that perspective.
Listen to Ify "Jollof Rice with Ify Ogbue"
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8) A Mexican Story {Mole Sauce}
So grateful to welcome Diana Silva to the podcast today with a set of stories that will challenge and inspire us to live with more love. Diana is a YouTuber, podcaster, and author of the book Molé Mama: A Memoir of Love, Cooking, and Loss. The book begins when Diana’s mother, Rose, was given 3 days to live. It chronicles the 13 months that she outlived that diagnosis – the 2nd time in her life that she survived against the odds. As Diana walks with her mother deep into “the valley of the shadow of death”, she also cooks for her. In this way, Diana sustains her mother, comforts her, and finally learns the delicious Mexican recipes that Rose made for the 15 (yes, 15!) children and hundreds of migrant workers that she welcomed into her home over 50 years. We have much – so very, very much – to learn from both Diana and Rose in this episode, as their lives challenge us to love with greater sacrifice, endurance, and joy.
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9) A Trinidadian Story
We hear from Moy Lovell about Doubles, the street food she says “profoundly connects” everyone in her country, the republic of Trinidad and Tobago, regardless of race, ethnicity, or socio-economic status. Doubles sounds simple enough – just fried bread called “bara” topped with a flavourful Channa (or chickpea) Gravy – but it’s so good that, after making it before this interview, I knew I had to make a QUADRUPLE batch to satisfy my family when the day came to photograph the Doubles. As you may have guessed, the dish has its roots in India, which was the perfect starting point for Moy to teach me about the unique history and diversity of Trinidad and Tobago. Also, the version Moy gave me is gluten-free, as Moy cannot eat any gluten at all, and has used her considerable baking skills to develop recipes for many classic dishes. We discuss her diagnosis at length, but because this episode was already so rich and packed with information, I’m also releasing a bonus episode this Friday with Moy’s best tips for baking gluten-free foods.
10) Coffee in Florence
From my own experience.
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10) Going Vegan
From a collection of guests.
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