As so many immigrants leave their lives behind when coming to the United States, food is a daily tether that brings them back to familiarity and comfort. Within their own kitchens, the smells and tastes can remind them of a community and culture that was left behind for a number of reasons, but not forgotten.
The Bay Area is known for its unique and exciting food scene. With so many cultures in the East Bay we’re lucky to be a part of a region that is home to people from all types of backgrounds. Most people’s introduction to a new culture is food. But food opens the door to human connection.
As a child of Mexican immigrants, for most of my young life my family stayed well within the bounds of our own kitchen. My parents being in a new country was enough unfamiliarity for all of us, let alone trying to navigate another culture we didn’t understand. But after many years of living in the Bay Area my parents felt comfort in exploring new things.
As my dad struggled to handle chopsticks at his first sushi restaurant, the older man who had made our rolls shuffled from behind the counter with a handmade contraption of chopsticks, the chopstick wrapper and a rubber band, and handed it to my dad with a friendly chuckle and some gestures on how to use it.
At an Indian restaurant in San Lorenzo, Flavor of India, which I frequent so much that the woman who rings up my to-go orders can predict my meal, we exchange conversation as she explains how all desserts that lay behind the glass counter are made and what Indian ingredients make them unlike anything in the US.
As a friend of mine is determined to not lose the Spanish she studied in college, she tries her best to order and converse with the restaurant workers whenever we end up in a taqueria.
Even within one household, food brings people who may not see much of each other together for a few minutes. With the passing of plates and pouring of each other’s drinks, conversations of their days are shared.
From within a household to a world apart, food is the welcome sign into a new culture, people and shared connection.
