What does it mean to build community through food?
Northwestern PhD students Archita Arun and Clara Lee are asking that question as they create Craving Together, a recipe index exploring diasporic, immigrant, and refugee food cultures in Chicago.
Arun was motivated to start the project after seeing asylum-seekers in Chicago experience food inequity. Lee, who didn’t inherit any family recipes, has become interested in sharing recipes after seeing them passed down in their partner’s family.
“I think when we move or travel or migrate, sometimes these recipes get lost,” Lee said, “And so it'd be a shame not to document them.”
The project originally started for school, but the two Edgewater residents are continuing Craving Together independently.
Claypot rice is found in Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong. (Clara Lee / Craving Together)
Chicago is a hotbed of worldwide cuisines. Lee said the Vietnamese food in Chicago is better than in their native Singapore. Arun, who is from Mumbai, said trying Ethiopian dishes in Chicago reminded her of Indian food.
The index is another opportunity for Chicagoans to learn more about cuisines they might be unfamiliar with.
The pair have already collected recipes for a Chinese tomato egg dish, Cantonese roast duck, and Mexican atole. But they are seeking more.
Participation is simple: Fill out the Google Form and get a $25 gift card. Your recipe will live in this spreadsheet and on the group’s Instagram.
Arun and Lee are hoping to partner with more organizations to reach more contributors. But they aren’t measuring success on how many recipes they receive or how many cuisines they cover.
“A big part of it for me was to engage with other members of the community who are not in the same age group as us or have the same class privilege,” Arun said, “I think about food really as a way of bringing people together.”
