Food for Thought #8 — Rachel Adjei of The Abibiman Project
How’s everyone holding up?!
As Catarina Passidomo wrote insightfully in her 2017 research article, “Our” Culinary Heritage: Obscuring Inequality by Celebrating Diversity in Peru and the U.S. South, food has a language and it tells stories laced with cultural heritage (which we forget about when we’re too removed from our food sources). It’s what makes food experiences — from eating abroad to sitting down for dinner at grandma’s — so special. Chefs are storytellers and when they cook ethnic cuisine they also become ambassadors; when white chefs cook a minority’s cuisine they have a responsibility to tell an authentic story with the food and experience they’re creating, encompassing both the good and bad chapters in that food culture’s heritage. If right now you’re thinking I’m making too big a deal out of food, I urge you to reflect on the relationship between food and culture.
Rachel Adjei knows that cuisine has the power to increase a culture’s visibility in a nuanced way within a community or even globally which is why she started The Abibiman Project; cooking the hell out of authentic African cuisine to fight “the misconception that ethnic foods are cheap, lower quality, dirty, unrefined and unmarketable in comparison to Eurocentric foods.” She’s classically trained as a cook and pastry chef, has worked with a variety of cuisines in Canada and overseas, and is currently working simultaneously as a baker and butcher alongside her passion project! I’ll let her tell you the rest…
A.V: Can you speak to the difficulties that you’ve encountered or have witnessed of accurately portraying the burdened history of African cuisine in North America through food while still creating a celebratory environment for white diners?
R.A: If society does not accept you on a basic human level, it is unlikely that it will accept your food and culture with open arms…. We cannot force people to accept our food or respect our food but we deserve a seat at the table. Even if people don’t fully understand it, there’s no reason why African cuisine can’t be included in the world cuisines the same way French or Italian food [is]….
I had a conversation with a friend about how in the states, for example, food’s that they consider the backbone of American cuisine would’ve been made by a Black slave from Africa first. [There’s a] lack of acknowledgement that peanuts are indigenous to Africa and[are] in the Americas as remnants of the Transatlantic slave trade….
I try to mix the well known/popular foods with the unknown to add an element of approachability but at the same time maintaining authenticity. Perhaps I’ll offer a name translation of a dish or suggest an application for a spice mix that will give someone the opportunity to explore on their palate but may not be an authentic recipe. By selling spices and condiments that are authentic people can explore and understand what they like. Further down the line, they now have a background palate established and can be more receptive of more complex and unique things.
A.V: Food is widely spoken of as a tool for healing racism, classism and other injustices. Do you think that’s true based on how ethnic food is generally perceived in North America? Can you speak a little to food and healing and what that means to you?
R.A: I truly think that saying food can heal all the ailments of the injustices in the world is quite unrealistic…. for food to really be a tool for healing, people… need to look inward and understand their connections to food and what the outward expressions in their lives are reflective of….
I, as one minor role in a shift in engagement of tough conversations, want to provide the food for the table where they are held. I want to make food for all types of people and make them feel nostalgic without ever having a dish before. Perhaps in [that] respect, the sentimental value attached to food may aid in some emotional or mental healing.
A.V: A lot of North American cuisine has been appropriated from African-Americans. In your opinion, what do chefs and/or consumers need to know/do differently to steer clear of contributing to food appropriation in general?
R.A: I think that humility is extremely important when trying to represent another culture’s food. The Chefs that usually get called out for cultural appropriation will claim themselves to be experts which is highly offensive…. If a Chef wants to represent a different culture through food, they should show their respect [and] honour the people who have been cooking it for generations. Chefs can do research so they have accurate references. Avoid terms like redefined, elevated, sophisticated because that implies that the original food would be the opposite….
I myself can be accused to be culturally appropriating when cooking food from Kenya, for example, however before even deciding to cook food from there, I did my research, I tested and I clearly stated where the dish is from. There’s a proper way to celebrate food and you must have an open mind. If a person of Kenyan background came to me and said that I was making everything wrong, I’d apologize, take the corrections and grow from there.
A.V: How do you deal with burnout; physical/mental health, considering you work two jobs and run The Abibiman Project?
R.A: Burnout is a very large concern of mine. I have fibromyalgia which is a factor as to why I stopped working in restaurant kitchens. Not that the work I’m doing now is any less taxing but I can say at least… there is less constant stress…. I workout as often as I can because it keeps me healthy and makes me feel good. Also for fibromyalgia it helps reduce my pain and makes me stronger. I try to meditate, take baths and go on long walks to calm my mind and fight anxiety. I’m also fortunate enough to have access to therapy and I think that it should be accessible to a lot more people in the industry. Even if the therapist won’t exactly understand your experience, it is nice to have an entirely objective voice to speak to outside of the industry.
Thank you Rachel for speaking with me a little to racism in culinary and frankly, slowly introducing me to African dishes, desserts, mind-blowing spice mixes and all other condiments through your monthly pop-ups at The Tempered Room HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND AND EVERY FIRST WEEKEND OF EVERY MONTH! It’s what I look forward to most these days ❤ Lastly, a friendly reminder: if you want ethnic food, go support ethnic chefs serving it because by continuing to turn to white chefs for ethnic foods we’re enforcing them as the gatekeepers to both food trends and profits.
Stay thoughtful, friends! More coming soon…
Photo courtesy of Rachel Adjei
