It's the simple joys in life that make humans truly unique. In a world plagued by cultural, economic and political strife, there are seemingly very few things that everyone can connect with on a molecular level. However, the most basic human ritual, one we all participate in daily -regardless of location, background or religion- is also one of the most meaningful.
The act of sharing a meal, whatever it may look like for you, connects not only communities but also individuals to their roots. Told through the stories of Roksolana, Niyi and Kerensa, this phenomenon takes form over dinner plates and scraped bowls, overcooked rice and burnt milk, and memories that are sure to be instilled in the kitchens (and hearts) of us all.
Roksolana Malynovska’s hometown of Sloboda, Ukraine looks like a postcard. Vast expanses of the Carpathian Mountains are covered in lush greenery and wildflowers during the summer and under constant snowfall during the winter. This part of Western Ukraine is her family’s land. Generation after generation, dating back nearly 200 years, have been brought up and forged a connection with the natural beauty of the resource-rich land. Her comfort food? A meal that, like her family lineage, is deeply-rooted to the land. An extremely local, regional dish, Ripka & Smazhnytsa is a mushroom cream sauce using locally-grown wild food around the Carpathian Mountains. “Everything about the recipe brings me comfort. The smell of potato with mushrooms,” she closes her eyes, no doubt imagining her home. ”The stages you need to go through in order to make sure the dish is perfect in terms of texture, smell and flavour. If you miss something, you definitely won’t get the result you are there for.” Roksolana Malynovska’s hometown of Sloboda, Ukraine looks like a postcard. Vast expanses of the Carpathian Mountains are covered in lush greenery and wildflowers during the summer and under constant snowfall during the winter. This part of Western Ukraine is her family’s land. Generation after generation, dating back nearly 200 years, have been brought up and forged a connection with the natural beauty of the resource-rich land. Her comfort food? A meal that, like her family lineage, is deeply-rooted to the land. An extremely local, regional dish, Ripka & Smazhnytsa is a mushroom cream sauce using locally-grown wild food around the Carpathian Mountains. “Everything about the recipe brings me comfort. The smell of potato with mushrooms,” she closes her eyes, no doubt imagining her home. ”The stages you need to go through in order to make sure the dish is perfect in terms of texture, smell and flavour. If you miss something, you definitely won’t get the result you are there for.”
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Roksolana
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Niyi
When 28-year-old Niyi Obafemi-Olopade told me that his comfort food was perhaps the most popular African dish to spread outside of Africa, I was surprised. When he told me that he wouldn’t be following a recipe, I was even more surprised considering that he makes a living from social media food content. Jollof Rice, much like its rich history, has a widely-known reputation born from the African diaspora. From country to country throughout Western Africa, including Niyi’s native Nigeria, there is a forged and feigned sense of ownership over the dish; like any regional staple, every area and family believes that their version is the best, that it’s theirs to claim. Surprisingly, Niyi doesn’t claim his is the best. In fact, he is almost slating his version before the cooking even begins; different water, ingredient quality and environment, apparently, puts him at a disadvantage. Here, in his East London flat, he recalls the first time he ever made the dish: “One of my sisters initially showed me a recipe, but then over the years, the more you cook, the more you have a little bit more licence to experiment with how you like it in terms of flavour.” These more traditional flavours, starting with a base of tomatoes and onion, are often layered with a variety of heady spices: from curry powder to thyme to Grains of Selim (black pepper’s smokier, more floral cousin) to garlic, the specifics vary both by the country and from house to house. He begins by doing exactly that: blitzing tomatoes, shallots and scotch bonnets while toasting some tomato puree to extract oils and, as Niyi puts it, “add a depth of flavour”. This step is crucial for the unmistakable red colour of the dish; he’s opting for curry powder, thyme and all purpose seasoning for his aromatics, but it’s just what he “had on hand”. “Some people probably think mine isn’t spicy enough. I don’t use too much chilli because I think the food should sing for itself,” he says. “Some people, for example, would add peas or carrots to their Jollof rice, but what I’ve come to the conclusion for mine is it doesn’t need any back up dancers or collaborators, it will just do its work for itself.“ It’s easy to tell that this, not just cooking the dish but also speaking about his heritage, means the world to Niyi. Like many West African cultures, community is at the heart of social life, and being one of 15 children, he is no stranger to large celebrations and gatherings. “Food has a massive connection to home. For example, the dish I’m cooking now, the best times I’ve ever had that dish was when I go to Nigeria just because of that homey feel,” he says. “From a Nigerian perspective, you can’t really have a party without having Jollof Rice. I guess it’s also taking me back to those fun memories of being back there.” With the wooden spoon, he monitors the flavour of the dish by putting the skinny side of the spoon to the palm of his hand and bringing it to his mouth to taste. As he tells me about his favourite foods, he adds the rice to the pot and laughs, “Oh, fuck. I just messed it up a bit.” Niyi has never claimed to be a Michelin-Star chef, in fact he has created business ventures banking on the idea of being a “novice” in the kitchen. Novice Kitchen began as exactly that, an inexperienced London bloke looking to connect to not only his culture, but also to those that influenced him as an adult. Providing “cultural enlightenment in the kitchen” by giving beginner cooks the skills (and sauces) needed to feel confident in the kitchen, NK is largely inspired by Niyi’s travels. With a Balinese Jam and Tropical Heat hot sauce on store shelves, the entrepreneur gives a lot of credit to his father for instilling a love of culture and food into their family life. “When I was younger, we spent quite a lot of time travelling around, and he was always quite keen that I learned about the different cultures through food,” he tells me. “To be honest, most of the time, I absolutely hated it and was kind of crying my eyes out at the dinner table. It wasn’t that deep, but I think it did give me a real appreciation for different cultures and I think that’s maybe why I’ve carried this on further now.” He admits this isn’t the cheapest hobby, but it’s more than just travelling the world, it’s about getting a deeper understanding of cultures and their food while sharing that joy and curiosity with others.
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Kerensa
Kerensa Mason wears many hats - aspiring musician, only child, and, like many their age, works in retail to pay the bills. The 26-year-old’s work ethic is frankly all-encompassing, leaving little opportunity to spend time on what they value the most while doing it in a way that honours their East Asian heritage: connecting with those around them through food. Upon my arrival to their welcoming North-East London flat, they tells me that they're not making one dish, but three, so in the effort of transparency, this was not a comfort food, it’s more of a comfort meal. With their mother being from Hong Kong and their father from the UK, Kerensa was raised on classic Cantonese dishes, so it is plausible that their menu followed suit; the main star of the show is a stuffed tofu accompanied by a stir-fry, veggies, rice and lager. As Kerensa begins carving out the hollows in the tofu, they tells me about themself - they grew up in Beijing, is an INFJ personality type, vegan and a Queer person of colour. “In terms of actually taking time to prepare and really utilise the self-care that is preparing a meal, I don’t really have much time these days,” they say while stuffing the tofu with vegan meat, tofu, Xianggu (a fragrant, dried mushroom that are “a staple in a lot of East Asian homes”) and spring onions. “To actually be able to find a moment of reconnection is really rare for me… It’s nice to slow down and take that self-care time.” Their innate love for food runs in the family - their grandfather, she calls him Gong Gong, was a chef and owner of a UK-based Chinese takeaway, and he, through his food, insured that Kerensa felt loved and taken care of, even if a meal was all they shared. In their early years, they spent a lot of time watching their Mama cook. Whether it be a way to spend time together or a genuine interest in *what the hell* she was doing, it’s clear that those moments left an impression on a growing Kerensa. “My mum always cooked and I wish I appreciated her cooking more [at the time]… When you grow up with that, you don’t always realise how special it is and then you leave home and you’re like, ‘Oh, what was that thing my mum cooked when I was 7?” they laughed. “I was just really intrigued.” The way they worship over their mother shows just how much value they place in the relationships in their life. They possess many of the same traits that they so admires in their mother: gentle, caring, and definitely won’t let anyone leave a meal still hungry. As a family, frequent trips were made to Hong Kong, another major influence in their self-identity, to visit extended relatives. Like many international homes, language plays a key part in its function; Kerensa speaks Mandarin and English, their relatives in Hong Kong speak Cantonese, and many of them, including their mother, speak over three languages. Like with their Gong Gong, an important source of communication was a meal. “Even if we don’t really have anything to talk about, we’ll talk about food. You talk about everything over a meal and it’s your way of showing love as well as you know,” they said. At this point, they're multitasking three dishes on the stovetop. Frying the stuffed tofu in a large wok, stir-frying black fungus, oyster mushrooms and fried tofu in chilli oil all while cooking choy sum, a relative of the leafy green bok choy, in black bean sauce. Food, they tell me, is very much the East Asian love language and although they has been away from home for nearly 7 years, they have found a group of creatives who have turned into a chosen family in London. “I managed to find a community here. Especially as a queer person of colour who’s also mixed, you can’t always walk into a room and feel a sense of community. It’s hard to find sometimes,” they said. Hong Kong is a place that, although it was never technically their place of residence, they include in places they misses when they feels homesick. As the plating process begins, Kerensa reflects: “I just always felt really connected there. I guess it might also have to do with the fact that it’s my heritage place.” Being vegan, they explain, has its challenges with East Asian food being so reliant on animal byproducts. When visiting family and having group dinners, it proved challenging to relive the comforts of home using cuisine. “Veganism has been an adaptation of preserving the comforting foods I grew up with.” As we sit down to eat the meal Kerensa prepared, the table is set in a communal eating style. Communal eating, largely practised in China and other East Asian countries, encourages people to deepen their ties to those around them, offering respect and humility by serving others. This way of eating not only highlights the need for connections within society, but also feels far more intimate and meaningful to share things, even if, like at our table, you are strangers. Kerensa cracks open a Tsing Tao, a popular Chinese lager, obviously pleased with the meal before them, and as the Animal Crossing theme music continues to play, the feeling in the kitchen is good. Arguably, food can act as a window into a soul and in the case of Kerensa, their kitchen table mirrors millions of tables to have come before this one - performing the most basic human ritual known to mankind, a meal is not just a comfort, but also a time machine.