Written By: Michelle Truong

Growing up as a first generation Vietnamese American, I can vividly recall my parents struggling with the delicate balance of assimilating to American culture while keeping our Vietnamese roots, language and customs alive after immigrating to the U.S. from Vietnam. 

Today as an adult with kids of my own, I’m finding that I am experiencing a similar struggle of wanting to pass on our rich Asian culture to my kids while celebrating the melting pot of cultures, foods and traditions we find in our vibrant home city of Houston, Texas. 

Without a doubt, one of the most important aspects of Vietnamese culture is food. Food is a way we connect with loved ones, celebrate special occasions and preserve memories of the homeland. From flavorful charcoal grilled meats called “thịt nướng” to savory and sweet dessert soups, also known as “chè” and everything in between. Vietnamese foods will always hold a special place in my heart thanks to the dedication of my parents. 

Many Vietnamese immigrants living in America have made it a priority to preserve their culture by seeking out traditional ingredients to continue making the dishes they love, such as bánh cuốn (thin sheets of rice paper stuffed with savory fillings), bánh mì (French influenced baguettes with meats, pickled vegetables and unctuous handmade mayonnaise), and bún bò Huế (spicy beef noodle soup.) It is also common to gather with family and friends to make and share these dishes, passing down the cooking techniques and recipes generation by generation. 

I am always surprised, yet overjoyed, when my children ask for phở (the national dish of Vietnam) for dinner or when they happily add pungent fish sauce onto their favorite Vietnamese dishes. If you’re finding yourself feeling challenged with keeping your own culture and traditions alive, below are 5 habits that I’ve adopted into my parenting that have helped both me and my children nurture our Asian American heritage and embrace new traditions. 

1. Practice traditional greetings! While it is difficult speaking Vietnamese to my kids all the time, it is a must that they are able to greet their elders in a traditional manner. When greeting their grandparents, they’re expected to fold their arms together and bow as they say, “Chào bà ngoại” for grandma or “Chào ông ngoại” for grandpa. 
2. Research the national foods of your country of origin and beyond! Commit to making a new cultural dish as a family. In our family, my kids love to help cook fragrant jasmine rice, which is a staple in the Vietnamese dietary pattern. They are in charge of rinsing the rice until the water runs clear and they love splashing starchy water around in the rice pot. Common Threads has an extensive collection of culturally responsive recipes that can help get you started in exploring the foods of other cultures!
3. Interview an elder! Our elders have amazing stories of how they persevered through difficult times. Whether they were immigrants, like mine, or were born in America, this practice of generational storytelling can help connect both young and old. 
4. Celebrate the holidays of your native country! Our favorite Vietnamese holiday is Lunar New Year (Tết) which is celebrated in either January or February. My children love saying, “Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!” which means “Happy New Year” in Vietnamese before being rewarded with bright red envelopes filled with lucky money. In Vietnam, it is tradition to wear new red Vietnamese dresses called “ao dai” and visit our elders. 
5. Make new family traditions of your own! While traditions passed down by generation are wonderful to honor and practice, it’s also great to build new traditions of your own. In my family, we find ways to connect by playing a game at dinner called “High, Low, Tomorrow” where we all share the best thing that happened during the day, the worst thing that happened, and something we are looking forward to tomorrow. 

Family and traditions are important. They help to foster a positive and healthy family culture that can be passed on from one generation to the next. They also give us a true sense of belonging while reinforcing our history, values and beliefs. Whether it’s practicing an old tradition or adopting a new one, embrace your roots, celebrate those that came before you and take pride in the special mix of cultures and traditions that make you who you are! 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michelle comes from a long line of educators and believes it’s in her blood. Her grandparents and mother taught for many decades before passing the torch down to her. She is a seasoned educator with a passion for teaching a culturally responsive curriculum and equipping youth with life skills that will prepare them for adulthood. As the Education and Training Manager at Common Threads, Michelle gets to combine two of the things she loves most– education and cooking!

Written By: Michelle Truong

In honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day in October and National Native American Heritage Month in November, Common Threads invited Jenni Lessard, a Canadian-based chef and the Interim Executive Director of the Indigenous Culinary of Associated Nations, to share about her heritage and to conduct a cooking demo with an Indigenous recipe. Chef Lessard is an entrepreneur, consultant, mother and member of the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan, located in Canada.

Chef Jenni chose to prepare bannock, which simply means bread, along with rosehip butter and local berries. While preparing her quick and easy bannock, adapted from her Great Aunt’s recipe, Chef Jenni opened up about her life, inspirations, upbringing and her indigenous culture.  While it wasn’t originally considered an indigenous food, bannock became common to nearly all of North America’s first peoples.  

One reason for the popularity of bannock and its quick adoption as a dietary staple was that it could be made with the rations that were given to tribes after reserves were created. An Indian Reserve is land that was set aside under the Indian Act by the Crown (the government in Canada.) This Act was originally passed in 1876 and authorized the government to regulate and administer the day-to-day lives of registered Indians and reserve communities. Rations often included items like white flour, white sugar, lard, white rice and baking powder– all of which were foods that departed from native lean proteins and vegetables like bison, berries, and plants. 

As Chef Jenni combined flour, wheat flour, brown sugar, oil and water into a sticky dough, we learned that bannock is as versatile as it is tasty. The dough can be made into a loaf, individual smaller flatbreads, pizza crust, and even cinnamon buns. As she kneaded the dough, Chef Jenni reflected on one of her first jobs, which was creating patient menus using indigenous ingredients for a children’s hospital. She recalls using bannock dough to wrap around pizza filling to create “pizza pops” which were eagerly enjoyed by the patients!

While the discussion was often light-hearted, Chef Jenni also shared about some of the dark past that was experienced by Indigenous people. Chef Jenni stopped herself from preparing any foods as she reflected on the sorrowful history of Indigenous people in Canada. One of the many things Chef Jenni shared is that your mood and thoughts while cooking can affect your food. She stressed that the way you cook and how you’re feeling makes a huge difference to your food. This is why she encourages the practice of thinking about things that make you feel happy and peaceful while cooking. 

Common Threads agrees with Chef Jenni that preparing healthy meals and beloved cultural foods is good for the soul! Common Threads is grateful to Chef Jenni for sharing her heritage and her special recipe with us. We hope that in the spirit of celebrating history and food that you enjoy Chef Jenni’s bannock recipe below to prepare as a snack or a part of a feast for your own family! 

Learn more about Chef Jenni by visiting her website https://www.jennilessard.com!

BANNOCK RECIPE

Materials: 1 large bowl, 1 cup measure, liquid measure cup (can use dry measure if necessary), measuring spoons, baking sheet and parchment paper

Ingredients:

• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• ½ cup oil or melted lard
• 3 ½ to 4 cups cold water

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine both flours, baking powder, salt and brown sugar. 

Add oil and  then add water gradually, mixing with your hands until all the dry ingredients are incorporated

1. Continue to add the water gradually until the dough is the consistency of a thick biscuit dough. 
2. Turn out the dough onto a floured counter and knead for a few minutes. 
3. Form the dough into a 12 inch by 12-inch circle and bake 30-35 min at 375 F or until golden brown. 

Written By: Alejandra Zamora

Happy Black History Month! Historically recognized in February, this month celebrates Black history and heritage of both the past and the present, including educating people on the often forgotten, veiled experiences and figures who shaped various industries. At Common Threads, we recognize and value the cultural roots in which much of our food is rooted in, with many of our recipes stemming from Caribbean, African and Southern cuisines. Iconic names like Sunny Anderson, Marcus Samuelsson and Edna Lewis may come to mind when thinking about prominent Black chefs in the industry, but what about the unfamiliar figures who paved the way for Black inclusion in the food world? In this blog post, we’re spotlighting three trailblazers you may not have heard of who’ve made profound impacts on the culinary world. 

James Hemings (1765-1801)

Crème brûlée, meringues, ice cream and French fries may have James Hemings to thank for their popularity in America.

Born into a well-known enslaved family, Hemings himself was an enslaved person for most of his life: At the age of 8, he became the property of Thomas Jefferson through his wife’s inheritance, despite being the former president’s half-brother. Prior to Jefferson’s presidency, however, Hemings accompanied the then-commerce minister to France overseas to Le Havre so he could train in the art of French cuisine, making him the first American to do so. Hemings quickly moved up the culinary ranks while in France, from completing training at the famous Chateau Chantilly— today’s equivalent of a Michelin five-star restaurant — to becoming the chef de cuisine at the Hôtel de Langeac, Jefferson’s private residence and the first American diplomatic embassy. Throughout his culinary career, Hemings cooked for international royalty and famous names in American history, including having prepared the famous reconciliation dinner between Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. 

French-fusion cooking and many of the recipes it inspired would be nowhere without the remarkable innovations and progress made by this master chef. 

Make one of Hemings most famous dishes, “snow eggs,” by clicking this link. 

Abby Fisher (1831-19??)

Pickles and preserves put famed culinary innovator Abby Fisher on the map after she took home two medals for them at the 15th Annual San Francisco Mechanics’ Institute Fair. 

Moving all around the South before eventually settling in San Francisco in 1877, Fisher, a former enslaved person, and her husband started a pickle and preserves manufacturing business under the name “Mrs. Abby Fisher & Co.” Cooking for her family and in her business endeavors not only led her to earning more awards for her sensational soul food recipes, but it also led her to publish “What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking,” one of the first cookbooks written by a Black woman. 

Full of traditional Southern recipes like gumbo, cornbread and fried chicken, Fisher’s cookbook paved the way for the Southern food chefs that followed her, with it being the original source for many innovative culinary techniques still used in the cuisine decades later. It remains a relic revered by countless historians and other pioneers of the industry, all of whom quickly realized that Mrs. Fisher, in fact, knew everything about old Southern cooking. 

For a link to Fisher’s original cookbook, click here. 

Zephyr Wright (1914-1988)

Over 100 years later, when time and legislation had shifted a considerable amount, Washington, D.C. saw another prominent Black culinary icon rise to fame, but this chef did more than just prepare food. In addition to holding various kitchen utensils, White House cook Zephyr Wright also held the pen that endorsed the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

Born in Texas in 1914, Wright experienced her own fair share of discriminatory acts throughout her life, but it was her activist professor, Melvin Tolson, at Wiley College who inspired her to become involved in the Civil Rights Movement and make a name for herself. Studying home economics in college, she did more for herself than simply obtain an education: Wright was one of the university’s best students, being so highly recognized that she was recommended by the university president to work for then-representative Lyndon B. Johnson’s family as a chef in 1942. 

Many biographical accounts credit her time with the Johnsons as inspiring the former president to later sign the famous Civil Rights Act. Traveling together on their way back to Washington, Wright and the Johnsons found they couldn’t eat, use the restroom or find shelter at the same facilities together because Wright was Black.

The Johnson family quickly grew attached to Wright and her cooking, so much so that she became the official White House chef when Lyndon was elected president in 1963. According to the first lady, Wright was “an expert at spoon bread, homemade ice cream, and monumental Sunday breakfasts of deer sausage, home cured bacon, popovers, grits, scrambled eggs, homemade peach preserves and coffee.”

From her cooking to her famous signing of the Civil Rights Act, Wright left behind an influential legacy and impact on the Black culinary scene and American history as a whole. 

Get the recipe for Wright’s shrimp curry here. 

References: 

• “6 Black Chefs (and 1 Inventor) Who Changed the History of Food Black Chefs” (New York Times)
• The James Hemings Society
• “James Hemings” (Monticello)
• “Recipes from the President’s Kitchen” (NPR) 
• “Zephyr Wright, White House Cook and President LBJ’s Conscience” (The Marshall News Messenger)
• “When the President and His Chef Feuded Over Cold Beans” (Atlas Obscura)
• “What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Southern Cooking” (Internet Archive)
• “Celebrating Abby Fisher, One of the First African-American Cookbook Authors” (Atlas Obscura)

Written By: Lucas King, Marketing Intern

Happy New Year! Each year, people all over the world participate in different New Year’s food traditions that are believed to bring them good luck in the coming year. 

Eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is a longtime tradition that is thought to bring good luck. There are many theories surrounding why they are associated with luck. One of these theories is rooted in African-American history, and claims that newly freed slaves ate dishes made with black-eyed peas to celebrate the January 1863 Emancipation, as this was one of the foods made available to the slaves. Celebrate this tradition with our Ham Hocks and Black Eyed Peas recipe. 

Another common New Year’s food tradition is pork. This tradition originates from the behavior of a pig. While chickens and turkeys scratch backwards, a pig buries its snout in the ground, and moves forward. This is meant to symbolize moving ahead into the new year, and improving our lives, rather than focusing on the mistakes of the past. Eating pork on New Year’s Day is a tradition rooted in Germany and Eastern Europe, and brought to the United States.

Collard greens are also believed to bring good luck in the New Year. Their green color symbolizes money and prosperity. According to traditions rooted in the South, greens can be hung by the door to ward off evil spirits that may enter our lives.

Unlike the other traditions discussed so far, lentils are typically eaten on New Year’s Eve, after midnight, in mostly Italian households. The round shape of lentils is meant to symbolize prosperity because of their resemblance to coins. Lentils are often paired with pork, another New Year’s tradition, and sausages.

In Filipino culture, a variety of fruits are used to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Specifically, twelve different fruits are used to symbolize each month of the year. Round fruits are typically the most sought after for this tradition. In Mexico, grapes are used to celebrate this tradition, and in many other cultures, pomegranates are used to symbolize fertility and birth in the coming year. 

Meals that use fish are eaten all around the world to celebrate New Year’s Day, especially in countries closer to water. Specifically, in Scandinavian countries, herring is believed to bring in good fortune. Herring is a heavily traded product, and has brought much prosperity to these countries. Therefore, eating herring on New Year’s Day was a way to hope for good catches in the months to come. Herring’s migrational patterns are very unpredictable, making it very hard to expect a good year for catching herring. 

While New Year’s Day is celebrated differently across cultures around the world, it is one that brings cultures together. Different cultures have different traditions, all rooted in similar ideas of good fortune and prosperity. Celebrate the New Year with some of our recipes!

—

Resources: 

• The Real Simple

Written By: Jeneene Connelly

The holidays are rooted in culture and tradition, similar to our values here at Common Threads. It is also a time to gather with family and friends, to make cherished memories, eat delicious traditional foods, and bring in the new year with the best intentions. This holiday season we encourage children and families to make new holiday traditions that celebrate food, culture, and the world around us.

Here are some ways to do so: 

1. Holiday shop at a local farmer’s market. It is easy to get caught up in holiday online shopping or at a mall. But don’t forget about your local farmer’s markets where you can find locally grown produce, made from scratch foods to try, and unique handmade items that make excellent gifts. By shopping local, children and families can help support the community and make a new and exciting holiday tradition.
2. Nod to the past. Holiday recipes tend to be passed down from generation to generation. Putting a spin on a cultural recipe, however, is an easy way to create a new traditional recipe while still keeping original key ingredients! For example, mixing our Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese recipe with the same cheese grandma uses for her traditional Mac & Cheese recipe can create a brand new recipe for the family to try. Creating new recipes while honoring the past traditional recipes can be seen as an exciting venture for you and your family! 
3. Try a different cultural recipe. Trying traditional recipes from other cultures can be an inspiring way to explore and honor diversity with children and families. Here are some Common Threads recipes that honor different cultures during this Holiday season for you and your family to try: 

Kwanzaa

(Dec 26, 2021 – Jan 1, 2022)

Also known as Karamu, includes these foods commonly consumed on the sixth night of Kwanzaa

• Shrimp & Okra Saute: sauteed and seasoned shrimp, okra, tomato, and onion served over brown rice
• Egusi Soup: a flavorful soup made with sirloin beef, vegetables, and seasonings and topped with pumpkin seeds
• Collard greens: a mix of cooked lentils, collard greens, and onions and seasoned to taste

New Years or Chinese New Year

(Jan. 1, 2022/ Lunar New Year, Feb. 1, 2022)

Both feature symbolic ingredients to bring you health and happiness in the new year!

• Lebanese Fattoush Salad: A Mediterranean salad including lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, radishes, and toasted bread drizzled with a dressing made from pomegranates, a symbol of good luck.
• Haitian JouMou: Traditional Jou Mou is made with beef marinated in Haitian Epis and pureed Kabocha squash with hearty vegetables like potatoes and carrots with aromatic onions, leeks, and garlic. This traditional soup is consumed in celebration on Jan. 1, honoring Haiti’s revolution and independence. 
• Stir fry: a mix of vegetables, chicken and soba noodles, symbolic of longevity  sautéed in a flavorful sauce. Try our Cauliflower Stir Fry for a vegetarian option as many abstain from eating meat in celebration of Chinese New Year.
• Ham Hocks & Black Eyed Peas: A traditional southern dish made up of stewed pork, vegetables, and black eyed peas has long been recognized as good luck. This dish is usually consumed on January 1, as a symbol of bringing in the new year with good fortune. 

Mixing up holiday traditions this year can be a fun and exciting new way to celebrate and honor the world around us but food will always be our Common Thread! 

Want more Holiday recipe inspiration this December? Make sure to download our holiday cookbook! Happy Holidays! 

Written By: Lucas King | Marketing Intern

Staff from Common Threads and the Chicago History Museum were recently joined by Mariah Gladstone, founder of Indigikitchen, to host a virtual webinar highlighting indigenous cultures and cuisine in honor of National American Indian Heritage Month. Indigikitchen is an online platform which shares recipes and how-to videos with a goal of re-indigenizing our diets. 

Gladstone began her presentation by giving a history of how indigenous food systems have been attacked, forcing indigenous communities onto government subsidized food, or rations. The food provided through these rations ignored indigenous cultural traditions, as they were typically not foods that the Native American population recognized as food. Additionally, rations utilized pre-packaged, pre-proportioned foods, which did not always provide these communities with the nutritional value of fresh meat and produce. 

Today, government subsidized food programs are still present throughout indigenous communities. Gladstone highlights how programs like SNAP and WIC allow participants to select their own foods, but this is still not a perfect solution. 

“With that (government programs) you also need access to a grocery store that has fresh fruits and vegetables,” Gladstone shared. “You need access to the information around the food systems, and you need to know how to cook them. . . So we also have a gap in indigenous knowledge around these food systems. That’s something I set out to remedy.”

Part of Gladstone’s plan to re-indigenize our diets is to understand the foundations of an indigenous food system. This involves understanding how to properly prepare indigenous foods, such as corn. A process called nixtamalization is common in indigenous communities, and differs from European methods of processing corn. This process treats corn with an alkaline solution, which chemically removes the hull of the corn, and adds calcium to it. Doing this makes the corn more digestible, and provides us with greater nutritional value. 

“[Nixtamalization] is the reason that entire civilizations can be built on corn – it was because of this brilliant indigenous chemistry knowledge,” Gladstone shared.

It is also important to recognize the difference between authentic indigenous foods, and supermarket products which only market themselves to be indigenous. Many foods, such as wild rice, have been appropriated from indigenous cultures and sold in supermarkets, but are not processed or prepared in the same manner, causing them to lose their nutritional value.

Gladstone highlighted some of the amazing projects she has been a part of, such as the Growing Health Tea Project, which aims to distribute healthy beverages in the Blackfeet community. Herbal teas are common in Blackfeet cultures, and serve as a healthy beverage option. The Growing Health Tea Project worked to develop a system where native herbs could be grown for commercial use, and be harvested to make herbal teas. This provides indigenous communities with access to these healthy beverages, while also creating business opportunities for community members.

Gladstone also holds a Harvest of the Month program, which highlights different traditional indigenous foods throughout Montana. Harvest of the Month, held in collaboration with the Farm to School programs in Montana, showcases a different agricultural product each month in Montana schools. Gladstone recently collaborated with the Montana Farm to School program to create a curriculum which incorporates bison into the Harvest of the Month program in order to emphasize its cultural significance. 

Many trendy and popular healthy diet options utilize foods that people do not typically have in their household, and tend to come with a high price tag. Gladstone’s work through Indigikitchen emphasizes how to most effectively use the resources we already have access to, rather than these expensive products that may not be available in all communities. Gladstone has also done work on how we can take advantage of foods that are offered through programs like WIC, and re-indigenize these products for a healthier lifestyle. Gladstone shared a simple Peanut Butter Cookies recipe that contains pumpkin seeds as an example of this philosophy.

Gladstone mentions that in order to revitalize, rebuild and reinvigorate indigenous food systems, our efforts, “need to be very intentional, because the work to undo it has been very intentional.” 

Understanding history, and incorporating traditions and wisdom from indigenous communities is essential in re-indigenizing our diets for a healthy lifestyle.