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"title": "After Decades of Invisibility, Khmer Cuisine Is Primed to Rise in the Bay",
"headTitle": "After Decades of Invisibility, Khmer Cuisine Is Primed to Rise in the Bay | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap]’m seated inside Phở de Nguyen, a neon-bathed Vietnamese restaurant in downtown San Bruno, on a chilly winter night. I came to get warmed up — but not by the delicious phở the restaurant is known for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, I’m here for something less familiar and harder to find in the Bay Area: homestyle Cambodian food. I’d admittedly never eaten any before that point. Luckily, Mo Seaty, a first-generation Cambodian American from East Oakland and my homie, smoothly places our order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s salaw machu kreung, a lemongrass-seasoned beef and tripe soup with eggplant. Amok trei, one of Cambodia’s national dishes, consists of salmon seasoned with kroeung — a spice and herb paste made with makrut lime leaves, galanga and turmeric — then steamed in banana leaves. Prahok ktiss is simmered minced pork mixed with chili peppers, coconut milk and fermented fish sauce. And that’s all before a platter of freshwater clams, directly sourced from the delta region of Stockton, is jigsawed onto our already crowded table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t find this anywhere,” says Sitha Yim, the owner of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sithas_authentic_khmer_food/?hl=en\">Sitha’s Khmerkitchen\u003c/a>, a Cambodian pop-up that \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CmUUJ-4J3rJ/?hl=en\">until recently\u003c/a> used to appear at Phở de Nguyen on weekends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927314\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927314\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/sithas_clams.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of small freshwater clams topped with a decorative purple orchid blossom.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/sithas_clams.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/sithas_clams-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/sithas_clams-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/sithas_clams-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/sithas_clams-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/sithas_clams-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of the hard-to-find Khmer specialties served at Sitha’s: a plate of freshwater clams sourced from Stockton’s delta region. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Since December 2021, Yim has lovingly nurtured the small, family-run operation. A San Francisco resident, Yim first ventured into the local food game when she started drying beef jerky with Cambodian seasonings at her mother’s house in the Sunset District during the pandemic. At the time, she utilized Facebook groups to sell her beef jerky and a variety of other specialty Khmer foods — the cuisine of Cambodia’s Khmer ethnic majority, which makes up 90% of the population. She grew in popularity within the local Cambodian community, ultimately landing at Phở de Nguyen. And although her pop-up’s lease at Phở de Nguyen recently ended, Yim is now partnering with Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13908432/korner-kitchen-bar-fruitvale-commissary-kitchen-grand-opening\">Korner Kitchen & Bar\u003c/a> to bring her food to Fruitvale starting this spring. She also regularly pops up at venues like Mission Bowling Club and East Brother Beer Co.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite Yim’s underground rise, Cambodian cuisine isn’t exactly at the top of the Bay Area’s food pyramid. Even though so many other diverse immigrant foods have been embraced by our regional palate, traditional Khmer dishes like those offered by Yim can be difficult to find. In 2020, San Francisco’s Khmer mainstay, Angkor Borei, \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/6/9/21285207/angkor-borei-closed-son-and-daughters-robin-daeho\">shut down after 30 years\u003c/a> of service. And after \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Bay-Area-restaurant-Nyum-Bai-closes-17177130.php\">last year’s closure of Nyum Bai\u003c/a> — arguably the region’s most celebrated venue for Cambodian eats — it appeared that the already scarce supply of Khmer food in the Bay faced even further decline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sure, there’s Phnom Penh and Cambodian Street Food, both in Oakland, and a smattering of old-school joints scattered around the Peninsula. But Cambodian food has rarely made a real splash on the local scene, though its presence here dates back to the 1980s, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/recipes/article/Angkor-Wat-exemplifies-sense-of-community-2867118.php\">chef Joanna Doung opened what she claims was the very first Cambodian restaurant in the United States\u003c/a> in San Francisco. The since-closed cafe was also called Phnom Penh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yim, age 46, is primed to change that. For her, an appreciation for Cambodian cuisine isn’t about individual accolades — it’s about representing, and feeding, people just like her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927262\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927262\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_231-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A Cambodian chef poses for a portrait\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_231-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_231-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_231-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_231-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_231-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_231-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_231-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_231-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yim credits her parents for inspiring her to want to give back to the local Cambodian community. \u003ccite>(Kori Suzuki/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“My parents came to San Francisco and built a Cambodian community temple,” she says. “I was raised in the [Nagara Dhamma] temple after school, everyday. They inspired me. That’s where I learned to cook, clean and give back. I watched them make lots of food for others in need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After arriving in the Outer Sunset by way of Thailand and Chicago in 1984 at age seven, Yim quickly embraced the diverse Asian American community here. Having left her birth country after the Cambodian genocide — when the Khmer Rouge’s Communist regime killed a quarter of Cambodia’s population, including members of Yim’s own family — she was grateful for a new beginning. In 1999, she opened a doughnut shop in Southern California (\u003ca href=\"https://story.californiasunday.com/ted-ngoy-california-doughnut-king/\">as many other Cambodian Americans did\u003c/a>), before moving to Houston to run a Cajun seafood restaurant for seven years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like many refugees, Yim hustled however she could, working around the clock and during holidays to make ends meet. She eventually returned to the Bay Area to raise her two children, moving in with her mother in San Francisco to save money. After her younger brother’s unexpected passing, she began to explore her reconnection to home and Khmer cuisine more deeply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t until I stopped by Sitha’s Khmerkitchen, where I tasted my first spoonful of kaw (a caramelized soup made with braised pork belly, pork knuckle, bamboo shoots and star anise) that I realized just how much Cambodia’s distinct flavors — and Khmer identity at large — have been largely hidden in plain sight.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Lack of Khmer Visibility\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite California having the largest population of Cambodian immigrants in the U.S. — with Los Angeles, Stockton and greater San Francisco ranking among the most concentrated cities in the nation — the Cambodian food community here has remained relatively invisible from public view, especially when compared to other immigrant groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s despite the fact that Cambodians have made major contributions to California’s economy and its cuisine since they first started arriving in large numbers between 1979 and 1989. Perhaps most notably, Cambodian immigrants \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/the-cambodian-american-reign-of-doughnut-shops-began-in-this-la-habra-shop\">own an estimated 90% of doughnut shops in California\u003c/a> and are credited with \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pink-doughnut-boxes-20170525-htmlstory.html\">introducing the now-iconic pink doughnut boxes\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet when most Californians think of our state’s cornucopia of popular cuisines, Khmer foods aren’t usually among those listed. So what has kept the general population’s awareness about Cambodian food and Khmer identity on the periphery?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927263\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927263\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_289-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A Cambodian chef sprinkles a spice mixture onto some shrimp on a grill\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_289-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_289-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_289-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_289-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_289-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_289-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_289-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_289-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yim sprinkles a spice mixture onto some shrimp during during one of her pop-up events. \u003ccite>(Kori Suzuki/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Cambodian genocide almost completely wiped out Khmer culture during the 1970s, though the community \u003ca href=\"https://criticalrefugeestudies.com/storymaps/bay-area/\">has succeeded in coming together\u003c/a> to preserve certain traditions such as Cambodian New Year and dance. Having experienced one of the most traumatic events in Southeast Asian history, many Cambodian refugees have intentionally created distance from their past — physically, mentally and culturally — which partially explains a lack of Khmer visibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My father left and came here; he was basically ready to drop Cambodia as a country,” says Dorothy Chow, a Bay Area–raised Cambodian American who is vice president of sales at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bhbakerydist/?hl=en\">B&H Bakery Distributors\u003c/a>. Her father founded the company in 1992 to provide supplies for mostly Cambodian-owned doughnut shops throughout Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chow’s father’s generation — whose history she documented in a podcast called \u003ca href=\"https://www.deathincambodiapodcast.com/about-the-show\">\u003ci>Death in Cambodia, Life in America\u003c/i>\u003c/a> — escaped their native land with deeply painful recollections. For decades, many parents passed down an open resentment and fear to their children, most of whom never returned to Cambodia or have been taught not to flaunt their Cambodian roots due to intergenerational trauma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, doughnut shops — rather than traditional Khmer cuisine — became a safe refuge and source of stability for Cambodians who were in pursuit of the American Dream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people were so scarred from surviving a genocide in their country that they wanted to be as American as possible,” Chow says. “A lot of them went into doughnut shops, a very American breakfast food that wasn’t a part of their culture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My dad referenced the fact that he wasn’t proud to be Cambodian,” she adds. “Even for me, when I was growing up, my parents told me to just say I’m Chinese, not Cambodian. That says a lot as to why there maybe wasn’t as much pride in sharing the culture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927264\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927264\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_317-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A Cambodian chef and her partner prepare food for customers\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_317-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_317-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_317-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_317-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_317-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_317-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_317-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_317-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yim, left, and her partner Van Bui prepare garlic noodles with shrimp during one of her East Brother Beer Co. pop-ups. \u003ccite>(Kori Suzuki/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chow believes that’s why you’ll rarely see any Cambodian flags or restaurants that are as openly proud of their cultural background — whereas it’s common to see various other ethnicities represented through Mexican symbolism, an Ethiopian flag or Filipino slang at other diversely owned establishments. Even Yim, who is now extremely proud about being Khmer, rejected Cambodia when she was growing up. Instead, she would tell her high school classmates that she was Filipina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"large\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Dorothy Chow\"]“When I was growing up, my parents told me to just say I’m Chinese, not Cambodian. That says a lot as to why there maybe wasn’t as much pride in sharing the culture.”[/pullquote]But that seems to be changing. With time having passed, and the rise of online media to promote visibility, a shift is beginning to take place among today’s Khmer Americans in the Bay. And what better way to feel whole and nourished than by learning to embrace forgotten recipes?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Future of Khmer Cuisine in the Bay\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sitha Yim doesn’t take days off. She’s a mother and entrepreneur, a proud San Franciscan who often volunteers as a translator for Cambodians in her area. She’s fueled by her love of cooking and is driven to share edible memories of her home with others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a lot,” she admits. “Sometimes I’m tired, I won’t lie. But so many customers tell me they love the food, that they can’t find it anywhere else. I have a fully authentic menu right now. Anything you want in Cambodian food, I have in my kitchen. Even if it’s not on the menu. My oldest customers know. Like a secret menu.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the help of her partner Van Bui and her teenage daughter Ping, Yim is committed to providing a familial atmosphere at her pop-up, which feels more like eating at a friend’s house and being taken care of by the neighborhood matriarch than ordering at a traditional restaurant. She also continues to volunteer at her family’s Cambodian temple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927261\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927261\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_081-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a plate of angel wings, an original chicken dish stuffed with rice noodles, lemongrass and galanga, during a pop-up at East Brother Beer\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_081-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_081-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_081-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_081-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_081-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_081-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_081-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_081-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yim holds a plate of angel wings — chicken wings stuffed with rice noodles, lemongrass and galanga. \u003ccite>(Kori Suzuki/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Though her pop-up spaces don’t show any Cambodian flags or Khmer decor due to being in temporary locations, she operates in a way that feels like someone who is constantly dreaming about their homeland and wants to share that intimacy with you. She hasn’t returned to Cambodia since leaving — due to safety concerns, lack of funding and the inflexibility of her schedule — but says she is making plans to return for the first time in the near future and wants to bring her children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The emergence of Sitha’s Khmerkitchen, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/bay-area-best-2022-17653849.php\">merited recognition in the \u003ci>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/i>’s\u003c/a> yearly review of best new restaurants of 2022, is coming at the perfect time, when Khmer culture is ready to surge. In addition to Yim’s business, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CivcIhxPqc0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\">Nyum Bai occasionally hosts food events\u003c/a> in the area and has announced their hope to fully return. And in 2021, chef Channy Laux — who founded Angkor Cambodian Foods, which sells an array of\u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/02/21/qa-cambodian-chef-helps-home-cooks-master-southeast-asian-cuisine/\"> Cambodian cooking sauces and condiments\u003c/a> — opened her first restaurant, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/angkorchef/?hl=en\">Angkor Chef\u003c/a>, in San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"large\" align=\"right\"]“Restaurants are more than just spaces for dining. They’re where lives can be rebuilt, where diasporas can gather safely, where histories and traditions can be passed down and where refuge and healing can begin.”[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The community is starting to feel more comfortable reclaiming our identity as Cambodian,” says Chow, the doughnut business executive. “Healing and reclaiming our identities is happening now. I see our food popping up more, like ‘Hey, I’m actually proud of my culture and the food we make. It’s important enough for me to put effort into this and share it.’ This generation, it’s kind of like putting our stake in the ground and saying, ‘No, actually this food is important to pass down. I’m not going to shy away from it or feel ashamed.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this light, restaurants are more than just spaces for dining. They’re where lives can be rebuilt, where diasporas can gather safely, where histories and traditions can be passed down and where refuge and healing can begin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13915312,arts_13897272,arts_13908432']\u003c/span>“A part of it is wanting to feel firmly connected with your culture,” says my friend, Mo, who tells me his dad rejected Cambodia upon arriving to California. But that didn’t stop Mo from learning about his parent’s homeland and eventually taking a trip across the Pacific to experience it for himself. “I never felt American because I conceptualized America as white, so I wanted hella badly to find some sense of belonging. I picked Cambodians as my people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For me, as someone who had never experienced Khmer food, Yim’s pop-up is a crash course on homestyle Cambodian cuisine: pungent fish sauces, tangy herb pastes, salty fats, pickled vegetables and gingery surprises. It is a parade of both unknown and familiar aromas — cucumbers and bean sprouts followed by a bite of tripe, an ambitious spoonful of bitter melon soup and a soft boiled egg with a mouthful of white rice to finish it all off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927265\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927265\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_558-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"A Cambodian chef steams food\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_558-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_558-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_558-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_558-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_558-1536x1026.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_558-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_558-1920x1282.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steam catches the sunlight as Sitha Yim cleans the griddle during her pop-up at East Brother Beer Company in Richmond, California on April 2, 2023. (Kori Suzuki / KQED News) \u003ccite>((Kori Suzuki/KQED))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>We split a plate of Yim’s Hmong-style stuffed chicken wings, a dish commonly sold by street vendors in Cambodia, Mo tells me. The massive wings are as layered as Yim’s journey as a refugee. And the taste? It’s as homey and comforting as you’ll find anywhere in the Bay Area. As Yim describes it, serving Khmer food is a culinary labor of love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I love Cambodian food, I’m not a big fan of American food,” she says. “My kids? They love Cambodian food, too. When their friends visit our house, I give them Cambodian food and they tell me they wish their parents knew how to make it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mo agrees, pausing before his next bite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is home right here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12904247 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sithas_authentic_khmer_food/?hl=en\">Sitha’s Khmerkitchen\u003c/a> will be featured at Oakland’s newly reopened \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/korneroakland/\">Korner Kitchen and Bar\u003c/a> (1014 Fruitvale Ave.) on April 6–7 from 4–10 p.m., and will pop up regularly at the Fruitvale restaurant on weekends moving forward. Follow Sitha’s on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sithas_authentic_khmer_food/?hl=en\">Instagram\u003c/a> for updated hours and for details about additional pop-up locations.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>’m seated inside Phở de Nguyen, a neon-bathed Vietnamese restaurant in downtown San Bruno, on a chilly winter night. I came to get warmed up — but not by the delicious phở the restaurant is known for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, I’m here for something less familiar and harder to find in the Bay Area: homestyle Cambodian food. I’d admittedly never eaten any before that point. Luckily, Mo Seaty, a first-generation Cambodian American from East Oakland and my homie, smoothly places our order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s salaw machu kreung, a lemongrass-seasoned beef and tripe soup with eggplant. Amok trei, one of Cambodia’s national dishes, consists of salmon seasoned with kroeung — a spice and herb paste made with makrut lime leaves, galanga and turmeric — then steamed in banana leaves. Prahok ktiss is simmered minced pork mixed with chili peppers, coconut milk and fermented fish sauce. And that’s all before a platter of freshwater clams, directly sourced from the delta region of Stockton, is jigsawed onto our already crowded table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t find this anywhere,” says Sitha Yim, the owner of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sithas_authentic_khmer_food/?hl=en\">Sitha’s Khmerkitchen\u003c/a>, a Cambodian pop-up that \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CmUUJ-4J3rJ/?hl=en\">until recently\u003c/a> used to appear at Phở de Nguyen on weekends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927314\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927314\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/sithas_clams.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of small freshwater clams topped with a decorative purple orchid blossom.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/sithas_clams.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/sithas_clams-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/sithas_clams-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/sithas_clams-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/sithas_clams-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/sithas_clams-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of the hard-to-find Khmer specialties served at Sitha’s: a plate of freshwater clams sourced from Stockton’s delta region. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Since December 2021, Yim has lovingly nurtured the small, family-run operation. A San Francisco resident, Yim first ventured into the local food game when she started drying beef jerky with Cambodian seasonings at her mother’s house in the Sunset District during the pandemic. At the time, she utilized Facebook groups to sell her beef jerky and a variety of other specialty Khmer foods — the cuisine of Cambodia’s Khmer ethnic majority, which makes up 90% of the population. She grew in popularity within the local Cambodian community, ultimately landing at Phở de Nguyen. And although her pop-up’s lease at Phở de Nguyen recently ended, Yim is now partnering with Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13908432/korner-kitchen-bar-fruitvale-commissary-kitchen-grand-opening\">Korner Kitchen & Bar\u003c/a> to bring her food to Fruitvale starting this spring. She also regularly pops up at venues like Mission Bowling Club and East Brother Beer Co.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite Yim’s underground rise, Cambodian cuisine isn’t exactly at the top of the Bay Area’s food pyramid. Even though so many other diverse immigrant foods have been embraced by our regional palate, traditional Khmer dishes like those offered by Yim can be difficult to find. In 2020, San Francisco’s Khmer mainstay, Angkor Borei, \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/6/9/21285207/angkor-borei-closed-son-and-daughters-robin-daeho\">shut down after 30 years\u003c/a> of service. And after \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Bay-Area-restaurant-Nyum-Bai-closes-17177130.php\">last year’s closure of Nyum Bai\u003c/a> — arguably the region’s most celebrated venue for Cambodian eats — it appeared that the already scarce supply of Khmer food in the Bay faced even further decline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sure, there’s Phnom Penh and Cambodian Street Food, both in Oakland, and a smattering of old-school joints scattered around the Peninsula. But Cambodian food has rarely made a real splash on the local scene, though its presence here dates back to the 1980s, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/recipes/article/Angkor-Wat-exemplifies-sense-of-community-2867118.php\">chef Joanna Doung opened what she claims was the very first Cambodian restaurant in the United States\u003c/a> in San Francisco. The since-closed cafe was also called Phnom Penh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yim, age 46, is primed to change that. For her, an appreciation for Cambodian cuisine isn’t about individual accolades — it’s about representing, and feeding, people just like her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927262\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927262\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_231-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A Cambodian chef poses for a portrait\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_231-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_231-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_231-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_231-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_231-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_231-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_231-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_231-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yim credits her parents for inspiring her to want to give back to the local Cambodian community. \u003ccite>(Kori Suzuki/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“My parents came to San Francisco and built a Cambodian community temple,” she says. “I was raised in the [Nagara Dhamma] temple after school, everyday. They inspired me. That’s where I learned to cook, clean and give back. I watched them make lots of food for others in need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After arriving in the Outer Sunset by way of Thailand and Chicago in 1984 at age seven, Yim quickly embraced the diverse Asian American community here. Having left her birth country after the Cambodian genocide — when the Khmer Rouge’s Communist regime killed a quarter of Cambodia’s population, including members of Yim’s own family — she was grateful for a new beginning. In 1999, she opened a doughnut shop in Southern California (\u003ca href=\"https://story.californiasunday.com/ted-ngoy-california-doughnut-king/\">as many other Cambodian Americans did\u003c/a>), before moving to Houston to run a Cajun seafood restaurant for seven years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like many refugees, Yim hustled however she could, working around the clock and during holidays to make ends meet. She eventually returned to the Bay Area to raise her two children, moving in with her mother in San Francisco to save money. After her younger brother’s unexpected passing, she began to explore her reconnection to home and Khmer cuisine more deeply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t until I stopped by Sitha’s Khmerkitchen, where I tasted my first spoonful of kaw (a caramelized soup made with braised pork belly, pork knuckle, bamboo shoots and star anise) that I realized just how much Cambodia’s distinct flavors — and Khmer identity at large — have been largely hidden in plain sight.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Lack of Khmer Visibility\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite California having the largest population of Cambodian immigrants in the U.S. — with Los Angeles, Stockton and greater San Francisco ranking among the most concentrated cities in the nation — the Cambodian food community here has remained relatively invisible from public view, especially when compared to other immigrant groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s despite the fact that Cambodians have made major contributions to California’s economy and its cuisine since they first started arriving in large numbers between 1979 and 1989. Perhaps most notably, Cambodian immigrants \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/the-cambodian-american-reign-of-doughnut-shops-began-in-this-la-habra-shop\">own an estimated 90% of doughnut shops in California\u003c/a> and are credited with \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pink-doughnut-boxes-20170525-htmlstory.html\">introducing the now-iconic pink doughnut boxes\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet when most Californians think of our state’s cornucopia of popular cuisines, Khmer foods aren’t usually among those listed. So what has kept the general population’s awareness about Cambodian food and Khmer identity on the periphery?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927263\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927263\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_289-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A Cambodian chef sprinkles a spice mixture onto some shrimp on a grill\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_289-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_289-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_289-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_289-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_289-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_289-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_289-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_289-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yim sprinkles a spice mixture onto some shrimp during during one of her pop-up events. \u003ccite>(Kori Suzuki/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Cambodian genocide almost completely wiped out Khmer culture during the 1970s, though the community \u003ca href=\"https://criticalrefugeestudies.com/storymaps/bay-area/\">has succeeded in coming together\u003c/a> to preserve certain traditions such as Cambodian New Year and dance. Having experienced one of the most traumatic events in Southeast Asian history, many Cambodian refugees have intentionally created distance from their past — physically, mentally and culturally — which partially explains a lack of Khmer visibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My father left and came here; he was basically ready to drop Cambodia as a country,” says Dorothy Chow, a Bay Area–raised Cambodian American who is vice president of sales at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bhbakerydist/?hl=en\">B&H Bakery Distributors\u003c/a>. Her father founded the company in 1992 to provide supplies for mostly Cambodian-owned doughnut shops throughout Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chow’s father’s generation — whose history she documented in a podcast called \u003ca href=\"https://www.deathincambodiapodcast.com/about-the-show\">\u003ci>Death in Cambodia, Life in America\u003c/i>\u003c/a> — escaped their native land with deeply painful recollections. For decades, many parents passed down an open resentment and fear to their children, most of whom never returned to Cambodia or have been taught not to flaunt their Cambodian roots due to intergenerational trauma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, doughnut shops — rather than traditional Khmer cuisine — became a safe refuge and source of stability for Cambodians who were in pursuit of the American Dream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people were so scarred from surviving a genocide in their country that they wanted to be as American as possible,” Chow says. “A lot of them went into doughnut shops, a very American breakfast food that wasn’t a part of their culture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My dad referenced the fact that he wasn’t proud to be Cambodian,” she adds. “Even for me, when I was growing up, my parents told me to just say I’m Chinese, not Cambodian. That says a lot as to why there maybe wasn’t as much pride in sharing the culture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927264\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927264\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_317-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A Cambodian chef and her partner prepare food for customers\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_317-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_317-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_317-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_317-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_317-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_317-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_317-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_317-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yim, left, and her partner Van Bui prepare garlic noodles with shrimp during one of her East Brother Beer Co. pop-ups. \u003ccite>(Kori Suzuki/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chow believes that’s why you’ll rarely see any Cambodian flags or restaurants that are as openly proud of their cultural background — whereas it’s common to see various other ethnicities represented through Mexican symbolism, an Ethiopian flag or Filipino slang at other diversely owned establishments. Even Yim, who is now extremely proud about being Khmer, rejected Cambodia when she was growing up. Instead, she would tell her high school classmates that she was Filipina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "“When I was growing up, my parents told me to just say I’m Chinese, not Cambodian. That says a lot as to why there maybe wasn’t as much pride in sharing the culture.”",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But that seems to be changing. With time having passed, and the rise of online media to promote visibility, a shift is beginning to take place among today’s Khmer Americans in the Bay. And what better way to feel whole and nourished than by learning to embrace forgotten recipes?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Future of Khmer Cuisine in the Bay\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sitha Yim doesn’t take days off. She’s a mother and entrepreneur, a proud San Franciscan who often volunteers as a translator for Cambodians in her area. She’s fueled by her love of cooking and is driven to share edible memories of her home with others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a lot,” she admits. “Sometimes I’m tired, I won’t lie. But so many customers tell me they love the food, that they can’t find it anywhere else. I have a fully authentic menu right now. Anything you want in Cambodian food, I have in my kitchen. Even if it’s not on the menu. My oldest customers know. Like a secret menu.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the help of her partner Van Bui and her teenage daughter Ping, Yim is committed to providing a familial atmosphere at her pop-up, which feels more like eating at a friend’s house and being taken care of by the neighborhood matriarch than ordering at a traditional restaurant. She also continues to volunteer at her family’s Cambodian temple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927261\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927261\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_081-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a plate of angel wings, an original chicken dish stuffed with rice noodles, lemongrass and galanga, during a pop-up at East Brother Beer\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_081-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_081-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_081-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_081-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_081-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_081-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_081-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_081-1920x1277.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yim holds a plate of angel wings — chicken wings stuffed with rice noodles, lemongrass and galanga. \u003ccite>(Kori Suzuki/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Though her pop-up spaces don’t show any Cambodian flags or Khmer decor due to being in temporary locations, she operates in a way that feels like someone who is constantly dreaming about their homeland and wants to share that intimacy with you. She hasn’t returned to Cambodia since leaving — due to safety concerns, lack of funding and the inflexibility of her schedule — but says she is making plans to return for the first time in the near future and wants to bring her children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The emergence of Sitha’s Khmerkitchen, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/bay-area-best-2022-17653849.php\">merited recognition in the \u003ci>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/i>’s\u003c/a> yearly review of best new restaurants of 2022, is coming at the perfect time, when Khmer culture is ready to surge. In addition to Yim’s business, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CivcIhxPqc0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\">Nyum Bai occasionally hosts food events\u003c/a> in the area and has announced their hope to fully return. And in 2021, chef Channy Laux — who founded Angkor Cambodian Foods, which sells an array of\u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/02/21/qa-cambodian-chef-helps-home-cooks-master-southeast-asian-cuisine/\"> Cambodian cooking sauces and condiments\u003c/a> — opened her first restaurant, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/angkorchef/?hl=en\">Angkor Chef\u003c/a>, in San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "“Restaurants are more than just spaces for dining. They’re where lives can be rebuilt, where diasporas can gather safely, where histories and traditions can be passed down and where refuge and healing can begin.”",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The community is starting to feel more comfortable reclaiming our identity as Cambodian,” says Chow, the doughnut business executive. “Healing and reclaiming our identities is happening now. I see our food popping up more, like ‘Hey, I’m actually proud of my culture and the food we make. It’s important enough for me to put effort into this and share it.’ This generation, it’s kind of like putting our stake in the ground and saying, ‘No, actually this food is important to pass down. I’m not going to shy away from it or feel ashamed.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this light, restaurants are more than just spaces for dining. They’re where lives can be rebuilt, where diasporas can gather safely, where histories and traditions can be passed down and where refuge and healing can begin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>“A part of it is wanting to feel firmly connected with your culture,” says my friend, Mo, who tells me his dad rejected Cambodia upon arriving to California. But that didn’t stop Mo from learning about his parent’s homeland and eventually taking a trip across the Pacific to experience it for himself. “I never felt American because I conceptualized America as white, so I wanted hella badly to find some sense of belonging. I picked Cambodians as my people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For me, as someone who had never experienced Khmer food, Yim’s pop-up is a crash course on homestyle Cambodian cuisine: pungent fish sauces, tangy herb pastes, salty fats, pickled vegetables and gingery surprises. It is a parade of both unknown and familiar aromas — cucumbers and bean sprouts followed by a bite of tripe, an ambitious spoonful of bitter melon soup and a soft boiled egg with a mouthful of white rice to finish it all off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927265\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927265\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_558-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"A Cambodian chef steams food\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_558-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_558-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_558-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_558-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_558-1536x1026.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_558-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/04022023_kqed_sithakhmerkitchen_558-1920x1282.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steam catches the sunlight as Sitha Yim cleans the griddle during her pop-up at East Brother Beer Company in Richmond, California on April 2, 2023. (Kori Suzuki / KQED News) \u003ccite>((Kori Suzuki/KQED))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>We split a plate of Yim’s Hmong-style stuffed chicken wings, a dish commonly sold by street vendors in Cambodia, Mo tells me. The massive wings are as layered as Yim’s journey as a refugee. And the taste? It’s as homey and comforting as you’ll find anywhere in the Bay Area. As Yim describes it, serving Khmer food is a culinary labor of love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I love Cambodian food, I’m not a big fan of American food,” she says. “My kids? They love Cambodian food, too. When their friends visit our house, I give them Cambodian food and they tell me they wish their parents knew how to make it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mo agrees, pausing before his next bite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is home right here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12904247 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sithas_authentic_khmer_food/?hl=en\">Sitha’s Khmerkitchen\u003c/a> will be featured at Oakland’s newly reopened \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/korneroakland/\">Korner Kitchen and Bar\u003c/a> (1014 Fruitvale Ave.) on April 6–7 from 4–10 p.m., and will pop up regularly at the Fruitvale restaurant on weekends moving forward. Follow Sitha’s on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sithas_authentic_khmer_food/?hl=en\">Instagram\u003c/a> for updated hours and for details about additional pop-up locations.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "How Chinese Immigrants All Over the World Persevered: They Opened Restaurants",
"headTitle": "How Chinese Immigrants All Over the World Persevered: They Opened Restaurants | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>You can find Chinese restaurants almost everywhere. That’s a fundamental fact of today’s globalized economy. But if you’ve ever stumbled across a wonton and egg roll joint in, say, a remote Canadian prairie town or a heavily Latino stretch of Fruitvale, you may have wondered to yourself, “How in the world did this place open \u003ci>here\u003c/i>?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the question that has propelled the documentary filmmaker Cheuk Kwan for years. In the early 2000s, he spent four years traveling the world to create a \u003ca href=\"https://chineserestaurants.tv/\">documentary series\u003c/a> on diasporic restaurants owned and operated by Chinese immigrants. Now, he’s written a new book based on those experiences. Part travelog, part food memoir, \u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Have-You-Eaten-Yet/Cheuk-Kwan/9781639363346\">\u003ci>Have You Eaten Yet?\u003c/i>\u003c/a> tells the story of the immigrants behind 15 of the world’s most far-flung and unexpected Chinese restaurants, whether they’re wielding their woks in the Amazon or way up in the Arctic Circle. The book also functions as a dissertation on the Chinese diasporic experience itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I travel, I always poke my head into Chinese restaurants,” Kwan says. “I’m not only searching for comfort food — I’m always very curious about how these people got there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://oacc.cc/event/have-you-eaten-yet/\">On April 2\u003c/a>, Kwan will join the legendary chef Martin Yan on stage at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center for a conversation about food, the Chinese diaspora and the way restaurants function as a survival tool — and a wellspring of creativity — for Chinese immigrants all over the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Kwan, this decades-long project has been a natural extension of his own identity: The Toronto resident was born in Hong Kong, raised in Singapore and Japan, and educated in the United States, including a year at UC Berkeley in the mid-’70s, at the height of the Asian American political movement. As a result of this diasporic upbringing, Kwan says, he encountered very little during his travels to Chinese restaurants around the world that he found truly surprising — not the simple bacon-and-eggs breakfasts served at a Chinese cafe in Saskatchewan, Canada, nor the chaufa fried rice he found at the Chinatown in Lima, Peru.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927114\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927114\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Kwan-Author-Photo-Credit-Cedric-Sam.jpg\" alt=\"The author and documentary filmmaker Cheuk Kwan poses for a portrait in a black sports coat.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1285\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Kwan-Author-Photo-Credit-Cedric-Sam.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Kwan-Author-Photo-Credit-Cedric-Sam-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Kwan-Author-Photo-Credit-Cedric-Sam-1020x683.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Kwan-Author-Photo-Credit-Cedric-Sam-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Kwan-Author-Photo-Credit-Cedric-Sam-768x514.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Kwan-Author-Photo-Credit-Cedric-Sam-1536x1028.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author’s own diasporic Chinese background helped fuel the project. \u003ccite>(Cedric Sam)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Because I’ve gone through a lot of cultures myself, I understand how people have to hybridize cuisine to cater to local customers,” he says. “It’s a matter of survival.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That isn’t to say he didn’t learn anything from his travels. Kwan points to the time he spent in Madagascar, off the southeastern coast of Africa, where he was surprised to find that the local Chinese community goes back five or six generations, with families still sending their kids to attend Chinese language schools even as the community intermarried and assimilated into the local population. One of Madagascar’s national dishes, soupe chinoise, is essentially Chinese wonton soup. “Everybody eats it,” Kwan says, “breakfast, lunch and dinner.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13905832,arts_13924997,arts_13925835']\u003c/span>Still, Kwan doesn’t think of the book as being about food per se. “It’s using food as an illustration of how adaptive and creative people can be when they’re thrown into a foreign land and barriers to language,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Sunday’s event, Kwan expects to have a rich and wide-ranging conversation with Yan, who, even beyond his illustrious television career, has taught Chinese cooking all over the world — and has, in that way, become an icon of the Chinese diaspora.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper Martin Yan event without some kind of cooking demonstration, though the event organizers are keeping the exact details a surprise. “He’s going to add some flavor to the event,” Kwan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘Have You Eaten Yet?’ takes place on Sunday, April 2, from 2–4 p.m. at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center (388 9th St., Ste. 290) in Oakland. Tickets are free with \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://oacc.cc/event/have-you-eaten-yet/\">\u003ci>pre-registration\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>, and the event is wheelchair-accessible.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>You can find Chinese restaurants almost everywhere. That’s a fundamental fact of today’s globalized economy. But if you’ve ever stumbled across a wonton and egg roll joint in, say, a remote Canadian prairie town or a heavily Latino stretch of Fruitvale, you may have wondered to yourself, “How in the world did this place open \u003ci>here\u003c/i>?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the question that has propelled the documentary filmmaker Cheuk Kwan for years. In the early 2000s, he spent four years traveling the world to create a \u003ca href=\"https://chineserestaurants.tv/\">documentary series\u003c/a> on diasporic restaurants owned and operated by Chinese immigrants. Now, he’s written a new book based on those experiences. Part travelog, part food memoir, \u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Have-You-Eaten-Yet/Cheuk-Kwan/9781639363346\">\u003ci>Have You Eaten Yet?\u003c/i>\u003c/a> tells the story of the immigrants behind 15 of the world’s most far-flung and unexpected Chinese restaurants, whether they’re wielding their woks in the Amazon or way up in the Arctic Circle. The book also functions as a dissertation on the Chinese diasporic experience itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I travel, I always poke my head into Chinese restaurants,” Kwan says. “I’m not only searching for comfort food — I’m always very curious about how these people got there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://oacc.cc/event/have-you-eaten-yet/\">On April 2\u003c/a>, Kwan will join the legendary chef Martin Yan on stage at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center for a conversation about food, the Chinese diaspora and the way restaurants function as a survival tool — and a wellspring of creativity — for Chinese immigrants all over the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Kwan, this decades-long project has been a natural extension of his own identity: The Toronto resident was born in Hong Kong, raised in Singapore and Japan, and educated in the United States, including a year at UC Berkeley in the mid-’70s, at the height of the Asian American political movement. As a result of this diasporic upbringing, Kwan says, he encountered very little during his travels to Chinese restaurants around the world that he found truly surprising — not the simple bacon-and-eggs breakfasts served at a Chinese cafe in Saskatchewan, Canada, nor the chaufa fried rice he found at the Chinatown in Lima, Peru.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927114\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927114\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Kwan-Author-Photo-Credit-Cedric-Sam.jpg\" alt=\"The author and documentary filmmaker Cheuk Kwan poses for a portrait in a black sports coat.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1285\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Kwan-Author-Photo-Credit-Cedric-Sam.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Kwan-Author-Photo-Credit-Cedric-Sam-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Kwan-Author-Photo-Credit-Cedric-Sam-1020x683.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Kwan-Author-Photo-Credit-Cedric-Sam-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Kwan-Author-Photo-Credit-Cedric-Sam-768x514.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Kwan-Author-Photo-Credit-Cedric-Sam-1536x1028.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author’s own diasporic Chinese background helped fuel the project. \u003ccite>(Cedric Sam)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Because I’ve gone through a lot of cultures myself, I understand how people have to hybridize cuisine to cater to local customers,” he says. “It’s a matter of survival.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That isn’t to say he didn’t learn anything from his travels. Kwan points to the time he spent in Madagascar, off the southeastern coast of Africa, where he was surprised to find that the local Chinese community goes back five or six generations, with families still sending their kids to attend Chinese language schools even as the community intermarried and assimilated into the local population. One of Madagascar’s national dishes, soupe chinoise, is essentially Chinese wonton soup. “Everybody eats it,” Kwan says, “breakfast, lunch and dinner.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>Still, Kwan doesn’t think of the book as being about food per se. “It’s using food as an illustration of how adaptive and creative people can be when they’re thrown into a foreign land and barriers to language,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Sunday’s event, Kwan expects to have a rich and wide-ranging conversation with Yan, who, even beyond his illustrious television career, has taught Chinese cooking all over the world — and has, in that way, become an icon of the Chinese diaspora.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper Martin Yan event without some kind of cooking demonstration, though the event organizers are keeping the exact details a surprise. “He’s going to add some flavor to the event,” Kwan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘Have You Eaten Yet?’ takes place on Sunday, April 2, from 2–4 p.m. at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center (388 9th St., Ste. 290) in Oakland. Tickets are free with \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://oacc.cc/event/have-you-eaten-yet/\">\u003ci>pre-registration\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>, and the event is wheelchair-accessible.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>¡Hella Hungry! is a column about Bay Area foodmakers, exploring the region’s culinary cultures through the mouth of a first-\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003cb>generation\u003c/b>\u003cb>\u003ci> local.\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jamaican beef patties are one of those foods you can only truly appreciate if you’ve ever lived outside of the Bay Area. Hefty enough to satiate your stomach, compact enough to grub on while walking to the bus stop and packing enough kick to light up your taste buds, these patties are a quintessentially Caribbean street food that West Coast cities generally lack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t until I migrated to the East Coast, where the Caribbean population is far more sizable than it is in California, that I fell in love with the gold-flaked zing of the Jamaican patty. Similar to an empanada, the patties are warm, spicy, beefed up and — very importantly — affordable enough to buy with whatever dollar bills you have crinkled up in your pockets. Often stuffed with various combinations of meats or veggies, Jamaican patties are a versatile vessel for deliciousness. They got me through my coldest winters in Boston and proved to be a worthy substitute for the street tacos I sorely missed, especially after late-night functions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ever since returning to the Bay, I’ve noticed the lack of Caribbean patties here. I missed them. So you can understand my excitement when I found Tasty Tings, a one-woman pop-up run by Bayview born-and-raised Alyssa Magdaluyo, who was vending the Jamaican baked goods on a sidewalk in Oakland. I immediately stopped what I was doing, crossed the street and ordered a few to take home to my wife, who misses Jamaican beef patties even more than I do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926981\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926981\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty-tings-owner.jpg\" alt=\"The owner of Tasty Tings poses in front of a sign for her Jamaican food pop up.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1908\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty-tings-owner.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty-tings-owner-800x795.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty-tings-owner-1020x1014.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty-tings-owner-160x159.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty-tings-owner-768x763.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty-tings-owner-1536x1526.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alyssa Magdaluyo poses at a food pop-up event. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Tasty Tings)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Magdaluyo, who is a mix of Jamaican, Filipina, Chinese and Creole heritages, uses her food as a way to console herself and others. “I love eating,” she says. “But also I love being able to feed. To be able to share food with others is the most comforting experience.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what the 28-year-old had to say about her Frisco flavors — served with a dash of Caribbean fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center\">\u003ci>********\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alan Chazaro: You’re a full-time food hustler. How did you get into foodmaking?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alyssa Magdaluyo: \u003c/b>I just love cooking. I’m the youngest of three siblings. By the time I was born my mom was over cooking. It was always make-your-own-dinner night. The fridge was always stocked, so that was an entryway into cooking. Growing up, I’ve always wanted [to own] a bakery or restaurant or to be a food columnist, but living in San Francisco is hella expensive to eat out all the time. Cooking became a survival thing and a way to eat food I can’t afford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Why did you start Tasty Tings?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I wanted to hit up Jamaica, the motherland — but then COVID happened. I hit up the Philippines before that though. I also visited New Orleans since I’m Creole. Since I couldn’t go to Jamaica, I started experimenting more with patties, and I put it on social media. People just wanted to keep eating my food. This is my third official year since shelter in place. Every year I’m just surprised. I think I’ll have to get a job serving again, but my people and my community have always held me and supported me. Like damn, I make really good food, and I hold it to the standards of any job I’ve ever had.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tell us about the Jamaican-style patties you serve.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s like an empanada. I do a lentil one — lentils stewed in coconut cream and garlic. You can tell I’m Filipino because of all the garlic (laughs). I love the mushroom, too. It’s spicy jerk mushroom and bell peppers. Sometimes I be making it a little too spicy ‘cause the marinade gets absorbed into the dough (laughs). The beef and cheese are really popular. I like cheese, so I’m always trying to add more cheese. The shrimp one is really fire — jerk shrimp with cheese. It has caramelized leeks and bell peppers. And curry chicken was my other favorite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every year I try to do another [flavor] and perfect it. I usually do a sweet one for fun — coconut condensed milk and bananas. I wanna do a plantain one, a spicy one. But it would be hella dense. I’m trying to mix it up this year. October is Filipino Heritage Month, and I do try to do Filipino flavors, like longaniza. It’s longaniza pork in spicy papaya salad with an egg. It’s difficult putting that together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926977\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926977\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty_tings_beef-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"A Jamaican beef patty on a wooden table\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty_tings_beef-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty_tings_beef-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty_tings_beef-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty_tings_beef-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty_tings_beef-1536x1026.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty_tings_beef.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A classic Jamaican beef patty from Tasty Tings. \u003ccite>(Elliott Alexander)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s your process for making a batch of patties?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I have a prep station at my house. It’s in my living room. It’s all super small-batch. I can probably yield 150 max. I usually just get everything from the store — Mandela or Berkeley Bowl, they have all those special seasonings. I used the smoked salt for the chicken and the jerk because it gives it that flavor since I can’t barbecue mushrooms. Jerk is like Jamaican-style barbecue, basically. I’m trying to infuse those flavors without actually grilling. I just be going crazy looking at patties after that (laughs).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You proudly grew up in San Francisco. How does that influence your approach?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13925984,arts_13922141,arts_13926878']I went to school in Pac Heights, and all my classmates were Chinese. And I lived in Bayview where all my neighbors were Black. They each saw me as the other. I just rolled with it. I lived on a hill, right in the middle, so I just created a balance. Took what I liked and kept it pushing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Being from the city and watching it change all the time, especially from living in Bayview, you see it all change, and it’s disheartening. Police corruption, community issues. I like to walk down 24th Street to remember I live here, I’m from here. That’s a mental health walk for me. I’m so grateful. SF breaks my heart so much, but I still love it. It’s like a relationship. I ride so hard for being on this land, but it’s disheartening when it doesn’t want to push you forward also.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You often collaborate with local artists, including \u003c/b>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13910221/family-not-a-group-san-francisco-rap\">\u003cb>Family Not A Group\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003cb>, the San Francisco collective. What’s your connection to them?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I fucking love FNG. Shout out to all 17 of y’all. I honestly have a personal relationship with everyone in FNG. Just from being raised in this city. The artist hub [in San Francisco] is so small. It makes sense for us to use our platforms to help each other. I wouldn’t be where I’m at without having the support of my community. It’s a beautiful space to be a part of. I’ve known \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thejenset/?hl=en\">DJ Jenset\u003c/a> since we were 15. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/everybodylovezmike/\">Mike Evans\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/baghead.fng/\">Baghead\u003c/a> I knew from when we were in the Mario Woods Coalition together. I love being around them. Seeing them all together is even better because we’ve shared experiences together. FNG reminds me that we exist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s the \u003c/b>\u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/justice4mariowoodscoalition/\">\u003cb>Mario Woods Coalition\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003cb>?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a grip of people combating police brutality. We had meetings and set up protest dates. Being in that space helped me. I didn’t really have a group of friends in my community until I went to those meetings. Thank god I wasn’t the only one worrying about this. I was happy I found a safe space where we were trying to do something about it and not just being terrorized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s one thing about San Francisco you think outsiders might not understand?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s pushed out so many people. [But] the community is what makes it beautiful. It’s not Lands End hype. [That’s] so fake. This isn’t what people are here for. They want the art, the music, the community leaders, the muralists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"large\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Alyssa Magdaluyo\"]“I think of it not like a capitalistic transaction but an energy exchange. I’ll nourish you, and you help me nourish myself.”[/pullquote]I honestly got evicted out of my family home five years ago, and I came to Oakland. I didn’t think I would enjoy it… well that’s not true. I just love my home [in SF]. But I’ve learned about a new community, and Oakland holds it down. I’m eternally grateful to stay in the Bay. But I love my home and being able to feed you guys and go to all these cool shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Do you have any favorite beef patty hideouts in the Bay Area besides your own?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I honestly haven’t had many beef patties in the Bay. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/peachespatties/?hl=en\">Peaches Patties\u003c/a> — she was at Outside Lands. Those are freakin’ good. I honestly went to New York and did some research and development (laughs). There’s this one in New York, I wish i could tell you where it was, a Senegalese spot; they make these curry goat patties. So good. But I’m not handling goat. That’s just next level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What are the realities of operating a pop-up food business in the Bay?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just trying to find a balance between handling and saving my mental health and physical health and not burning out — having better boundaries. I can’t overextend myself and make 250 patties to sell out. I’m staying in my lane of 100 to 50 small-batch [so I can] have a real connection with the people I’m vending to rather than having only a transactional moment. I didn’t start it for that. This was a passion project to share comfort with friends and my community [during the pandemic], and it extended to a lot of people who needed food vendors. I think of it not like a capitalistic transaction but an energy exchange. I’ll nourish you, and you help me nourish myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12904247 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Follow \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tasty_tings/\">\u003ci>Tasty Tings\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> on Instagram for announcements on pop-up events and locations around the Bay Area. Catering is also available; send inquiries to \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"mailto:tastytings@gmail.com\">\u003ci>tastytings@gmail.com\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>¡Hella Hungry! is a column about Bay Area foodmakers, exploring the region’s culinary cultures through the mouth of a first-\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003cb>generation\u003c/b>\u003cb>\u003ci> local.\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jamaican beef patties are one of those foods you can only truly appreciate if you’ve ever lived outside of the Bay Area. Hefty enough to satiate your stomach, compact enough to grub on while walking to the bus stop and packing enough kick to light up your taste buds, these patties are a quintessentially Caribbean street food that West Coast cities generally lack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t until I migrated to the East Coast, where the Caribbean population is far more sizable than it is in California, that I fell in love with the gold-flaked zing of the Jamaican patty. Similar to an empanada, the patties are warm, spicy, beefed up and — very importantly — affordable enough to buy with whatever dollar bills you have crinkled up in your pockets. Often stuffed with various combinations of meats or veggies, Jamaican patties are a versatile vessel for deliciousness. They got me through my coldest winters in Boston and proved to be a worthy substitute for the street tacos I sorely missed, especially after late-night functions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ever since returning to the Bay, I’ve noticed the lack of Caribbean patties here. I missed them. So you can understand my excitement when I found Tasty Tings, a one-woman pop-up run by Bayview born-and-raised Alyssa Magdaluyo, who was vending the Jamaican baked goods on a sidewalk in Oakland. I immediately stopped what I was doing, crossed the street and ordered a few to take home to my wife, who misses Jamaican beef patties even more than I do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926981\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926981\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty-tings-owner.jpg\" alt=\"The owner of Tasty Tings poses in front of a sign for her Jamaican food pop up.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1908\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty-tings-owner.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty-tings-owner-800x795.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty-tings-owner-1020x1014.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty-tings-owner-160x159.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty-tings-owner-768x763.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty-tings-owner-1536x1526.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alyssa Magdaluyo poses at a food pop-up event. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Tasty Tings)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Magdaluyo, who is a mix of Jamaican, Filipina, Chinese and Creole heritages, uses her food as a way to console herself and others. “I love eating,” she says. “But also I love being able to feed. To be able to share food with others is the most comforting experience.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what the 28-year-old had to say about her Frisco flavors — served with a dash of Caribbean fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center\">\u003ci>********\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alan Chazaro: You’re a full-time food hustler. How did you get into foodmaking?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alyssa Magdaluyo: \u003c/b>I just love cooking. I’m the youngest of three siblings. By the time I was born my mom was over cooking. It was always make-your-own-dinner night. The fridge was always stocked, so that was an entryway into cooking. Growing up, I’ve always wanted [to own] a bakery or restaurant or to be a food columnist, but living in San Francisco is hella expensive to eat out all the time. Cooking became a survival thing and a way to eat food I can’t afford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Why did you start Tasty Tings?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I wanted to hit up Jamaica, the motherland — but then COVID happened. I hit up the Philippines before that though. I also visited New Orleans since I’m Creole. Since I couldn’t go to Jamaica, I started experimenting more with patties, and I put it on social media. People just wanted to keep eating my food. This is my third official year since shelter in place. Every year I’m just surprised. I think I’ll have to get a job serving again, but my people and my community have always held me and supported me. Like damn, I make really good food, and I hold it to the standards of any job I’ve ever had.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tell us about the Jamaican-style patties you serve.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s like an empanada. I do a lentil one — lentils stewed in coconut cream and garlic. You can tell I’m Filipino because of all the garlic (laughs). I love the mushroom, too. It’s spicy jerk mushroom and bell peppers. Sometimes I be making it a little too spicy ‘cause the marinade gets absorbed into the dough (laughs). The beef and cheese are really popular. I like cheese, so I’m always trying to add more cheese. The shrimp one is really fire — jerk shrimp with cheese. It has caramelized leeks and bell peppers. And curry chicken was my other favorite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every year I try to do another [flavor] and perfect it. I usually do a sweet one for fun — coconut condensed milk and bananas. I wanna do a plantain one, a spicy one. But it would be hella dense. I’m trying to mix it up this year. October is Filipino Heritage Month, and I do try to do Filipino flavors, like longaniza. It’s longaniza pork in spicy papaya salad with an egg. It’s difficult putting that together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926977\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926977\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty_tings_beef-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"A Jamaican beef patty on a wooden table\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty_tings_beef-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty_tings_beef-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty_tings_beef-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty_tings_beef-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty_tings_beef-1536x1026.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/tasty_tings_beef.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A classic Jamaican beef patty from Tasty Tings. \u003ccite>(Elliott Alexander)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s your process for making a batch of patties?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I have a prep station at my house. It’s in my living room. It’s all super small-batch. I can probably yield 150 max. I usually just get everything from the store — Mandela or Berkeley Bowl, they have all those special seasonings. I used the smoked salt for the chicken and the jerk because it gives it that flavor since I can’t barbecue mushrooms. Jerk is like Jamaican-style barbecue, basically. I’m trying to infuse those flavors without actually grilling. I just be going crazy looking at patties after that (laughs).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You proudly grew up in San Francisco. How does that influence your approach?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>I went to school in Pac Heights, and all my classmates were Chinese. And I lived in Bayview where all my neighbors were Black. They each saw me as the other. I just rolled with it. I lived on a hill, right in the middle, so I just created a balance. Took what I liked and kept it pushing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Being from the city and watching it change all the time, especially from living in Bayview, you see it all change, and it’s disheartening. Police corruption, community issues. I like to walk down 24th Street to remember I live here, I’m from here. That’s a mental health walk for me. I’m so grateful. SF breaks my heart so much, but I still love it. It’s like a relationship. I ride so hard for being on this land, but it’s disheartening when it doesn’t want to push you forward also.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You often collaborate with local artists, including \u003c/b>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13910221/family-not-a-group-san-francisco-rap\">\u003cb>Family Not A Group\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003cb>, the San Francisco collective. What’s your connection to them?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I fucking love FNG. Shout out to all 17 of y’all. I honestly have a personal relationship with everyone in FNG. Just from being raised in this city. The artist hub [in San Francisco] is so small. It makes sense for us to use our platforms to help each other. I wouldn’t be where I’m at without having the support of my community. It’s a beautiful space to be a part of. I’ve known \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thejenset/?hl=en\">DJ Jenset\u003c/a> since we were 15. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/everybodylovezmike/\">Mike Evans\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/baghead.fng/\">Baghead\u003c/a> I knew from when we were in the Mario Woods Coalition together. I love being around them. Seeing them all together is even better because we’ve shared experiences together. FNG reminds me that we exist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s the \u003c/b>\u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/justice4mariowoodscoalition/\">\u003cb>Mario Woods Coalition\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003cb>?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a grip of people combating police brutality. We had meetings and set up protest dates. Being in that space helped me. I didn’t really have a group of friends in my community until I went to those meetings. Thank god I wasn’t the only one worrying about this. I was happy I found a safe space where we were trying to do something about it and not just being terrorized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s one thing about San Francisco you think outsiders might not understand?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s pushed out so many people. [But] the community is what makes it beautiful. It’s not Lands End hype. [That’s] so fake. This isn’t what people are here for. They want the art, the music, the community leaders, the muralists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "“I think of it not like a capitalistic transaction but an energy exchange. I’ll nourish you, and you help me nourish myself.”",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>I honestly got evicted out of my family home five years ago, and I came to Oakland. I didn’t think I would enjoy it… well that’s not true. I just love my home [in SF]. But I’ve learned about a new community, and Oakland holds it down. I’m eternally grateful to stay in the Bay. But I love my home and being able to feed you guys and go to all these cool shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Do you have any favorite beef patty hideouts in the Bay Area besides your own?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I honestly haven’t had many beef patties in the Bay. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/peachespatties/?hl=en\">Peaches Patties\u003c/a> — she was at Outside Lands. Those are freakin’ good. I honestly went to New York and did some research and development (laughs). There’s this one in New York, I wish i could tell you where it was, a Senegalese spot; they make these curry goat patties. So good. But I’m not handling goat. That’s just next level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What are the realities of operating a pop-up food business in the Bay?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just trying to find a balance between handling and saving my mental health and physical health and not burning out — having better boundaries. I can’t overextend myself and make 250 patties to sell out. I’m staying in my lane of 100 to 50 small-batch [so I can] have a real connection with the people I’m vending to rather than having only a transactional moment. I didn’t start it for that. This was a passion project to share comfort with friends and my community [during the pandemic], and it extended to a lot of people who needed food vendors. I think of it not like a capitalistic transaction but an energy exchange. I’ll nourish you, and you help me nourish myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12904247 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Follow \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tasty_tings/\">\u003ci>Tasty Tings\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> on Instagram for announcements on pop-up events and locations around the Bay Area. Catering is also available; send inquiries to \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"mailto:tastytings@gmail.com\">\u003ci>tastytings@gmail.com\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Kingston 11’s Closure Is a Reminder To Not Take Beloved Black-Owned Businesses for Granted",
"headTitle": "Kingston 11’s Closure Is a Reminder To Not Take Beloved Black-Owned Businesses for Granted | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>For 10 years now, the Jamaican oxtail stew at Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/_kingston11/\">Kingston 11\u003c/a> has been one of my go-to comfort meals — a dish whose soupy, tenderly slow-braised succulence I could always rely on to pick me up on the dreariest of days. During that timespan, the restaurant itself has been an anchor at the corner of the Telegraph and West Grand, even as the surrounding neighborhood has undergone so much change. And it has been a vibrant gathering place, from day one, for Oakland’s Black and brown communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At a certain point, it starts to feel like a cliché to talk about the diversity of Oakland’s dining scene and how much more ‘real’ its restaurants are compared to those in other cities,” I wrote when I \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/straight-outta-kingston-1/\">reviewed the restaurant\u003c/a> a few months after it opened in 2013. “But at Kingston 11, where people of color make up the majority of both the staff and the customers, and the crowd is a reasonable facsimile of Oakland itself, the point rings true.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a gut punch, then, when chef-owner Nigel Jones \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2023/3/9/23632640/kingston-11-oakland-restaurant-closing\">announced last week\u003c/a> the Jamaican standby’s last day of service as a dine-in restaurant will be Saturday, March 25. The business and brand won’t cease to exist altogether: Its most popular dishes, like those oxtails and the wonderfully smoky jerk chicken, will still be available at its more casual sister restaurant and marketplace, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/calabasheats/\">Calabash\u003c/a>, which opened in December. And Jones will keep the Kingston 11 space itself as a home base for the restaurant’s catering operations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926859\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926859\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63784_024_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of Jamaican-style vegetable curry, served over rice and peas, on a wooden tabletop. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63784_024_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63784_024_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63784_024_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63784_024_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63784_024_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63784_024_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A curry vegetable dish served over rice and peas. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But for the foreseeable future, diners will no longer be able to come in and sit down for a meal — a huge loss for a city that has already experienced the loss of so many Black-centered spaces. Miss Ollie’s, the beloved Afro-Caribbean spot, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13910410/miss-ollies-oakland-closing\">closed this past year\u003c/a>. So did \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2022/01/11/brown-sugar-kitchen-tanya-holland-closed\">Brown Sugar Kitchen\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When reached by phone, Jones told me that he has been keenly aware of that loss. In the week since he first announced the news, a steady stream of longtime customers has reached out to him to express their grief — to lament yet another Black-owned restaurant in Oakland going under.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Jones’ view, the closure of Kingston 11 and these other restaurants should serve as a reminder of how important it is for Black folks and other people of color to support local businesses that reflect their culture and roots. And while he doesn’t believe that Black-owned businesses should “get a pass” just because of the identity of their proprietors, it strikes him that there isn’t more of a concerted effort to support them — especially within communities of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"large\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Nigel Jones\"]“It’s important that folks recognize that there’s a role that they can play if they want to see a community that reflects them back.”[/pullquote]“On the surface, it looks like Black-owned businesses are thriving,” he says. “But most of us don’t have money in our pocket. I don’t have Wall Street or Silicon Valley friends who can front me $300,000.” A rainy day — or a series of rainy days like the ones we’ve had in February and March — could be enough to put a business under.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926853\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926853\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63778_019_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63778_019_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63778_019_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63778_019_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63778_019_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63778_019_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63778_019_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kendretta Rogers talks with her nephew Deandre while waiting for an order at Kingston 11. The restaurant has long been a popular gathering space for Oakland’s Black and brown communities. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, Jones says, “It’s important that folks recognize that there’s a role that they can play if they want to see a community that reflects them back. So they can see Asian, brown and Black people in the front of the house, in the kitchen and behind the bar — not just washing dishes but running shit. We want to reflect to a young person who walks in the door, ‘Oh shit, there’s someone who looks like me. Maybe someday I can own my own restaurant.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Jones stresses that he sees this not as the end of the Kingston 11 story but rather a new beginning. Like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13910410/miss-ollies-oakland-closing\">many\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/5/11/21255078/reems-oakland-coronavirus-fruitvale-commissary-kitchen\">many\u003c/a> other restaurant owners during this pandemic, he decided that using the space as a commissary kitchen to do some combination of catering and private events would be a more sustainable business model than trying to operate as a sit-down restaurant. Front-of-house staffing, in particular, has been a challenge during this late stage of the pandemic, when so many of his longtime servers felt burned out and decided to leave the restaurant industry altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926849\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926849\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63774_012_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A chef, dressed in a blue chef's coat and black baseball cap, carefully plates an order of curry shrimp.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63774_012_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63774_012_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63774_012_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63774_012_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63774_012_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63774_012_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jones prepares an order of curry shrimp. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Moving forward, Jones says, the restaurant will look to expand its existing roster of corporate lunches and assorted UC Berkeley faculty and grad student events — Kingston 11’s food is especially popular among the university’s students of color, he says. If you’re planning an oxtails-and-jerk-chicken kind of wedding reception in the near future, Jones is eager to work with you (and hopefully my invitation is in the mail).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond that, Jones says he’d like to bring Kingston 11’s food into more nontraditional dining settings — say, a senior citizens’ home or an elementary school. What would it look like for a school lunch program to replace its chicken nuggets and microwavable pizza with a Kingston 11–run menu?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926862\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926862\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63787_028_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of jerk chicken, served with plantains and rice and peas. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63787_028_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63787_028_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63787_028_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63787_028_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63787_028_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63787_028_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The jerk chicken — a Kingston 11 classic — will still be available at Jones’ other restaurant, Calabash. If Jones has his way, it might even make an appearance on school lunch menus. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“[In this country] we invest very little in education. They don’t even want to talk about the true history of the country, much less feeding the kids — they’re too busy playing political games,” Jones says. “So how do I show up?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"large\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Nigel Jones\"]“Like they say, a house is not a home until someone is living there. A restaurant is not a community restaurant until the community shows up.”[/pullquote]The final days of Kingston 11 as a restaurant space will be business as usual, but perhaps with a few special touches. Of note, DJ Carlos — the restaurant’s longtime DJ who turned every Friday night at Kingston 11 into a reggae dance party, but has since moved to Sacramento — will be back on the decks for that final Saturday. “We’re going to have a good old-fashioned Jamaican street party, indoors,” Jones says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13910410,arts_13923936,arts_13916312']\u003c/span>As for those who are worried about the loss of Black spaces in Oakland, Jones hopes to create the same welcoming vibe at his new restaurant, Calabash, which is just a few blocks away from Kingston 11. Just this past weekend, he says, he walked into the new space and was struck by how everyone there was Black, brown or Asian. Kids were running around, and everyone just looked so comfortable, like they were hanging out in their own living room. Seeing that, Jones says, “I felt so good in my heart.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Like they say, a house is not a home until someone is living there,” he says. “A restaurant is not a community restaurant until the community shows up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926860\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926860\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63785_023_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg\" alt='Green restaurant facade with a sign that reads, \"Kingston 11.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63785_023_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63785_023_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63785_023_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63785_023_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63785_023_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63785_023_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The restaurant’s colorful exterior has been a easily recognizable fixture in Uptown Oakland. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Kingston 11’s last day of business will be on Sat., March 25, when it will be open noon–9 p.m. at its original location at 2270 Telegraph Ave. The restaurant’s longtime DJ, DJ Carlos, will be back on the decks for one night only.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The Oakland staple will close on March 25, but its Jamaican classics will live on at its sister restaurant, Calabash.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For 10 years now, the Jamaican oxtail stew at Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/_kingston11/\">Kingston 11\u003c/a> has been one of my go-to comfort meals — a dish whose soupy, tenderly slow-braised succulence I could always rely on to pick me up on the dreariest of days. During that timespan, the restaurant itself has been an anchor at the corner of the Telegraph and West Grand, even as the surrounding neighborhood has undergone so much change. And it has been a vibrant gathering place, from day one, for Oakland’s Black and brown communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At a certain point, it starts to feel like a cliché to talk about the diversity of Oakland’s dining scene and how much more ‘real’ its restaurants are compared to those in other cities,” I wrote when I \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/straight-outta-kingston-1/\">reviewed the restaurant\u003c/a> a few months after it opened in 2013. “But at Kingston 11, where people of color make up the majority of both the staff and the customers, and the crowd is a reasonable facsimile of Oakland itself, the point rings true.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a gut punch, then, when chef-owner Nigel Jones \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2023/3/9/23632640/kingston-11-oakland-restaurant-closing\">announced last week\u003c/a> the Jamaican standby’s last day of service as a dine-in restaurant will be Saturday, March 25. The business and brand won’t cease to exist altogether: Its most popular dishes, like those oxtails and the wonderfully smoky jerk chicken, will still be available at its more casual sister restaurant and marketplace, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/calabasheats/\">Calabash\u003c/a>, which opened in December. And Jones will keep the Kingston 11 space itself as a home base for the restaurant’s catering operations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926859\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926859\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63784_024_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of Jamaican-style vegetable curry, served over rice and peas, on a wooden tabletop. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63784_024_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63784_024_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63784_024_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63784_024_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63784_024_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63784_024_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A curry vegetable dish served over rice and peas. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But for the foreseeable future, diners will no longer be able to come in and sit down for a meal — a huge loss for a city that has already experienced the loss of so many Black-centered spaces. Miss Ollie’s, the beloved Afro-Caribbean spot, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13910410/miss-ollies-oakland-closing\">closed this past year\u003c/a>. So did \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2022/01/11/brown-sugar-kitchen-tanya-holland-closed\">Brown Sugar Kitchen\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When reached by phone, Jones told me that he has been keenly aware of that loss. In the week since he first announced the news, a steady stream of longtime customers has reached out to him to express their grief — to lament yet another Black-owned restaurant in Oakland going under.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Jones’ view, the closure of Kingston 11 and these other restaurants should serve as a reminder of how important it is for Black folks and other people of color to support local businesses that reflect their culture and roots. And while he doesn’t believe that Black-owned businesses should “get a pass” just because of the identity of their proprietors, it strikes him that there isn’t more of a concerted effort to support them — especially within communities of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "“It’s important that folks recognize that there’s a role that they can play if they want to see a community that reflects them back.”",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“On the surface, it looks like Black-owned businesses are thriving,” he says. “But most of us don’t have money in our pocket. I don’t have Wall Street or Silicon Valley friends who can front me $300,000.” A rainy day — or a series of rainy days like the ones we’ve had in February and March — could be enough to put a business under.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926853\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926853\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63778_019_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63778_019_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63778_019_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63778_019_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63778_019_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63778_019_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63778_019_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kendretta Rogers talks with her nephew Deandre while waiting for an order at Kingston 11. The restaurant has long been a popular gathering space for Oakland’s Black and brown communities. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, Jones says, “It’s important that folks recognize that there’s a role that they can play if they want to see a community that reflects them back. So they can see Asian, brown and Black people in the front of the house, in the kitchen and behind the bar — not just washing dishes but running shit. We want to reflect to a young person who walks in the door, ‘Oh shit, there’s someone who looks like me. Maybe someday I can own my own restaurant.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Jones stresses that he sees this not as the end of the Kingston 11 story but rather a new beginning. Like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13910410/miss-ollies-oakland-closing\">many\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/5/11/21255078/reems-oakland-coronavirus-fruitvale-commissary-kitchen\">many\u003c/a> other restaurant owners during this pandemic, he decided that using the space as a commissary kitchen to do some combination of catering and private events would be a more sustainable business model than trying to operate as a sit-down restaurant. Front-of-house staffing, in particular, has been a challenge during this late stage of the pandemic, when so many of his longtime servers felt burned out and decided to leave the restaurant industry altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926849\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926849\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63774_012_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A chef, dressed in a blue chef's coat and black baseball cap, carefully plates an order of curry shrimp.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63774_012_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63774_012_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63774_012_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63774_012_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63774_012_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63774_012_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jones prepares an order of curry shrimp. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Moving forward, Jones says, the restaurant will look to expand its existing roster of corporate lunches and assorted UC Berkeley faculty and grad student events — Kingston 11’s food is especially popular among the university’s students of color, he says. If you’re planning an oxtails-and-jerk-chicken kind of wedding reception in the near future, Jones is eager to work with you (and hopefully my invitation is in the mail).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond that, Jones says he’d like to bring Kingston 11’s food into more nontraditional dining settings — say, a senior citizens’ home or an elementary school. What would it look like for a school lunch program to replace its chicken nuggets and microwavable pizza with a Kingston 11–run menu?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926862\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926862\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63787_028_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of jerk chicken, served with plantains and rice and peas. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63787_028_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63787_028_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63787_028_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63787_028_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63787_028_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63787_028_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The jerk chicken — a Kingston 11 classic — will still be available at Jones’ other restaurant, Calabash. If Jones has his way, it might even make an appearance on school lunch menus. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“[In this country] we invest very little in education. They don’t even want to talk about the true history of the country, much less feeding the kids — they’re too busy playing political games,” Jones says. “So how do I show up?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The final days of Kingston 11 as a restaurant space will be business as usual, but perhaps with a few special touches. Of note, DJ Carlos — the restaurant’s longtime DJ who turned every Friday night at Kingston 11 into a reggae dance party, but has since moved to Sacramento — will be back on the decks for that final Saturday. “We’re going to have a good old-fashioned Jamaican street party, indoors,” Jones says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>As for those who are worried about the loss of Black spaces in Oakland, Jones hopes to create the same welcoming vibe at his new restaurant, Calabash, which is just a few blocks away from Kingston 11. Just this past weekend, he says, he walked into the new space and was struck by how everyone there was Black, brown or Asian. Kids were running around, and everyone just looked so comfortable, like they were hanging out in their own living room. Seeing that, Jones says, “I felt so good in my heart.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Like they say, a house is not a home until someone is living there,” he says. “A restaurant is not a community restaurant until the community shows up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926860\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926860\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63785_023_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg\" alt='Green restaurant facade with a sign that reads, \"Kingston 11.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63785_023_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63785_023_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63785_023_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63785_023_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63785_023_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/RS63785_023_KQEDArts_Kingston11Restaurant_03222023-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The restaurant’s colorful exterior has been a easily recognizable fixture in Uptown Oakland. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Kingston 11’s last day of business will be on Sat., March 25, when it will be open noon–9 p.m. at its original location at 2270 Telegraph Ave. The restaurant’s longtime DJ, DJ Carlos, will be back on the decks for one night only.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Boochmania Pours Kombucha That Isn't Just for White Hippies",
"headTitle": "Boochmania Pours Kombucha That Isn’t Just for White Hippies | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kombucha, in its original form, is \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.montereybayseaweeds.com/the-seaweed-source/2018/12/20/real-kombucha-is-made-from-seaweed\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a mix of hot tea (“cha”) and dried kelp (“kombu”) from northern Japan\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, where the drink is still popularly consumed. Yet when we think of kombucha in California, we often envision the trope of an affluent, white, tech-working yogi.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maybe there’s \u003cem>some\u003c/em> truth to that stereotype. A 2020 article about \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.wellandgood.com/bipoc-owned-kombucha-brands/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the lack of diversely-represented kombucha brands\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> found that of the four brands that dominate the $1.8 billion global kombucha industry — and account for 85 percent of sales in the U.S. — “all but [one] are 100 percent white-owned.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So yes, commercial kombucha is undeniably white American–centric. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But the tradition of fermentation is heavily rooted in food practices and beliefs that far predate modern capitalism and neo-hippies. Fermented ingredients — ranging from indigenous Central American elixirs like tepache and pulque to ancient concoctions from across Asia like kimchi and miso — have always been healthy for our bellies.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Simply, fermentation is the oldest technique that we know in the kitchen,” says Numan Karabiyik, a 32-year-old Turkish immigrant who co-owns San Francisco’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/boochmaniasf/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Boochmania\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “It’s a trend now that people want to get into, but it has been a conservation technique for food materials that has always sustained people [because] it can extend shelf life and increase the nutrient value for food products.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Boochmania is at the forefront of a small movement driven by diverse makers in the Bay Area who are making those health benefits clearer — and more flavorful — than ever to a whole new audience of kombucha lovers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926579\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926579\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_karabiyiks.jpg\" alt=\"The Turkish siblings who are crafting kombucha in San Francisco at Boochmania\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_karabiyiks.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_karabiyiks-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_karabiyiks-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_karabiyiks-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_karabiyiks-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_karabiyiks-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Karabiyik siblings, from left to right: Mustafa, Betul and Numan. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>An Ancient Technique\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With a menu of fermented Mediterranean plates and fresh kombucha on tap, Boochmania opened at the end of 2022. The quaint space, which is neatly tucked along the corner of 3rd and Harrison Streets on an uphill slope, is Karabiyik’s flagship family-owned business. With the help of his older brother Mustafa and younger sister Betul (who arrived in the United States just one year ago), he keeps his fermented dreams afloat.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926578\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926578\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_interior_detail-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"an array of Polaroid photographs showing Turkish family members at Boochman Kombucha in Berkeley\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_interior_detail-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_interior_detail-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_interior_detail-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_interior_detail-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_interior_detail-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_interior_detail-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_interior_detail-1365x2048.jpg 1365w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An array of photographs showing family members and friends at Boochman Kombucha, Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Karabiyik\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> began his culinary training in Izmir, Turkey, a port city that boasts the third largest population in the country. The city’s blend of Asian and Mediterranean influences helped shape his understanding of fermentation as a common, ancient practice, as did his internship at a contemporary Japanese restaurant called Zuma. There, Karabiyik picked up techniques for fermenting foods like miso and Japanese bread. “It amazed me how Japanese and Mediterranean cultures repurposed almost everything they used,” he tells me. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Combining these newly acquired techniques with his familiarity with Turkish foods — including yogurts, syrups, breads, wines and pickled vegetables, which all involve fermentation — he grew fascinated with the yeasty sublayer of gastronomy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It wasn’t until Karabiyik relocated to the Bay Area and did an internship at San Francisco’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.benusf.com/menu\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Benu\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, that he learned how to make kombucha. The high-end, Michelin-starred restaurant served the beverage as a palate cleanser as part of its $375 prix fixe menu.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“[The process of fermenting foods and beverages] is extremely labor intensive and involves monetary resources that most immigrants don’t have,” says Karabiyik. “Many high-end restaurants in Europe and around the world have their own fermentation station or have an entire team dealing with that so the other workers can cook and do other things. If you do it wrong, your whole product can end up in the garbage.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There aren’t many immigrants, he tells me, who can afford to delve into kombucha making. But that didn’t stop him from brewing his own batches in his spare time after that initial introduction at Benu.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mexican and Turkish Touches\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before Boochmania, Karabiyik and his brother entered the local kombucha game by way of Berkeley, opening \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/boochmankombucha/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Boochman Kombucha\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in 2019 with Denisse Padilla, a Mexican American single mother who grew up in nearby Pinole. At the time, Padilla had been looking to launch a food business and met the Karabiyik brothers while she and Mustafa were working at the International Education Center of Diablo Valley Community College for international students.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the time it opened, Boochman drew attention for being the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/8/16/20809108/kombucha-bar-berkeley-bay-area\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">first kombucha taproom in the Bay Area\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. But the founders’ cultural influences and backgrounds largely went overlooked and underappreciated. And once the pandemic hit and supply shortages cut into their production, the taproom had to scale back on its most inventive kombucha flavors — including the ones that most clearly reflected the owners’ cultures.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926575\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926575\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_brewing.jpg\" alt=\"chamomile kombucha fermenting in a large jar\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_brewing.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_brewing-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_brewing-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_brewing-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_brewing-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_brewing-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chamomile kombucha fermenting in a large jar at Boochmania in SF. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We used to have a tamarindo flavor, which was really popular, but tamarind import stopped during COVID,” Padilla says while preparing a batch at the Berkeley location, where all of the kombucha sold at both sister businesses is produced.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With immigrant parents from the state of Chihuahua, Padilla is no stranger to Mexican classics, citing tamarindo, agua de jamaica and mangonadas as drinks she grew up with. Other Boochman flavors, like red prickly pear — or “tuna,” as it’s known in Mexico — offer subtle odes to childhood memories of her father.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“That’s hella Mexican,” she says. “It was my dad’s favorite fruit.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The flavor didn’t sell with enough frequency, so it was discontinued — along with the bay leaf and beet kombuchas. Still, there are distinct multicultural undertones in the shop’s kombucha, as well as in the small plates at the new San Francisco location (which Padilla is not formally involved with).\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13917398,arts_13920057,arts_13916044']Boochman and Boochmania both serve variations of pineapple and strawberry hops kombucha, which Padilla says is inspired by agua de pina and agua de fresa. They also use a Turkish tea as the base for their kombucha, as a way to “combine our cultures,” she says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Turkey is quite famous for tea consumption,” Karabiyik tells me. “Turkish tea is a great base — it’s light.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At one point, Karabiyik also used Marash, a spicy Turkish pepper, to flavor one of his kombuchas. But he says it became too difficult to find it in the United States with the proper USDA organic certification.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> T\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">hat hasn’t stopped him from infusing other Mexican and Mediterranean tastes. Current flavors that draw from the kombucha makers’ backgrounds include currant, clove and spicy mango. They’re some of the company’s best sellers, Karabiyik says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>More Than Just Kombucha\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After starting from a micro scale at \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13925774/new-west-oakland-farmers-market-healthy-foods-harvindar-singh\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">local farmers markets\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and small business incubators like Kitchen 812 and Certified Kitchens — where they began with a humble 15-gallon capacity per week — Padilla and the Karabiyiks have grown their business to two brick-and-mortar locations on both sides of the Bay Bridge, producing an estimated 500 gallons of kombucha per week, while also serving foods like lentil miso burgers with housemade lacto-fermented blueberry dressing over organic quinoa and seasonal veggies.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926589\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926589\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_food.jpg\" alt=\"fermented foods, including kombucha and hummus, spread out on a table\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_food.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_food-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_food-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_food-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_food-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_food-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fermented foods at Boochmania in SF range from bread to hummus to kombucha. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’re not finished, though. Beyond perfecting how to harness living colonies of bacteria and yeast to make fizzy kombucha drinks and delicious meals, the immigrant-owned businesses are expanding to include a wider range of “zero waste” products. In an effort to recycle all of their discarded materials into reusable items, they’ve started to make candles, bath salts and soaps. One candle uses leftover rose petals from the kombucha-making process while another uses pineapple discards, and both can be re-used as miniature planters afterwards.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In addition, Karabiyik is researching how to make other fermented beverages from around the world, including chicha morada, a Peruvian staple made from Andean purple corn.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I try to learn from other cultures and relate it to the fermented culture,” he says. “Now it’s a big thing and celebrities are investing in that to make money. But looking at our cultures, we already have an understanding of that.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After first falling in love with kombucha on tap at Berkeley Bowl about a decade ago, Padilla is also constantly seeking ways to infuse different influences into the craft. While working at farmers markets around the region, she often surveys her customers of diverse backgrounds on what flavors they most enjoy and what ingredients they would like to see as future seasonal releases.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Along with other local businesses like \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.housekombucha.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">House Kombucha\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — an Asian woman–owned operation originally based in San Leandro, whose kombucha flavors also appeal to a diverse palate — Boochman Kombucha is hoping to widen the gateway into celebrating not just kombucha, but fermented and sustainably upcycled products in general.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whenever these makers come across a new, fresh idea (currently, their “Unicorn Tail” is an original mix of horsetail tea, blue spirulina and stevia leaf) in ways that remix their various homelands, Padilla wonders: \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“How did no one think of this?”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926577\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926577\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_customers.jpg\" alt=\"two Turkish customers celebrating kombucha and food in San Francisco\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_customers.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_customers-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_customers-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_customers-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_customers-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_customers-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two Turkish customers celebrating kombucha and food at Boochmania, SF. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12904247 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Boochmania (685 Harrison St., San Francisco) is open Tue. through Sat. from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Boochman Kombucha (915 University Ave., Berkeley) is open Tue. through Fri. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Fermented tea drinks that taste like spicy mango and red prickly pear, courtesy of a family of Turkish immigrants and a local Latina.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kombucha, in its original form, is \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.montereybayseaweeds.com/the-seaweed-source/2018/12/20/real-kombucha-is-made-from-seaweed\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a mix of hot tea (“cha”) and dried kelp (“kombu”) from northern Japan\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, where the drink is still popularly consumed. Yet when we think of kombucha in California, we often envision the trope of an affluent, white, tech-working yogi.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maybe there’s \u003cem>some\u003c/em> truth to that stereotype. A 2020 article about \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.wellandgood.com/bipoc-owned-kombucha-brands/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the lack of diversely-represented kombucha brands\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> found that of the four brands that dominate the $1.8 billion global kombucha industry — and account for 85 percent of sales in the U.S. — “all but [one] are 100 percent white-owned.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So yes, commercial kombucha is undeniably white American–centric. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But the tradition of fermentation is heavily rooted in food practices and beliefs that far predate modern capitalism and neo-hippies. Fermented ingredients — ranging from indigenous Central American elixirs like tepache and pulque to ancient concoctions from across Asia like kimchi and miso — have always been healthy for our bellies.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Simply, fermentation is the oldest technique that we know in the kitchen,” says Numan Karabiyik, a 32-year-old Turkish immigrant who co-owns San Francisco’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/boochmaniasf/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Boochmania\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “It’s a trend now that people want to get into, but it has been a conservation technique for food materials that has always sustained people [because] it can extend shelf life and increase the nutrient value for food products.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Boochmania is at the forefront of a small movement driven by diverse makers in the Bay Area who are making those health benefits clearer — and more flavorful — than ever to a whole new audience of kombucha lovers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926579\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926579\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_karabiyiks.jpg\" alt=\"The Turkish siblings who are crafting kombucha in San Francisco at Boochmania\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_karabiyiks.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_karabiyiks-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_karabiyiks-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_karabiyiks-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_karabiyiks-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_karabiyiks-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Karabiyik siblings, from left to right: Mustafa, Betul and Numan. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>An Ancient Technique\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With a menu of fermented Mediterranean plates and fresh kombucha on tap, Boochmania opened at the end of 2022. The quaint space, which is neatly tucked along the corner of 3rd and Harrison Streets on an uphill slope, is Karabiyik’s flagship family-owned business. With the help of his older brother Mustafa and younger sister Betul (who arrived in the United States just one year ago), he keeps his fermented dreams afloat.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926578\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926578\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_interior_detail-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"an array of Polaroid photographs showing Turkish family members at Boochman Kombucha in Berkeley\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_interior_detail-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_interior_detail-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_interior_detail-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_interior_detail-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_interior_detail-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_interior_detail-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_interior_detail-1365x2048.jpg 1365w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An array of photographs showing family members and friends at Boochman Kombucha, Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Karabiyik\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> began his culinary training in Izmir, Turkey, a port city that boasts the third largest population in the country. The city’s blend of Asian and Mediterranean influences helped shape his understanding of fermentation as a common, ancient practice, as did his internship at a contemporary Japanese restaurant called Zuma. There, Karabiyik picked up techniques for fermenting foods like miso and Japanese bread. “It amazed me how Japanese and Mediterranean cultures repurposed almost everything they used,” he tells me. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Combining these newly acquired techniques with his familiarity with Turkish foods — including yogurts, syrups, breads, wines and pickled vegetables, which all involve fermentation — he grew fascinated with the yeasty sublayer of gastronomy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It wasn’t until Karabiyik relocated to the Bay Area and did an internship at San Francisco’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.benusf.com/menu\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Benu\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, that he learned how to make kombucha. The high-end, Michelin-starred restaurant served the beverage as a palate cleanser as part of its $375 prix fixe menu.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“[The process of fermenting foods and beverages] is extremely labor intensive and involves monetary resources that most immigrants don’t have,” says Karabiyik. “Many high-end restaurants in Europe and around the world have their own fermentation station or have an entire team dealing with that so the other workers can cook and do other things. If you do it wrong, your whole product can end up in the garbage.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There aren’t many immigrants, he tells me, who can afford to delve into kombucha making. But that didn’t stop him from brewing his own batches in his spare time after that initial introduction at Benu.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mexican and Turkish Touches\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before Boochmania, Karabiyik and his brother entered the local kombucha game by way of Berkeley, opening \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/boochmankombucha/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Boochman Kombucha\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in 2019 with Denisse Padilla, a Mexican American single mother who grew up in nearby Pinole. At the time, Padilla had been looking to launch a food business and met the Karabiyik brothers while she and Mustafa were working at the International Education Center of Diablo Valley Community College for international students.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the time it opened, Boochman drew attention for being the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/8/16/20809108/kombucha-bar-berkeley-bay-area\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">first kombucha taproom in the Bay Area\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. But the founders’ cultural influences and backgrounds largely went overlooked and underappreciated. And once the pandemic hit and supply shortages cut into their production, the taproom had to scale back on its most inventive kombucha flavors — including the ones that most clearly reflected the owners’ cultures.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926575\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926575\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_brewing.jpg\" alt=\"chamomile kombucha fermenting in a large jar\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_brewing.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_brewing-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_brewing-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_brewing-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_brewing-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_brewing-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chamomile kombucha fermenting in a large jar at Boochmania in SF. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We used to have a tamarindo flavor, which was really popular, but tamarind import stopped during COVID,” Padilla says while preparing a batch at the Berkeley location, where all of the kombucha sold at both sister businesses is produced.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With immigrant parents from the state of Chihuahua, Padilla is no stranger to Mexican classics, citing tamarindo, agua de jamaica and mangonadas as drinks she grew up with. Other Boochman flavors, like red prickly pear — or “tuna,” as it’s known in Mexico — offer subtle odes to childhood memories of her father.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“That’s hella Mexican,” she says. “It was my dad’s favorite fruit.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The flavor didn’t sell with enough frequency, so it was discontinued — along with the bay leaf and beet kombuchas. Still, there are distinct multicultural undertones in the shop’s kombucha, as well as in the small plates at the new San Francisco location (which Padilla is not formally involved with).\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Boochman and Boochmania both serve variations of pineapple and strawberry hops kombucha, which Padilla says is inspired by agua de pina and agua de fresa. They also use a Turkish tea as the base for their kombucha, as a way to “combine our cultures,” she says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Turkey is quite famous for tea consumption,” Karabiyik tells me. “Turkish tea is a great base — it’s light.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At one point, Karabiyik also used Marash, a spicy Turkish pepper, to flavor one of his kombuchas. But he says it became too difficult to find it in the United States with the proper USDA organic certification.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> T\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">hat hasn’t stopped him from infusing other Mexican and Mediterranean tastes. Current flavors that draw from the kombucha makers’ backgrounds include currant, clove and spicy mango. They’re some of the company’s best sellers, Karabiyik says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>More Than Just Kombucha\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After starting from a micro scale at \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13925774/new-west-oakland-farmers-market-healthy-foods-harvindar-singh\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">local farmers markets\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and small business incubators like Kitchen 812 and Certified Kitchens — where they began with a humble 15-gallon capacity per week — Padilla and the Karabiyiks have grown their business to two brick-and-mortar locations on both sides of the Bay Bridge, producing an estimated 500 gallons of kombucha per week, while also serving foods like lentil miso burgers with housemade lacto-fermented blueberry dressing over organic quinoa and seasonal veggies.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926589\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926589\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_food.jpg\" alt=\"fermented foods, including kombucha and hummus, spread out on a table\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_food.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_food-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_food-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_food-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_food-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_food-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fermented foods at Boochmania in SF range from bread to hummus to kombucha. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’re not finished, though. Beyond perfecting how to harness living colonies of bacteria and yeast to make fizzy kombucha drinks and delicious meals, the immigrant-owned businesses are expanding to include a wider range of “zero waste” products. In an effort to recycle all of their discarded materials into reusable items, they’ve started to make candles, bath salts and soaps. One candle uses leftover rose petals from the kombucha-making process while another uses pineapple discards, and both can be re-used as miniature planters afterwards.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In addition, Karabiyik is researching how to make other fermented beverages from around the world, including chicha morada, a Peruvian staple made from Andean purple corn.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I try to learn from other cultures and relate it to the fermented culture,” he says. “Now it’s a big thing and celebrities are investing in that to make money. But looking at our cultures, we already have an understanding of that.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After first falling in love with kombucha on tap at Berkeley Bowl about a decade ago, Padilla is also constantly seeking ways to infuse different influences into the craft. While working at farmers markets around the region, she often surveys her customers of diverse backgrounds on what flavors they most enjoy and what ingredients they would like to see as future seasonal releases.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Along with other local businesses like \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.housekombucha.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">House Kombucha\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — an Asian woman–owned operation originally based in San Leandro, whose kombucha flavors also appeal to a diverse palate — Boochman Kombucha is hoping to widen the gateway into celebrating not just kombucha, but fermented and sustainably upcycled products in general.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whenever these makers come across a new, fresh idea (currently, their “Unicorn Tail” is an original mix of horsetail tea, blue spirulina and stevia leaf) in ways that remix their various homelands, Padilla wonders: \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“How did no one think of this?”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926577\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926577\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_customers.jpg\" alt=\"two Turkish customers celebrating kombucha and food in San Francisco\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_customers.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_customers-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_customers-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_customers-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_customers-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/boochmania_customers-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two Turkish customers celebrating kombucha and food at Boochmania, SF. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12904247 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Boochmania (685 Harrison St., San Francisco) is open Tue. through Sat. from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Boochman Kombucha (915 University Ave., Berkeley) is open Tue. through Fri. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Abi Balingit's Dessert Cookbook Is a Love Letter to the Bay Area's Filipino Bakeries",
"headTitle": "Abi Balingit’s Dessert Cookbook Is a Love Letter to the Bay Area’s Filipino Bakeries | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Growing up, I assumed fruit custard was a uniquely Indian food, no different than khichdi or palak paneer. Chilled fruit custard, sweetened with apples, bananas and grapes, made frequent appearances at my mother’s dinner parties, indistinguishable from other milky Indian desserts like kheer or shrikhand. I never saw anything similar to it in American restaurants or at my white friends’ houses: How could I guess it was anything other than Indian?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oh my god, I thought the same thing about fruit salad and Filipinos,” confesses \u003ca href=\"https://theduskykitchen.com/\">blogger\u003c/a>, baker and recipe developer extraordinaire Abi Balingit. We are chatting about her new memoir-cum-cookbook \u003ca href=\"https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780063244061\">\u003ci>Mayumu\u003c/i>: \u003ci>Filipino American Desserts Remixed\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>,\u003c/i> which documents the sweets she ate and made growing up in the Bay Area’s thriving Filipino communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our fruit salad has canned fruit, too, but we add more Filipino stuff like coconut jellies and sugar palm fruit, so I always thought it was 100 percent Filipino,” Balingit says. “Another product of colonialism and imperialism for sure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our respective fruit salads and custards reflect a bizarre quirk of history, where the legacy of colonization and globalization has influenced our food to the point where the term “fusion” doesn’t really mean much. Asian cooking has \u003ci>been \u003c/i>fused with Western culture. So why not make, say, a baked Alaska with ube ice cream — the tantalizing dessert displayed on the cover of \u003ci>Mayumu\u003c/i>? Or a jello salad buko pandan?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926636\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926636\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Mayumu-cover.jpg\" alt='Cover of a cookbook with a photo of a slice of baked Alaska with ube ice cream on the inside. Text reads, \"Mayumu, Filipino American Desserts Remixed.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"2469\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Mayumu-cover.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Mayumu-cover-800x1029.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Mayumu-cover-1020x1312.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Mayumu-cover-160x206.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Mayumu-cover-768x988.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Mayumu-cover-1194x1536.jpg 1194w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Mayumu-cover-1593x2048.jpg 1593w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The cookbook was published by HarperCollins in February 2023. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of HarperCollins)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Obviously, growing up in America, the desserts are cupcakes, cakes and cookies — and these are things in the Philippines, too,” says Balingit. “I went to Seafood City or the small Filipino market and saw coco pie and ube pie, but at the same time I went to Safeway or Albertson’s and saw, like, Hostess and Little Debbie’s. There was nothing weird about it to me, there was no sense of foreignness or discomfort.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Balingit, \u003ci>Mayumu\u003c/i> isn’t just a cookbook. It is a snapshot of growing up Filipino American in California. While the book exhaustively covers how to make every Filipino dessert one is likely to find behind the glass case at a Union City bakery — from bibingka to pandesal to kutsinta – Balingit adds little elements drawn from the porous, pan-Asian culture of the Bay. Her bibingka, for example, is topped with melted White Rabbit candies, which she fondly remembers coveting at 99 Ranch, while her pastillas, a chewy candy made from condensed milk, are flavored with matcha powder, that boba-shop staple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The book is split into five parts, each named after towns Balingit resided in and accompanied by short reflections about what each location meant to her. Balingit was born in San Jose, moved to Stockton when she was six years old, went to UC Berkeley for college and finally flew off to New York City for work. The sequencing of the recipes tracks Balingit’s development as a baker: Early parts of the book cover Filipino classics like puto and biko, done relatively simply, while later parts show off her matured virtuosity and broader cultural horizons — leche flan infused with chai, cookies flavored with karekare or adobo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926637\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926637\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Abi-Balingit-author-photo.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait of cookbook author Abi Balingit, who wears a colorful apron that matches her pink and green hair.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2238\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Abi-Balingit-author-photo.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Abi-Balingit-author-photo-800x933.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Abi-Balingit-author-photo-1020x1189.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Abi-Balingit-author-photo-160x187.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Abi-Balingit-author-photo-768x895.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Abi-Balingit-author-photo-1318x1536.jpg 1318w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Abi-Balingit-author-photo-1757x2048.jpg 1757w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Balingit spent her formative years in San Jose and Stockton.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s not always a forward arc. Sometimes, Balingit doubles back. She puts her basic pandesal recipe in the fourth chapter, set in Brooklyn. After leaving the Bay’s plentiful Filipino bakeries behind, she had little choice but to make the bread on her own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Bakeries are so essential for daily life,” says Balingit, wistfully. “Growing up, I don’t think my parents made pandesal ever; I would be surprised if anyone in San Jose or Stockton did. The bakeries do such a good job already.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Mayumu \u003c/i>is littered with references to Bay Area Filipino bakeries — the famous chains \u003ca href=\"https://www.goldilocks-usa.com/\">Goldilocks\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://valeriostropicalbakeshop.com/\">Valerio’s\u003c/a> in particular get big shoutouts — that innovated with items like monggo-swirled brioche loaves and ube tres leches cakes. And the Fil-Am urge for baked goods and candy doesn’t just stop at strictly Filipino joints. Balingit also pays tribute to Costco madeleines and poppy seed muffins, gas station Twinkies and even Midwestern Buckeye candies, introduced to a young Balingit by a friend studying at Ohio State University. All done, of course, with a Filipino twist: The madeleines are lychee flavored, the Twinkies use Filipino mamon instead of sponge cake, the Buckeyes swap out fudge for yema (a Filipino egg custard).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926638\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926638\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Lychee-Madeleines-with-Hibiscus-Tea-Glaze-Dried-Rose-Petals-c-Nico-Schinco_edit.jpg\" alt=\"A bowl of madeleines topped with dried rose petals and a purple-pink hibiscus glaze.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2347\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Lychee-Madeleines-with-Hibiscus-Tea-Glaze-Dried-Rose-Petals-c-Nico-Schinco_edit.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Lychee-Madeleines-with-Hibiscus-Tea-Glaze-Dried-Rose-Petals-c-Nico-Schinco_edit-800x978.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Lychee-Madeleines-with-Hibiscus-Tea-Glaze-Dried-Rose-Petals-c-Nico-Schinco_edit-1020x1247.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Lychee-Madeleines-with-Hibiscus-Tea-Glaze-Dried-Rose-Petals-c-Nico-Schinco_edit-160x196.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Lychee-Madeleines-with-Hibiscus-Tea-Glaze-Dried-Rose-Petals-c-Nico-Schinco_edit-768x939.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Lychee-Madeleines-with-Hibiscus-Tea-Glaze-Dried-Rose-Petals-c-Nico-Schinco_edit-1257x1536.jpg 1257w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Lychee-Madeleines-with-Hibiscus-Tea-Glaze-Dried-Rose-Petals-c-Nico-Schinco_edit-1675x2048.jpg 1675w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Balingit’s madeleines are flavored with lychee and have a hibiscus tea glaze. \u003ccite>(Nico Schinco)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Despite the legacy of generations of Asian American pastry chefs working in places like Valerio’s, very few have had the opportunity to write at length about their work. Balingit and I ended our conversation trying to come up with previous books in this niche, but we couldn’t think of any. Hours of additional Googling on my part only turned up a scant few: Aileen Chung Belshe’s hard-to-find \u003ci>Hawaiian Sweets, Treats And Eats\u003c/i>, Pichet Ong’s \u003ci>Sweet Spot\u003c/i> and Kristina Cho’s recently released \u003ci>Mooncakes and Milk Bread\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13919707,arts_13924997,arts_13896138']“It wasn’t smooth sailing trying to get this book sold to a publisher,” Balingit admits. “99 percent of publishers said no because it was so niche — not just a Filipino American cookbook, but a dessert cookbook as well. It shouldn’t be like that. Nobody would bat an eye if this was an Italian American dessert book.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luckily, Balingit connected with a Korean American editor at Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins, who took a chance on her work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It sucks, but that’s the beauty of all these new diaspora cookbooks coming out,” says Balingit. “Hopefully we’re breaking the mold a bit and making it easier for people to justify why their foods matter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>To promote \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780063244061\">Mayumu\u003c/a>\u003ci>, Balingit is hosting meet-and-greets at Omnivore Books (3885 Cesar Chavez St., San Francisco) on \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpxqxe6u0fc/\">\u003ci>Sat., March 25\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> and the San Francisco Public Library’s Excelsior branch (4400 Mission St., San Francisco) on \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://sfpl.org/events/2023/03/26/author-abi-balingit-mayumu\">\u003ci>Sunday, March 26\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Growing up, I assumed fruit custard was a uniquely Indian food, no different than khichdi or palak paneer. Chilled fruit custard, sweetened with apples, bananas and grapes, made frequent appearances at my mother’s dinner parties, indistinguishable from other milky Indian desserts like kheer or shrikhand. I never saw anything similar to it in American restaurants or at my white friends’ houses: How could I guess it was anything other than Indian?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oh my god, I thought the same thing about fruit salad and Filipinos,” confesses \u003ca href=\"https://theduskykitchen.com/\">blogger\u003c/a>, baker and recipe developer extraordinaire Abi Balingit. We are chatting about her new memoir-cum-cookbook \u003ca href=\"https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780063244061\">\u003ci>Mayumu\u003c/i>: \u003ci>Filipino American Desserts Remixed\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>,\u003c/i> which documents the sweets she ate and made growing up in the Bay Area’s thriving Filipino communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our fruit salad has canned fruit, too, but we add more Filipino stuff like coconut jellies and sugar palm fruit, so I always thought it was 100 percent Filipino,” Balingit says. “Another product of colonialism and imperialism for sure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our respective fruit salads and custards reflect a bizarre quirk of history, where the legacy of colonization and globalization has influenced our food to the point where the term “fusion” doesn’t really mean much. Asian cooking has \u003ci>been \u003c/i>fused with Western culture. So why not make, say, a baked Alaska with ube ice cream — the tantalizing dessert displayed on the cover of \u003ci>Mayumu\u003c/i>? Or a jello salad buko pandan?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926636\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926636\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Mayumu-cover.jpg\" alt='Cover of a cookbook with a photo of a slice of baked Alaska with ube ice cream on the inside. Text reads, \"Mayumu, Filipino American Desserts Remixed.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"2469\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Mayumu-cover.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Mayumu-cover-800x1029.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Mayumu-cover-1020x1312.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Mayumu-cover-160x206.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Mayumu-cover-768x988.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Mayumu-cover-1194x1536.jpg 1194w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Mayumu-cover-1593x2048.jpg 1593w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The cookbook was published by HarperCollins in February 2023. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of HarperCollins)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Obviously, growing up in America, the desserts are cupcakes, cakes and cookies — and these are things in the Philippines, too,” says Balingit. “I went to Seafood City or the small Filipino market and saw coco pie and ube pie, but at the same time I went to Safeway or Albertson’s and saw, like, Hostess and Little Debbie’s. There was nothing weird about it to me, there was no sense of foreignness or discomfort.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Balingit, \u003ci>Mayumu\u003c/i> isn’t just a cookbook. It is a snapshot of growing up Filipino American in California. While the book exhaustively covers how to make every Filipino dessert one is likely to find behind the glass case at a Union City bakery — from bibingka to pandesal to kutsinta – Balingit adds little elements drawn from the porous, pan-Asian culture of the Bay. Her bibingka, for example, is topped with melted White Rabbit candies, which she fondly remembers coveting at 99 Ranch, while her pastillas, a chewy candy made from condensed milk, are flavored with matcha powder, that boba-shop staple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The book is split into five parts, each named after towns Balingit resided in and accompanied by short reflections about what each location meant to her. Balingit was born in San Jose, moved to Stockton when she was six years old, went to UC Berkeley for college and finally flew off to New York City for work. The sequencing of the recipes tracks Balingit’s development as a baker: Early parts of the book cover Filipino classics like puto and biko, done relatively simply, while later parts show off her matured virtuosity and broader cultural horizons — leche flan infused with chai, cookies flavored with karekare or adobo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926637\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926637\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Abi-Balingit-author-photo.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait of cookbook author Abi Balingit, who wears a colorful apron that matches her pink and green hair.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2238\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Abi-Balingit-author-photo.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Abi-Balingit-author-photo-800x933.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Abi-Balingit-author-photo-1020x1189.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Abi-Balingit-author-photo-160x187.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Abi-Balingit-author-photo-768x895.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Abi-Balingit-author-photo-1318x1536.jpg 1318w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Abi-Balingit-author-photo-1757x2048.jpg 1757w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Balingit spent her formative years in San Jose and Stockton.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s not always a forward arc. Sometimes, Balingit doubles back. She puts her basic pandesal recipe in the fourth chapter, set in Brooklyn. After leaving the Bay’s plentiful Filipino bakeries behind, she had little choice but to make the bread on her own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Bakeries are so essential for daily life,” says Balingit, wistfully. “Growing up, I don’t think my parents made pandesal ever; I would be surprised if anyone in San Jose or Stockton did. The bakeries do such a good job already.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Mayumu \u003c/i>is littered with references to Bay Area Filipino bakeries — the famous chains \u003ca href=\"https://www.goldilocks-usa.com/\">Goldilocks\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://valeriostropicalbakeshop.com/\">Valerio’s\u003c/a> in particular get big shoutouts — that innovated with items like monggo-swirled brioche loaves and ube tres leches cakes. And the Fil-Am urge for baked goods and candy doesn’t just stop at strictly Filipino joints. Balingit also pays tribute to Costco madeleines and poppy seed muffins, gas station Twinkies and even Midwestern Buckeye candies, introduced to a young Balingit by a friend studying at Ohio State University. All done, of course, with a Filipino twist: The madeleines are lychee flavored, the Twinkies use Filipino mamon instead of sponge cake, the Buckeyes swap out fudge for yema (a Filipino egg custard).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926638\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926638\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Lychee-Madeleines-with-Hibiscus-Tea-Glaze-Dried-Rose-Petals-c-Nico-Schinco_edit.jpg\" alt=\"A bowl of madeleines topped with dried rose petals and a purple-pink hibiscus glaze.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2347\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Lychee-Madeleines-with-Hibiscus-Tea-Glaze-Dried-Rose-Petals-c-Nico-Schinco_edit.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Lychee-Madeleines-with-Hibiscus-Tea-Glaze-Dried-Rose-Petals-c-Nico-Schinco_edit-800x978.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Lychee-Madeleines-with-Hibiscus-Tea-Glaze-Dried-Rose-Petals-c-Nico-Schinco_edit-1020x1247.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Lychee-Madeleines-with-Hibiscus-Tea-Glaze-Dried-Rose-Petals-c-Nico-Schinco_edit-160x196.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Lychee-Madeleines-with-Hibiscus-Tea-Glaze-Dried-Rose-Petals-c-Nico-Schinco_edit-768x939.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Lychee-Madeleines-with-Hibiscus-Tea-Glaze-Dried-Rose-Petals-c-Nico-Schinco_edit-1257x1536.jpg 1257w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Lychee-Madeleines-with-Hibiscus-Tea-Glaze-Dried-Rose-Petals-c-Nico-Schinco_edit-1675x2048.jpg 1675w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Balingit’s madeleines are flavored with lychee and have a hibiscus tea glaze. \u003ccite>(Nico Schinco)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Despite the legacy of generations of Asian American pastry chefs working in places like Valerio’s, very few have had the opportunity to write at length about their work. Balingit and I ended our conversation trying to come up with previous books in this niche, but we couldn’t think of any. Hours of additional Googling on my part only turned up a scant few: Aileen Chung Belshe’s hard-to-find \u003ci>Hawaiian Sweets, Treats And Eats\u003c/i>, Pichet Ong’s \u003ci>Sweet Spot\u003c/i> and Kristina Cho’s recently released \u003ci>Mooncakes and Milk Bread\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It wasn’t smooth sailing trying to get this book sold to a publisher,” Balingit admits. “99 percent of publishers said no because it was so niche — not just a Filipino American cookbook, but a dessert cookbook as well. It shouldn’t be like that. Nobody would bat an eye if this was an Italian American dessert book.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luckily, Balingit connected with a Korean American editor at Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins, who took a chance on her work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It sucks, but that’s the beauty of all these new diaspora cookbooks coming out,” says Balingit. “Hopefully we’re breaking the mold a bit and making it easier for people to justify why their foods matter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>To promote \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780063244061\">Mayumu\u003c/a>\u003ci>, Balingit is hosting meet-and-greets at Omnivore Books (3885 Cesar Chavez St., San Francisco) on \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpxqxe6u0fc/\">\u003ci>Sat., March 25\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> and the San Francisco Public Library’s Excelsior branch (4400 Mission St., San Francisco) on \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://sfpl.org/events/2023/03/26/author-abi-balingit-mayumu\">\u003ci>Sunday, March 26\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Homa Dashtaki didn’t really think about her relationship to food until shortly after she was laid off from a career in law, and was living at home in California. She and her father would make yogurt together from scratch, just the way her Zoroastrian-Iranian ancestors had done for many generations. The comfort in taking up ancient traditions was enough to inspire her to completely pivot and start her own business selling yogurt at a local farmers’ market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the reaction of customers, she says, she realized they were onto something.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13894263']After many hurdles — including an attempt, she says, at being shut down by the California Department of Food and Agriculture and a subsequent move to New York — \u003ca href=\"https://whitemoustache.com/\">The White Moustache\u003c/a> was born. Named in honor of her father’s bushy whiskers, the yogurt has become a cult item for the kind of New Yorker who shops in stores such as Whole Foods, Eataly and the Park Slope Food Coop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her new cookbook, \u003cem>Yogurt and Whey: Recipes of an Iranian Immigrant Life,\u003c/em> Dashtaki weaves her personal journey through nearly 100 recipes, old and new. One key ingredient is whey, the liquid byproduct of the yogurt-making process. With recipes such as whey cocktails and popsicles, the book demonstrates a central value of both her culture and business: nothing goes to waste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every scrap is not thought of as trash,” Dashtaki says. “It’s thought of as an opportunity to celebrate that food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Think about butchering an animal — “from head to toe, you are using every single piece of it,” Dashtaki says. “And in a celebratory way … I think that very intense feeling has sort of informed everything I do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Yogurt and Whey\u003c/em> arrives just in time for this year’s Persian New Year (or \u003cem>Nowruz\u003c/em> in Persian), and the start of spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below, find Dashtaki’s recipe for pancakes featuring whey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926603\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926603\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/f-w_white_moustache_0031_vert-a3cf5d907cf12cc8625ef6d5c848fd918baa4e8c-1-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"A woman stands in a bright, white kitchen, dressed in crisp white chef's uniform. She is standing over a white mixing bowl smiling.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/f-w_white_moustache_0031_vert-a3cf5d907cf12cc8625ef6d5c848fd918baa4e8c-1-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/f-w_white_moustache_0031_vert-a3cf5d907cf12cc8625ef6d5c848fd918baa4e8c-1-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/f-w_white_moustache_0031_vert-a3cf5d907cf12cc8625ef6d5c848fd918baa4e8c-1-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/f-w_white_moustache_0031_vert-a3cf5d907cf12cc8625ef6d5c848fd918baa4e8c-1-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/f-w_white_moustache_0031_vert-a3cf5d907cf12cc8625ef6d5c848fd918baa4e8c-1-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/f-w_white_moustache_0031_vert-a3cf5d907cf12cc8625ef6d5c848fd918baa4e8c-1.jpg 1363w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Homa Dashtaki. \u003ccite>(Nicole Franzen/ The White Moustache)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Whey-to-Start-the-Weekend Pancakes\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ingredients\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour\u003cbr>\n2 tablespoons sugar\u003cbr>\n1 teaspoon baking powder\u003cbr>\n1 teaspoon baking soda\u003cbr>\n1 teaspoon kosher salt\u003cbr>\n2 large eggs\u003cbr>\n1 cup yogurt whey\u003cbr>\n4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the skillet\u003cbr>\nNeutral oil (such as sunflower, canola, or grapeseed) or coconut oil for the skillet\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Makes about 8 (4-inch) pancakes\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Recipe\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, whey, and melted butter until thoroughly combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently whisk just until incorporated. (A few lumps are okay and preferable to an overmixed batter, which will lead to denser pancakes). Set the batter aside for 15 minutes at room temperature, until the surface is dotted with bubbles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='bayareabites_94115']Heat a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium light. Plop in approximately 1 teaspoon butter and 1 teaspoon oil (you get the flavor and browning properties of butter, while the oil tempers burning), and swirl the pan to coat well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pour about 1/3 cup batter per pancake into the hot pan. Bubbles will form on the tops of the pancakes; wait to flip them until most of the bubbles have popped and the surface begins to lose its wet, shiny look, 2 to 3 minutes. If you like, use a spatula to peek underneath when you think the pancakes are getting close — the bottom should be golden brown. Flip and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes, just until golden. Transfer to a plate and repeat to cook the remaining pancakes, adding more butter and oil as needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Serve with maple syrup, jam, yogurt, fresh fruit, or lemon juice and sugar… or all of the above. Or just stand at the stove and eat them with your hands. Hey, it’s the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=If+you+want+to+up+your+yogurt+game%2C+this+Iranian+cookbook+will+show+you+the+whey&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Homa Dashtaki didn’t really think about her relationship to food until shortly after she was laid off from a career in law, and was living at home in California. She and her father would make yogurt together from scratch, just the way her Zoroastrian-Iranian ancestors had done for many generations. The comfort in taking up ancient traditions was enough to inspire her to completely pivot and start her own business selling yogurt at a local farmers’ market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the reaction of customers, she says, she realized they were onto something.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>After many hurdles — including an attempt, she says, at being shut down by the California Department of Food and Agriculture and a subsequent move to New York — \u003ca href=\"https://whitemoustache.com/\">The White Moustache\u003c/a> was born. Named in honor of her father’s bushy whiskers, the yogurt has become a cult item for the kind of New Yorker who shops in stores such as Whole Foods, Eataly and the Park Slope Food Coop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her new cookbook, \u003cem>Yogurt and Whey: Recipes of an Iranian Immigrant Life,\u003c/em> Dashtaki weaves her personal journey through nearly 100 recipes, old and new. One key ingredient is whey, the liquid byproduct of the yogurt-making process. With recipes such as whey cocktails and popsicles, the book demonstrates a central value of both her culture and business: nothing goes to waste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every scrap is not thought of as trash,” Dashtaki says. “It’s thought of as an opportunity to celebrate that food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Think about butchering an animal — “from head to toe, you are using every single piece of it,” Dashtaki says. “And in a celebratory way … I think that very intense feeling has sort of informed everything I do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Yogurt and Whey\u003c/em> arrives just in time for this year’s Persian New Year (or \u003cem>Nowruz\u003c/em> in Persian), and the start of spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below, find Dashtaki’s recipe for pancakes featuring whey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926603\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926603\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/f-w_white_moustache_0031_vert-a3cf5d907cf12cc8625ef6d5c848fd918baa4e8c-1-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"A woman stands in a bright, white kitchen, dressed in crisp white chef's uniform. She is standing over a white mixing bowl smiling.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/f-w_white_moustache_0031_vert-a3cf5d907cf12cc8625ef6d5c848fd918baa4e8c-1-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/f-w_white_moustache_0031_vert-a3cf5d907cf12cc8625ef6d5c848fd918baa4e8c-1-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/f-w_white_moustache_0031_vert-a3cf5d907cf12cc8625ef6d5c848fd918baa4e8c-1-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/f-w_white_moustache_0031_vert-a3cf5d907cf12cc8625ef6d5c848fd918baa4e8c-1-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/f-w_white_moustache_0031_vert-a3cf5d907cf12cc8625ef6d5c848fd918baa4e8c-1-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/f-w_white_moustache_0031_vert-a3cf5d907cf12cc8625ef6d5c848fd918baa4e8c-1.jpg 1363w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Homa Dashtaki. \u003ccite>(Nicole Franzen/ The White Moustache)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Whey-to-Start-the-Weekend Pancakes\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ingredients\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour\u003cbr>\n2 tablespoons sugar\u003cbr>\n1 teaspoon baking powder\u003cbr>\n1 teaspoon baking soda\u003cbr>\n1 teaspoon kosher salt\u003cbr>\n2 large eggs\u003cbr>\n1 cup yogurt whey\u003cbr>\n4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the skillet\u003cbr>\nNeutral oil (such as sunflower, canola, or grapeseed) or coconut oil for the skillet\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Makes about 8 (4-inch) pancakes\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Recipe\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, whey, and melted butter until thoroughly combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently whisk just until incorporated. (A few lumps are okay and preferable to an overmixed batter, which will lead to denser pancakes). Set the batter aside for 15 minutes at room temperature, until the surface is dotted with bubbles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Heat a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium light. Plop in approximately 1 teaspoon butter and 1 teaspoon oil (you get the flavor and browning properties of butter, while the oil tempers burning), and swirl the pan to coat well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pour about 1/3 cup batter per pancake into the hot pan. Bubbles will form on the tops of the pancakes; wait to flip them until most of the bubbles have popped and the surface begins to lose its wet, shiny look, 2 to 3 minutes. If you like, use a spatula to peek underneath when you think the pancakes are getting close — the bottom should be golden brown. Flip and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes, just until golden. Transfer to a plate and repeat to cook the remaining pancakes, adding more butter and oil as needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Serve with maple syrup, jam, yogurt, fresh fruit, or lemon juice and sugar… or all of the above. Or just stand at the stove and eat them with your hands. Hey, it’s the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=If+you+want+to+up+your+yogurt+game%2C+this+Iranian+cookbook+will+show+you+the+whey&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Hal the Hot Dog Guy Returns to Action — This Time for the Oakland Roots",
"headTitle": "Hal the Hot Dog Guy Returns to Action — This Time for the Oakland Roots | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Although he officially retired from the Oakland Coliseum’s workforce, Hal Gordon, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13921216/hal-the-hot-dog-guy-oakland-coliseum-tribute-retiring\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the most beloved hot dogger in the East Bay\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, will return to action — for one night only — for the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/oaklandrootssc.com\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oakland Roots\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> soccer club’s Saturday, March 25 home opener. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Hal the Hot Dog Guy,” as Gordon is best known, is busy completing his PhD in Economics at UC Berkeley. But he will appear for the one-time hot dog toss during halftime, when he’ll throw 25 pre-packaged hot dogs with ketchup and mustard packets into the fan section. Think of a T-shirt toss at any sporting event — except instead of fabric, you might catch an edible team memory.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’re doing it because [Hal] has been in our supporter section for a while now and comes to our games as a fan,” says Tommy Hodul, a co-founder of the Oakland Roots SC. “It’s already a kind of halftime tradition. So there’s no better way than having the legend there himself to do it for our first game.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Inspired by a viral TikTok video of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/djromiesam/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Romie tha Homie\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at a Rolling Loud concert — when the DJ tossed a turkey leg into a swarm of music-loving fans — the team has adopted the concept but swapped the bulky Thanksgiving classic for hot dogs. (Romie himself was later invited to toss hot dogs at a game.)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp0YeGzJrTu/?hl=en\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The March 25 matchup against the Memphis 901 FC will kick off the team’s fifth overall season, and third in the United Soccer League, after first bringing pro soccer to Oakland in 2018. Since then, they’ve been one of the last-standing representatives for professional sports in Oakland, after the Las Vegas Raiders and Golden State Warriors both left for more glamorous destinations. With the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/baseball-commissioner-says-time-has-run-out-on-oakland-keeping-the-as/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oakland A’s appearing to be on the move\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> as well, the Roots are doing everything they can to maintain a familial sporting atmosphere in The Town.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Besides Hal, other notable home opener acts will include the performance of an original poem, “Write Your Roots,” written by Oakland teenagers in collaboration with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chapter510.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chapter 510\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — a nonprofit that publishes the voices of local youth. In addition, the Roots have teamed up with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://offthegrid.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Off the Grid\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the popular food truck conglomerate, to handle a “Block Party” style of food offerings on 10th Street during every game. Vendors will include a rotating array of guests, such as \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/coolinaria/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">COOL!NARIA\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/socokitchen/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Southern Comfort Kitchen\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kabobtrolley/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kabob Trolley\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@bayarea_munchiez?lang=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bay Area Munchiez\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13914585,arts_13921216,arts_13914916']Even if you’re not a fan of sporting events and the jersey-staining foods that come with them, the Roots might win you over for the ways they’re building a different kind of sports club — one that is branded as “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Are-the-Oakland-Roots-the-most-civic-minded-team-15661728.php\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the first purpose-driven sports team in the United States\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.” The franchise prides itself in being a civic-minded organization, having founded \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandrootssc.com/time-to-take-action-to-end-racism-in-soccer/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the Anti-Racist Project\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and frequently collaborating with small businesses in the greater community. Though those kinds of partnerships may seem obligatory for any sports franchise, the Roots are locally owned and seem to have a particular affinity for creative social contributions, having teamed up with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandrootssc.com/rar/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">graffiti artists\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.aleindustries.com/townroots\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">breweries\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandish.com/collections/oakland-roots?gclid=CjwKCAjw_MqgBhAGEiwAnYOAekZGWHqbPA1fp9nY1d701BNR8AsAAb4ts_3732eyf5dzrzFn1Ocs9hoCFvoQAvD_BwE\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">popular clothing boutiques\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> throughout the city.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This season, the team will introduce their “Small Biz Spotlight,” wherein \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandrootssc.com/anthem-blue-cross-small-biz-spotlight/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">fans will be able to nominate their favorite small businesses\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to receive $1,000 during every home game played throughout the 17-game season, as well as amplification via the Jumbotron and social media. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We’d love for suggestions on who we can support,” \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hodul says. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They are also debuting the East Bay’s first \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/oaklandsoulsc/\">women’s soccer team, the Oakland Soul\u003c/a>, who have already amassed an energetic fanbase. Having this kind of culture-forward sports organization rooted in Oakland feels like a score for the community — no matter who’s tossing out the goods.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12904247 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandrootssc.com/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oakland Roots SC\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> home opener will kick-off at 7 p.m. on Sat., Mar. 25. The Hot Dog Toss with Hal Gordon will take place at halftime. The opening home game for the Roots will be played at Laney College Football Field (entrance on E. 10th Street and 2nd Avenue in Oakland) and is accessible via Lake Merritt BART. Future games will be played at Merritt College.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Although he officially retired from the Oakland Coliseum’s workforce, Hal Gordon, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13921216/hal-the-hot-dog-guy-oakland-coliseum-tribute-retiring\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the most beloved hot dogger in the East Bay\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, will return to action — for one night only — for the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/oaklandrootssc.com\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oakland Roots\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> soccer club’s Saturday, March 25 home opener. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Hal the Hot Dog Guy,” as Gordon is best known, is busy completing his PhD in Economics at UC Berkeley. But he will appear for the one-time hot dog toss during halftime, when he’ll throw 25 pre-packaged hot dogs with ketchup and mustard packets into the fan section. Think of a T-shirt toss at any sporting event — except instead of fabric, you might catch an edible team memory.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’re doing it because [Hal] has been in our supporter section for a while now and comes to our games as a fan,” says Tommy Hodul, a co-founder of the Oakland Roots SC. “It’s already a kind of halftime tradition. So there’s no better way than having the legend there himself to do it for our first game.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Inspired by a viral TikTok video of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/djromiesam/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Romie tha Homie\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at a Rolling Loud concert — when the DJ tossed a turkey leg into a swarm of music-loving fans — the team has adopted the concept but swapped the bulky Thanksgiving classic for hot dogs. (Romie himself was later invited to toss hot dogs at a game.)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The March 25 matchup against the Memphis 901 FC will kick off the team’s fifth overall season, and third in the United Soccer League, after first bringing pro soccer to Oakland in 2018. Since then, they’ve been one of the last-standing representatives for professional sports in Oakland, after the Las Vegas Raiders and Golden State Warriors both left for more glamorous destinations. With the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/baseball-commissioner-says-time-has-run-out-on-oakland-keeping-the-as/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oakland A’s appearing to be on the move\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> as well, the Roots are doing everything they can to maintain a familial sporting atmosphere in The Town.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Besides Hal, other notable home opener acts will include the performance of an original poem, “Write Your Roots,” written by Oakland teenagers in collaboration with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chapter510.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chapter 510\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — a nonprofit that publishes the voices of local youth. In addition, the Roots have teamed up with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://offthegrid.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Off the Grid\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the popular food truck conglomerate, to handle a “Block Party” style of food offerings on 10th Street during every game. Vendors will include a rotating array of guests, such as \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/coolinaria/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">COOL!NARIA\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/socokitchen/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Southern Comfort Kitchen\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kabobtrolley/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kabob Trolley\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@bayarea_munchiez?lang=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bay Area Munchiez\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Even if you’re not a fan of sporting events and the jersey-staining foods that come with them, the Roots might win you over for the ways they’re building a different kind of sports club — one that is branded as “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Are-the-Oakland-Roots-the-most-civic-minded-team-15661728.php\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the first purpose-driven sports team in the United States\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.” The franchise prides itself in being a civic-minded organization, having founded \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandrootssc.com/time-to-take-action-to-end-racism-in-soccer/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the Anti-Racist Project\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and frequently collaborating with small businesses in the greater community. Though those kinds of partnerships may seem obligatory for any sports franchise, the Roots are locally owned and seem to have a particular affinity for creative social contributions, having teamed up with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandrootssc.com/rar/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">graffiti artists\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.aleindustries.com/townroots\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">breweries\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandish.com/collections/oakland-roots?gclid=CjwKCAjw_MqgBhAGEiwAnYOAekZGWHqbPA1fp9nY1d701BNR8AsAAb4ts_3732eyf5dzrzFn1Ocs9hoCFvoQAvD_BwE\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">popular clothing boutiques\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> throughout the city.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This season, the team will introduce their “Small Biz Spotlight,” wherein \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandrootssc.com/anthem-blue-cross-small-biz-spotlight/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">fans will be able to nominate their favorite small businesses\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to receive $1,000 during every home game played throughout the 17-game season, as well as amplification via the Jumbotron and social media. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We’d love for suggestions on who we can support,” \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hodul says. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They are also debuting the East Bay’s first \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/oaklandsoulsc/\">women’s soccer team, the Oakland Soul\u003c/a>, who have already amassed an energetic fanbase. Having this kind of culture-forward sports organization rooted in Oakland feels like a score for the community — no matter who’s tossing out the goods.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12904247 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandrootssc.com/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oakland Roots SC\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> home opener will kick-off at 7 p.m. on Sat., Mar. 25. The Hot Dog Toss with Hal Gordon will take place at halftime. The opening home game for the Roots will be played at Laney College Football Field (entrance on E. 10th Street and 2nd Avenue in Oakland) and is accessible via Lake Merritt BART. Future games will be played at Merritt College.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "One of Tokyo’s Most Extreme Ramen Styles Finds a Home in San Jose",
"headTitle": "One of Tokyo’s Most Extreme Ramen Styles Finds a Home in San Jose | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>San Jose’s most extreme bowl of ramen comes topped with a mountain of bean sprouts so massive, you can barely see the broth underneath. Everything about the “Buta MAX” ramen at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ramenchampsj/\">Ramen Champ\u003c/a> is extra: the noodles and pork that are cut extra, extra thick. The vampire-murdering portion of raw garlic. The portion size, in general, abundant to the point of intimidation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a meal you would eat to prepare yourself for a long winter hibernation. And it also happens to be one of the most delicious things I’ve eaten this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cloistered away in an anonymous South San Jose shopping plaza, in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13904835/san-jose-immigrant-food\">city jam-packed with similar-looking strip malls\u003c/a>, Ramen Champ is the only Bay Area ramen shop I’m aware of that specializes in what’s known in Japan as “Jiro-style” ramen. The restaurant is the creation of chef-owner Shogo Hara, who opened Ramen Champ in December of 2021 after spending the past several years working at other South Bay and Peninsula ramen shops while also running a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fujibentosc.com/\">bento box catering business\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Chef Shogo] wanted to have a different style of ramen, as opposed to the very neat-looking ramen styles,” explains Kento Takahashi, a Ramen Champ employee who helped translate for Hara and spoke on his behalf. “The Jiro style was very visually appealing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926241\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926241\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_exterior.jpg\" alt='Exterior of a ramen restaurant. The sign reads \"CHAMP\" in bold yellow lettering, with \"Japanese Ramen\" in white underneath.' width=\"1920\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_exterior.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_exterior-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_exterior-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_exterior-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_exterior-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_exterior-1536x1056.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ramen Champ is located in an anonymous-looking strip mall in San Jose. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To really understand the legend of Jiro ramen, however, you have to trace the style back to its origins in Tokyo, where it enjoys a cult following that’s unusually fervent even in a nation of dedicated ramen heads. Yamada Takumi opened the original Ramen Jiro in the Meguro neighborhood in 1968, but the shop’s popularity didn’t take off until a few years later when it moved to a storefront near Keio University. There, it carved out a niche \u003ca href=\"https://sabukaru.online/articles/ramen-jiro\">selling huge, relatively inexpensive bowls of ramen to frugal college kids\u003c/a>. That in itself wasn’t exactly groundbreaking, but the specifics of the ramen style that Yamada developed were: the absurdly large mound of bean sprouts and cabbage, the raw garlic, the nubs of soft pork fat and generous quantity of braised pork belly, which came in big chunks instead of your typical sliced chashu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramen Jiro soon came to be known as a quintessential \u003ca href=\"https://www.sankei.com/article/20220323-MAIBUZRJA5GI3CAUP5SV74LWHE/\">soul food for Tokyo’s university students\u003c/a>. The style is probably too heavy and rich — and the portions too large — for it to achieve broad mainstream popularity. (One skeptical Japanese food writer even \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20120610052321/http://ss-foodlabo.com/series/series_001_03.html\">speculated\u003c/a> that 90 percent of the people in Japan \u003ci>don’t \u003c/i>like Ramen Jiro.) But the shop has a legion of devotees who call themselves “\u003ca href=\"https://sabukaru.online/articles/ramen-jiro\">Jirorians\u003c/a>” and consider it a point of pride to visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.sankei.com/article/20220323-MAIBUZRJA5GI3CAUP5SV74LWHE/\">all 42 of the restaurant’s current locations\u003c/a>, each offering its own slight variation on the style. \u003ca href=\"https://gigazine.net/news/20090419_ramen_jiro/\">Online reviews\u003c/a> tend to focus on what a monumental challenge it is to even finish the bowl.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You either love it or you don’t,” says chef Tommy Cleary of San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hinayakitori/?hl=en\">Hina Yakitori\u003c/a>, who is a fan of the style. He first came across Ramen Jiro in 2009 when he was working as an apprentice at a yakitori restaurant in Tokyo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Being a lot younger, I was totally into eating huge amounts of food, and I was broke. Seeing [the Jiro ramen] was like looking at a piece of art for the first time,” he says, recalling how awestruck he was by the portion size. “I’ve never seen anything like it before or since — it’s a one-of-a-kind creation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ7wCBRPbG0/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area has no shortage of stunt ramen — the five-pound bowl you have to finish within a fixed time limit in order to win a T-shirt, or the various wallet-busting versions that come topped with every luxury ingredient under the sun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13925701,arts_13898743,arts_13923840']Ramen Champ isn’t that kind of shop. The other more traditional styles that it offers, like its tonkotsu and its soupless, fat-slicked mazesoba, are all top of the line for the Bay Area. As for the Jiro-style Buta MAX, once I got past the shock factor of the portion size, all I could do was marvel at what a well balanced and artfully crafted bowl of ramen it was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like the original Jiro ramen, its foundation is a clear, shoyu (soy sauce-based) pork broth that’s surprisingly light on the palate. The little nubs of slow-simmered pork fat, perhaps the most luxurious of the toppings, serve a secondary function of flavoring the soup while it steeps, so that the broth becomes richer and more intense over the course of the meal. The noodles are custom-made by Iseya Craft Noodle, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/ramen-noodles-iseya-17547602.php\">a Hayward-based noodle maker\u003c/a> that provides fresh ramen noodles for a handful of top-tier Bay Area ramen shops. In the classic Jiro style, the noodles are thick and wide so that they can hold their texture while you work your way through the mountain of vegetables. They have a delightful bounce and chew that remind me of hand-pulled Chinese noodles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926244\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926244\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_cucumber.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of sliced cucumber served as an appetizer.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_cucumber.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_cucumber-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_cucumber-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_cucumber-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_cucumber-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_cucumber-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A cucumber appetizer at Ramen Champ. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mostly, though, what makes the Buta MAX memorable are those toppings — the classic combination of well-seasoned bean sprouts and tender, fatty pork and the addicting pungency of the raw garlic, which keeps you coming back for another spoonful, and then another, until, to your great surprise, you’ve somehow managed to finish the entire massive bowl. By the time you trudge back to your car, slightly woozy, you’re already thinking about when you’ll come back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Could such an extreme style of ramen be the next big food trend here in Northern California? In the copycat world of Bay Area ramen, stranger things have happened. Already, Ramen Champ’s Takahashi says, a couple of other South Bay ramen shops have added versions to their menu. But for now, their restaurant is the only one that truly specializes in the Jiro style.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s our bestseller,” Takahashi says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ramenchampsj/\">\u003ci>Ramen Champ\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is located at 6229 Santa Teresa Blvd. in San Jose. It opens at 11:30 a.m. daily — check the \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ramen-champ.com/\">\u003ci>restaurant’s website\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> for exact hours.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San Jose’s most extreme bowl of ramen comes topped with a mountain of bean sprouts so massive, you can barely see the broth underneath. Everything about the “Buta MAX” ramen at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ramenchampsj/\">Ramen Champ\u003c/a> is extra: the noodles and pork that are cut extra, extra thick. The vampire-murdering portion of raw garlic. The portion size, in general, abundant to the point of intimidation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a meal you would eat to prepare yourself for a long winter hibernation. And it also happens to be one of the most delicious things I’ve eaten this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cloistered away in an anonymous South San Jose shopping plaza, in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13904835/san-jose-immigrant-food\">city jam-packed with similar-looking strip malls\u003c/a>, Ramen Champ is the only Bay Area ramen shop I’m aware of that specializes in what’s known in Japan as “Jiro-style” ramen. The restaurant is the creation of chef-owner Shogo Hara, who opened Ramen Champ in December of 2021 after spending the past several years working at other South Bay and Peninsula ramen shops while also running a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fujibentosc.com/\">bento box catering business\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Chef Shogo] wanted to have a different style of ramen, as opposed to the very neat-looking ramen styles,” explains Kento Takahashi, a Ramen Champ employee who helped translate for Hara and spoke on his behalf. “The Jiro style was very visually appealing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926241\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926241\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_exterior.jpg\" alt='Exterior of a ramen restaurant. The sign reads \"CHAMP\" in bold yellow lettering, with \"Japanese Ramen\" in white underneath.' width=\"1920\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_exterior.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_exterior-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_exterior-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_exterior-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_exterior-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_exterior-1536x1056.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ramen Champ is located in an anonymous-looking strip mall in San Jose. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To really understand the legend of Jiro ramen, however, you have to trace the style back to its origins in Tokyo, where it enjoys a cult following that’s unusually fervent even in a nation of dedicated ramen heads. Yamada Takumi opened the original Ramen Jiro in the Meguro neighborhood in 1968, but the shop’s popularity didn’t take off until a few years later when it moved to a storefront near Keio University. There, it carved out a niche \u003ca href=\"https://sabukaru.online/articles/ramen-jiro\">selling huge, relatively inexpensive bowls of ramen to frugal college kids\u003c/a>. That in itself wasn’t exactly groundbreaking, but the specifics of the ramen style that Yamada developed were: the absurdly large mound of bean sprouts and cabbage, the raw garlic, the nubs of soft pork fat and generous quantity of braised pork belly, which came in big chunks instead of your typical sliced chashu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramen Jiro soon came to be known as a quintessential \u003ca href=\"https://www.sankei.com/article/20220323-MAIBUZRJA5GI3CAUP5SV74LWHE/\">soul food for Tokyo’s university students\u003c/a>. The style is probably too heavy and rich — and the portions too large — for it to achieve broad mainstream popularity. (One skeptical Japanese food writer even \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20120610052321/http://ss-foodlabo.com/series/series_001_03.html\">speculated\u003c/a> that 90 percent of the people in Japan \u003ci>don’t \u003c/i>like Ramen Jiro.) But the shop has a legion of devotees who call themselves “\u003ca href=\"https://sabukaru.online/articles/ramen-jiro\">Jirorians\u003c/a>” and consider it a point of pride to visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.sankei.com/article/20220323-MAIBUZRJA5GI3CAUP5SV74LWHE/\">all 42 of the restaurant’s current locations\u003c/a>, each offering its own slight variation on the style. \u003ca href=\"https://gigazine.net/news/20090419_ramen_jiro/\">Online reviews\u003c/a> tend to focus on what a monumental challenge it is to even finish the bowl.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You either love it or you don’t,” says chef Tommy Cleary of San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hinayakitori/?hl=en\">Hina Yakitori\u003c/a>, who is a fan of the style. He first came across Ramen Jiro in 2009 when he was working as an apprentice at a yakitori restaurant in Tokyo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Being a lot younger, I was totally into eating huge amounts of food, and I was broke. Seeing [the Jiro ramen] was like looking at a piece of art for the first time,” he says, recalling how awestruck he was by the portion size. “I’ve never seen anything like it before or since — it’s a one-of-a-kind creation.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The Bay Area has no shortage of stunt ramen — the five-pound bowl you have to finish within a fixed time limit in order to win a T-shirt, or the various wallet-busting versions that come topped with every luxury ingredient under the sun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Ramen Champ isn’t that kind of shop. The other more traditional styles that it offers, like its tonkotsu and its soupless, fat-slicked mazesoba, are all top of the line for the Bay Area. As for the Jiro-style Buta MAX, once I got past the shock factor of the portion size, all I could do was marvel at what a well balanced and artfully crafted bowl of ramen it was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like the original Jiro ramen, its foundation is a clear, shoyu (soy sauce-based) pork broth that’s surprisingly light on the palate. The little nubs of slow-simmered pork fat, perhaps the most luxurious of the toppings, serve a secondary function of flavoring the soup while it steeps, so that the broth becomes richer and more intense over the course of the meal. The noodles are custom-made by Iseya Craft Noodle, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/ramen-noodles-iseya-17547602.php\">a Hayward-based noodle maker\u003c/a> that provides fresh ramen noodles for a handful of top-tier Bay Area ramen shops. In the classic Jiro style, the noodles are thick and wide so that they can hold their texture while you work your way through the mountain of vegetables. They have a delightful bounce and chew that remind me of hand-pulled Chinese noodles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926244\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926244\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_cucumber.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of sliced cucumber served as an appetizer.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_cucumber.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_cucumber-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_cucumber-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_cucumber-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_cucumber-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_cucumber-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A cucumber appetizer at Ramen Champ. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mostly, though, what makes the Buta MAX memorable are those toppings — the classic combination of well-seasoned bean sprouts and tender, fatty pork and the addicting pungency of the raw garlic, which keeps you coming back for another spoonful, and then another, until, to your great surprise, you’ve somehow managed to finish the entire massive bowl. By the time you trudge back to your car, slightly woozy, you’re already thinking about when you’ll come back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Could such an extreme style of ramen be the next big food trend here in Northern California? In the copycat world of Bay Area ramen, stranger things have happened. Already, Ramen Champ’s Takahashi says, a couple of other South Bay ramen shops have added versions to their menu. But for now, their restaurant is the only one that truly specializes in the Jiro style.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s our bestseller,” Takahashi says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ramenchampsj/\">\u003ci>Ramen Champ\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is located at 6229 Santa Teresa Blvd. in San Jose. It opens at 11:30 a.m. daily — check the \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ramen-champ.com/\">\u003ci>restaurant’s website\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> for exact hours.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "SF's Queer, Filipina-Owned Chocolate Shop Celebrates Love Year-Round",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ci>¡Hella Hungry! is a column about Bay Area foodmakers, exploring the region’s culinary cultures through the mouth of a first-generation local.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I have a bite-sized confession to make: I originally planned to write about San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kokakchocolates/\">Kokak Chocolates\u003c/a> last month for Valentine’s Day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, the LGBTQ woman-owned chocolate business was preparing to debut a love-themed set of flavors, including “Heat of the Moment,” which is a combo of dark and white chocolates with Mexican Comapeño chiles sourced from the woman-owned \u003ca href=\"https://www.boonvillebarn.com/\">Boonville Barn Collective\u003c/a>. But I wasn’t able to make it happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To be fair, my first child was born just days ahead of my scheduled interview with Carol Gancia, the self-taught Filipina chocolatier who founded Kokak — so I spent the following weeks, including Valentine’s Day, with a small, heartwarming human in my arms instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Kokak, it turns out, is just as good in March as it is in February — or any time of year, for that matter. In fact, having to wait that extra month infused me with even more desire to taste the premium Bay Area chocolates, which are filled with joy and spices in all their flavorful forms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With creative options that defy the conventional notions of chocolate — Kokak’s seasonal flavors include pizza and ramen, for example — Gancia doesn’t play it safe. Instead, she enjoys challenging herself to push past her comfort zone, a trait she gained when she first immigrated to California from her native Philippine islands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rooted in her vibrant Asian Pacific heritage and driven by a passion to connect with ancestral flavors through rare, organic ingredients like \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20190916-the-worlds-most-exquisite-chocolate\">Ecuadorian Nacional cacao\u003c/a>, Kokak is more than just chocolates. It’s a way, Gancia says, to tell others, “I love you just the way you are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center\">********\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALAN CHAZARO: When did your appreciation for chocolates first begin?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CAROL GANCIA: \u003c/b>I grew up on the Philippine islands. I was lucky, being from a middle-class family, to have an uncle who was a sought-after engineer. He got contracts that had him travel abroad, around Western Europe, where they have quality chocolates. He would bring them back home — dark chocolate, mint, even liqueurs. I had a chance to taste those, not realizing my love of chocolate came from him. I [later] realized chocolate is a memory, a happy memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925997\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925997\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_mango-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"dried mangoes dipped in chocolates\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_mango-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_mango-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_mango-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_mango-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_mango-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_mango-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_mango-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tropical flavors like these chocolate-dipped dried mangoes are inspired by Carol Gancia’s upbringing on the Philippine islands. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>How did that translate into you becoming a professional chocolatier?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I make chocolates in the form of truffles and bars. I do it every day with two other chocolatiers. The kind of shop we have is tropically inspired and based on my background. We’re a couple blocks from Castro Street on 18th and Sanchez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I was growing up, chocolate was in the background; I always had chocolate in my pockets. But I started out as a journalist broadcasting in the Philippines. I got involved in video production and continued that work in the U.S. [after moving here in 2004]. I even worked as a producer for “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/checkplease\">Check, Please! Bay Area\u003c/a>” on KQED. I produced for Jacques Pépin, and that helped me improve my palette. You read the recipe, and plan it out with the executive producer. That’s how I learned informally about the culinary world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was still producing, and after 20 years — about five years ago — I was eager to do something different that I would be scared about. I was too complacent [as a video producer]. I wanted to feel what it was like to start something and be clueless. I decided to learn about chocolates and sell on the side until it became a full business [in 2020]. Sometimes I still don’t know what I’m doing. I’m still learning, and I still operate a video production business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925999\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925999\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_truffles-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A tray of colorfully decorated chocolates at Kokak in San Francisco\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_truffles-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_truffles-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_truffles-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_truffles-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_truffles-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_truffles.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A preview of the seasonal Easter chocolates that will be available at Kokak this month. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What does the word “kokak” represent for you?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kokak literally means “ribbit” in English. I was conceptualizing the name of my shop and noticing the [other] chocolate brands and names. It was usually last names or serious words. I wanted to make a splash, [since] I had no background in chocolate. I chose Kokak and added an exclamation point because I wanted to represent myself and who I am. I studied in the Philippines, and my campus had lily pads, beautiful flowers, ponds and frogs. Kokak reminds me of my home — the wonderful tropical life. It’s a conversation starter as well. Customers ask me what it means, and I can tell the story of the Philippine islands. My shop is more than selling chocolates. It’s an experience, a borrowed memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Your Filipina heritage is an important aspect of your identity. Tell us about how that emerges in your variety of chocolate flavors.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think of kalamansi — it’s a lime in the Philippines and is abundant there. My mom would make me hot kalamansi juice when I was sick. But in the summer, it was served cold, like lemonade. We included that as a popular flavor at Kokak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"large\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Carol Gancia\"]“My shop is more than selling chocolates. It’s an experience, a borrowed memory.”[/pullquote]We opened our shop during the pandemic, and we had a lot of time to think. We had about 50 recipes I created from the start, and we rotate that throughout the year. My favorite is our guava truffle — all made from scratch. Coconut pie is another. There’s a place in the southern part of metro Manila where they make buko pies — coconut pies. They’re not sweet, they’re just full of coconut meat. That’s a memory and an inspiration for our truffles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Do you serve anything besides chocolate?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We also have our cacao porridge. Growing up in the Philippines, every Christmas season we make champurrado — it’s a [beverage] mix of chocolate and rice. A long time ago, in the 1500s, there was trade happening between the Philippines and Mexico. Mexico brought chocolates to us. Back then, most [Filipinos] were rice farmers. It’s a testament to the friendship between Mexicans and Filipinos — champurrado. That’s available year round, and we offer dine-in at our shop as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s your connection to the Bay Area, and how is that reflected in your business?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As far as flavors, we have Earl Grey, which is a very San Francisco afternoon tea I enjoy with the ladies. I don’t always get to do that much these days (laughs). I looked for Earl Grey and infused it with berry and chocolate for the filling. The Earl Grey tea we use is organic, fair trade and local. We also have coffee truffles, and the coffee is local.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925998\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925998\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_shirt-800x1200.jpg\" alt='a t-shirt at Kokak reads: \"love is love is love is chocolate is love...\"' width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_shirt-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_shirt-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_shirt-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_shirt-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_shirt-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_shirt-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_shirt-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“Love Is Chocolate Is Love” t-shirt at Kokak. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As much as we can, we keep our ingredients local. I can get tea from the grocery, but we find really premium teas from here. Same with our dairy. You don’t want your truffles to taste faint. Our truffles stay fresh, and the flavors are punchy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We also identify as an LGBTQ shop and ship all over the country with our Pride-inspired chocolates. One of my favorite things is reading note cards that we write to ship for our customers. One customer wrote, “Dear [Anonymous], I love you just the way you are. From Mom.” It made me teary-eyed. And made me realize I was in the right place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Who are some of your favorite chocolatiers right now in Northern California?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I like chocolates not just for flavor but also meaning. I like to support female chocolatiers, too. The reality is that if you sum up all the chocolate makers, it’s still very male dominated. There are two [local chocolatiers] who are my competition but also my friends: \u003ca href=\"https://www.socolachocolates.com/\">Socola\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.jadechocolates.com/\">Jade Chocolates\u003c/a>. We meet up every once in a while. We’ve done events and have camaraderie. I love this industry because of that. In the video production business it’s competitive. But in chocolate, we help each other. We’re excited to see each other at the pop-up events. It’s supportive in a weird way. That’s motivating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>For someone like me, who doesn’t usually go out of their way for chocolates, what makes Kokak worthwhile?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13923127,arts_13919707,arts_13914042']I’m a small business owner. I never dreamed about earning billions of dollars and growing an empire. I enjoy the human-to-human touch. I want to connect with people. We’re already making less profit than a factory setting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I made a tough decision that cut into our profitability [with] our biggest ingredient, which is a rare cacao. It’s the first domestically grown cacao tree [in the world] from several thousand years back. I let that melt slowly in my mouth and imagine what our ancestors were tasting years and years ago. This rare [Nacional] cacao in Ecuador is grown for flavor, not yield. A lot of chocolate growers sell ingredients for much cheaper, but they are from chocolate strains that were grown for volume production. Flavor is less of a priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nacional wins over that. The genetics of the chocolate that we use is the same as our ancestors tasted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12904247 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Kokak Chocolates (3901 18th St., San Francisco) is open Tues. 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Wed. through Sun. 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With creative options that defy the conventional notions of chocolate — Kokak’s seasonal flavors include pizza and ramen, for example — Gancia doesn’t play it safe. Instead, she enjoys challenging herself to push past her comfort zone, a trait she gained when she first immigrated to California from her native Philippine islands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rooted in her vibrant Asian Pacific heritage and driven by a passion to connect with ancestral flavors through rare, organic ingredients like \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20190916-the-worlds-most-exquisite-chocolate\">Ecuadorian Nacional cacao\u003c/a>, Kokak is more than just chocolates. It’s a way, Gancia says, to tell others, “I love you just the way you are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center\">********\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALAN CHAZARO: When did your appreciation for chocolates first begin?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CAROL GANCIA: \u003c/b>I grew up on the Philippine islands. I was lucky, being from a middle-class family, to have an uncle who was a sought-after engineer. He got contracts that had him travel abroad, around Western Europe, where they have quality chocolates. He would bring them back home — dark chocolate, mint, even liqueurs. I had a chance to taste those, not realizing my love of chocolate came from him. I [later] realized chocolate is a memory, a happy memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925997\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925997\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_mango-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"dried mangoes dipped in chocolates\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_mango-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_mango-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_mango-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_mango-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_mango-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_mango-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_mango-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tropical flavors like these chocolate-dipped dried mangoes are inspired by Carol Gancia’s upbringing on the Philippine islands. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>How did that translate into you becoming a professional chocolatier?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I make chocolates in the form of truffles and bars. I do it every day with two other chocolatiers. The kind of shop we have is tropically inspired and based on my background. We’re a couple blocks from Castro Street on 18th and Sanchez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I was growing up, chocolate was in the background; I always had chocolate in my pockets. But I started out as a journalist broadcasting in the Philippines. I got involved in video production and continued that work in the U.S. [after moving here in 2004]. I even worked as a producer for “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/checkplease\">Check, Please! Bay Area\u003c/a>” on KQED. I produced for Jacques Pépin, and that helped me improve my palette. You read the recipe, and plan it out with the executive producer. That’s how I learned informally about the culinary world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was still producing, and after 20 years — about five years ago — I was eager to do something different that I would be scared about. I was too complacent [as a video producer]. I wanted to feel what it was like to start something and be clueless. I decided to learn about chocolates and sell on the side until it became a full business [in 2020]. Sometimes I still don’t know what I’m doing. I’m still learning, and I still operate a video production business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925999\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925999\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_truffles-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A tray of colorfully decorated chocolates at Kokak in San Francisco\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_truffles-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_truffles-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_truffles-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_truffles-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_truffles-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_truffles.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A preview of the seasonal Easter chocolates that will be available at Kokak this month. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What does the word “kokak” represent for you?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kokak literally means “ribbit” in English. I was conceptualizing the name of my shop and noticing the [other] chocolate brands and names. It was usually last names or serious words. I wanted to make a splash, [since] I had no background in chocolate. I chose Kokak and added an exclamation point because I wanted to represent myself and who I am. I studied in the Philippines, and my campus had lily pads, beautiful flowers, ponds and frogs. Kokak reminds me of my home — the wonderful tropical life. It’s a conversation starter as well. Customers ask me what it means, and I can tell the story of the Philippine islands. My shop is more than selling chocolates. It’s an experience, a borrowed memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Your Filipina heritage is an important aspect of your identity. Tell us about how that emerges in your variety of chocolate flavors.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think of kalamansi — it’s a lime in the Philippines and is abundant there. My mom would make me hot kalamansi juice when I was sick. But in the summer, it was served cold, like lemonade. We included that as a popular flavor at Kokak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>We opened our shop during the pandemic, and we had a lot of time to think. We had about 50 recipes I created from the start, and we rotate that throughout the year. My favorite is our guava truffle — all made from scratch. Coconut pie is another. There’s a place in the southern part of metro Manila where they make buko pies — coconut pies. They’re not sweet, they’re just full of coconut meat. That’s a memory and an inspiration for our truffles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Do you serve anything besides chocolate?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We also have our cacao porridge. Growing up in the Philippines, every Christmas season we make champurrado — it’s a [beverage] mix of chocolate and rice. A long time ago, in the 1500s, there was trade happening between the Philippines and Mexico. Mexico brought chocolates to us. Back then, most [Filipinos] were rice farmers. It’s a testament to the friendship between Mexicans and Filipinos — champurrado. That’s available year round, and we offer dine-in at our shop as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s your connection to the Bay Area, and how is that reflected in your business?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As far as flavors, we have Earl Grey, which is a very San Francisco afternoon tea I enjoy with the ladies. I don’t always get to do that much these days (laughs). I looked for Earl Grey and infused it with berry and chocolate for the filling. The Earl Grey tea we use is organic, fair trade and local. We also have coffee truffles, and the coffee is local.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925998\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925998\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_shirt-800x1200.jpg\" alt='a t-shirt at Kokak reads: \"love is love is love is chocolate is love...\"' width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_shirt-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_shirt-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_shirt-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_shirt-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_shirt-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_shirt-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/kokak_shirt-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“Love Is Chocolate Is Love” t-shirt at Kokak. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As much as we can, we keep our ingredients local. I can get tea from the grocery, but we find really premium teas from here. Same with our dairy. You don’t want your truffles to taste faint. Our truffles stay fresh, and the flavors are punchy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We also identify as an LGBTQ shop and ship all over the country with our Pride-inspired chocolates. One of my favorite things is reading note cards that we write to ship for our customers. One customer wrote, “Dear [Anonymous], I love you just the way you are. From Mom.” It made me teary-eyed. And made me realize I was in the right place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Who are some of your favorite chocolatiers right now in Northern California?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I like chocolates not just for flavor but also meaning. I like to support female chocolatiers, too. The reality is that if you sum up all the chocolate makers, it’s still very male dominated. There are two [local chocolatiers] who are my competition but also my friends: \u003ca href=\"https://www.socolachocolates.com/\">Socola\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.jadechocolates.com/\">Jade Chocolates\u003c/a>. We meet up every once in a while. We’ve done events and have camaraderie. I love this industry because of that. In the video production business it’s competitive. But in chocolate, we help each other. We’re excited to see each other at the pop-up events. It’s supportive in a weird way. That’s motivating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>For someone like me, who doesn’t usually go out of their way for chocolates, what makes Kokak worthwhile?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>I’m a small business owner. I never dreamed about earning billions of dollars and growing an empire. I enjoy the human-to-human touch. I want to connect with people. We’re already making less profit than a factory setting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I made a tough decision that cut into our profitability [with] our biggest ingredient, which is a rare cacao. It’s the first domestically grown cacao tree [in the world] from several thousand years back. I let that melt slowly in my mouth and imagine what our ancestors were tasting years and years ago. This rare [Nacional] cacao in Ecuador is grown for flavor, not yield. A lot of chocolate growers sell ingredients for much cheaper, but they are from chocolate strains that were grown for volume production. Flavor is less of a priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nacional wins over that. The genetics of the chocolate that we use is the same as our ancestors tasted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12904247 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Kokak Chocolates (3901 18th St., San Francisco) is open Tues. 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Wed. through Sun. 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "durian-bay-area-love-letter-singaporean-culture",
"title": "A Bay Area Love Letter to Durian",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]D[/dropcap]urian. The King of Fruits. 榴蓮. The heart of my Singaporean Chinese family and the gateway to knowledge of my father’s culture. I grew up with no true understanding of Singapore. For those living in the Bay Area of the ’80s and ’90s, it barely even registered as a country. My father’s vague stories of his Singaporean past always read as being about China in my immature mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But then he would bring home a durian. A spiky ball that looks like a medieval weapon, with a pungent, pale yellow, fleshy interior. Dad would find a soft spot between those spikes to stab the fruit’s bottom and wedge it open with a knife and rice paddle. The strong rind once fought back, breaking the tip off of his massive chef’s knife.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was serious work, but Dad is serious about durian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Durian may be nature’s most misunderstood fruit. It grows high up in trees from precariously thin stems — a falling durian can literally kill you. Searching for the word “durian” online will dredge up articles on the fruit’s “terrible smell” and videos of people eating under-ripe specimens and gagging on camera for the likes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925895\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13925895\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2020-thanksgiving-durian.jpg\" alt=\"Woman holds up a piece of fresh durian, with the one of the fruit's large seeds on a plate in front of her.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2020-thanksgiving-durian.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2020-thanksgiving-durian-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2020-thanksgiving-durian-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2020-thanksgiving-durian-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2020-thanksgiving-durian-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2020-thanksgiving-durian-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author enjoys a piece of Red Prawn durian purchased from the online company Year of Durian. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Jennifer Wong)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Admittedly, to the untrained nose, durian smells strange, even rank. But the fruit also has an unexpectedly custardy texture and — with hundreds of varieties — complex flavor profiles akin to wine, coffee and chocolate. For those of us who hail durian as our king of fruits, the smell elicits an undeniable longing — for both the fruit itself and the cultural remembrance it represents. That feeling sticks with you, sits deep within your bones. It stayed with my father even as he crossed an ocean to live in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My father immigrated to San Francisco in the ’70s. While he and his siblings found camaraderie amongst other first- and second-generation Chinese here, they rarely encountered other Singaporeans. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 had only just reversed the racist immigration policies codified by the Asian Exclusion Act. And Singapore had just gone through its own transformation, separating from Malaysia that same year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pullquote size=\"large\" align=\"right\"]“For those of us who hail durian as our king of fruits, the smell elicits an undeniable longing.”[/pullquote]\u003c/span>In his first decades in the States, Dad also never encountered his favorite tropical fruits — jackfruit, rambutan and the infamous durian. He speculates that many Bay Area folks at the time hadn’t even heard of durian. Even if they had, shopkeepers probably wouldn’t have wanted it in their stores because of the smell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925897\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13925897\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-dad.jpg\" alt=\"A man sits in his doorway wearing protective gloves as he prepares to open a durian.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-dad.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-dad-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-dad-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-dad-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-dad-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-dad-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-dad-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author’s father prepares to open a durian. \u003ccite>(Jennifer Wong)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The first time Dad saw durian after he immigrated was on a road trip to Vancouver, Canada, in the early ’80s. He and his sister Patty spotted them at a market. Elated, they bought one quickly, not noticing that it was previously frozen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Was this sad, unripe durian an indicator of progress?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed it was! My father estimates that he first saw (or maybe smelled) frozen whole durians in San Francisco not long after, in the late ’80s or early ’90s, at a Chinese grocery on Clement Street. Seeing them brought back wistful memories of his own father bringing home durians by the basketful, and how he and his family would “eat it like crazy.” It was a different experience in Singapore, he explains. You would have a durian feast with family, opening several durians at once and pigging out. There were always mangosteens to balance out the durian’s 熱氣 — “yeet hay,” or build-up of internal heat, according to traditional Chinese medicine. Mangosteens are cooling by contrast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Durian is too costly in the U.S. for it to have ever been an everyday occurrence for our family. But Dad would bring one home when he “got a craving,” he tells me. Whenever he did, my brother and I used to run away, hiding with my mom in our parents’ bedroom and leaving dad alone with his bounty. Eventually, we came around — first for a taste and now for handfuls of the delicious fruit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What I love about durian is the tactile feeling of pulling out a seed, the luscious, custardy texture and the complex flavor. Whenever I take a bite, the room goes quiet while my mouth analyzes whether the durian is sweet or bitter, smooth or stringy, fruity or nutty. My fellow durian enthusiasts and I discuss which pieces are our favorites and trade bites — after all, it’s nearly always a social event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925901\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13925901\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2009-durian-dad-auntie-geraldine-01.jpg\" alt=\"Durian eaters hold up sticky fingers at a durian stall in Singapore.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2009-durian-dad-auntie-geraldine-01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2009-durian-dad-auntie-geraldine-01-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2009-durian-dad-auntie-geraldine-01-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2009-durian-dad-auntie-geraldine-01-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2009-durian-dad-auntie-geraldine-01-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2009-durian-dad-auntie-geraldine-01-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author, her father and his cousin hold up sticky fingers at a durian stall in Singapore. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Jennifer Wong)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A Newfound Appreciation\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>My first trip to Singapore in 2007 was a massive eye-opener. I thought my one ethnic identity was Cantonese, which felt ordinary in San Francisco, where Chinese Americans make up 21% of the population. Singapore, on the other hand, is a melting pot of Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Eurasian. It’s a tropical island nation filled with exciting foods I’d never even heard of and rich cultures I barely recognized. How could this be part of my own identity?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reality could not be further from how I had envisioned my father’s childhood. Government-subsidized public housing developments almost touching the clouds were nothing like the kampongs he described. I met dozens of family members that I’d never even heard of — great-aunts and uncles, first and second cousins. And instead of the simple choice of “durian or no durian” that I’d experienced in San Francisco, Singaporean durian came in endless, eye-popping varieties — D24, Musang King, XO and other names in Chinese that I couldn’t read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What remained familiar were the family gatherings in the name of our king. On one of my first days there, we convened at a great-auntie’s flat to feast on durian and mangosteen. About a dozen of us across generations sat around in the summer heat with fans blasting. One of my dad’s cousins, Katherine, taught me how to open a mangosteen, which I quickly fell in love with. Each of us ate durian until we had our fill, then rested, satisfied, in the cool breeze of the fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another of my dad’s cousins, Geraldine, brought us to a neighborhood durian stall, where she ordered more whole durians than there were people in our party because “each one has a different taste. You have to try many.” We had leftover durian for days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925902\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13925902\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2007-durian-at-2nd-auntie.jpg\" alt=\"A spread of split durian, still in its spiky green rind, spread on top of sheets of newspaper.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2007-durian-at-2nd-auntie.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2007-durian-at-2nd-auntie-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2007-durian-at-2nd-auntie-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2007-durian-at-2nd-auntie-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2007-durian-at-2nd-auntie-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2007-durian-at-2nd-auntie-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A durian feast at the author’s great-auntie’s flat. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Jennifer Wong)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I came back to SF with a newfound appreciation for my Singaporean heritage. This understanding even put my grandmother’s accent into perspective — I had always thought of it as a Chinese accent, when in fact it was Singaporean. I was finally part of the inside joke when my grandmother purchased a durian for our white elephant gift exchange. I now sought out connections to Singaporean culture wherever I went, and a big part of that was trying to eat durian as often as I could.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Durian Renaissance\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Thankfully, durian is widely available in the Bay these days, much to the delight of Dad and the rest of the family. You’ll find it everywhere from mom-and-pop Asian grocery stores to name-brand shops like H-Mart and even Costco. Tracy Goh, chef-owner of \u003ca href=\"https://damansarasf.com/\">Damansara\u003c/a>, a Malaysian restaurant in San Francisco, likes to buy hers through a specialty online ordering service called \u003ca href=\"https://www.yearofthedurian.com/\">Year of the Durian\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Compared to when I first arrived 10 years ago, the varieties have expanded beyond Thai Monthong and the occasional Malaysian Musang King,” Goh tells me. “And I am seeing more genuine appreciation for durian outside of the Southeast Asian community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pullquote size=\"large\" align=\"right\"]“My love of durian ties me back to my Singaporean culture. It’s a secret language that I use to find my people.”[/pullquote]\u003c/span>In San Francisco alone, you can now find durian in ice cream from \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/gelatoMP/\">Marco Polo\u003c/a>, chocolates from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/socolachocs/\">Socola\u003c/a>, mooncakes from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pineapplekingbakery/\">Pineapple King\u003c/a> and desserts from \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/mangomedley/\">Mango Medley\u003c/a>. Socola even has a special mailing list for releases of their durian truffles. (Of course, I’m subscribed.) At the same time, a growing number of Singaporean and Malaysian restaurants have opened across the Bay to much fanfare, including Damansara, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dabaosingapore.com/\">Dabao Singapore\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/liondancecafe/\">Lion Dance Cafe\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sataybythebaysf/\">Satay by the Bay\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13923127,arts_13924997,arts_13915312']\u003c/span>The durian renaissance has been fueled in part by the 2004 U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement and the fact that many more Singaporeans have come to this country to study in the past decade. Here in the Bay Area, where Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are \u003ca href=\"https://bayareaequityatlas.org/BayArea-API-diversity\">the fastest growing demographic\u003c/a>, new immigration always leads to a mixing of cultures and exposure to new foods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My love of durian ties me back to my Singaporean culture. It’s a secret language that I use to find my people. As Goh puts it, “I used to feel more compelled to give a whole crash course on my ‘complicated’ identity. I no longer feel the need to explain my existence in this country to someone who questions it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, I might just offer you some durian. For me, the fruit is a litmus test for those who hope to understand the Singaporean part of my identity. If I introduce someone to durian and they’re not even willing to try it, they might never understand me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, even my cat loves durian! And whenever I feel the tug of nostalgia, I know I don’t have to go far. If I’m lucky, Dad will call to say that he brought a durian home. He’s just waiting for me and my brother to come over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925903\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13925903\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-cat.jpg\" alt=\"A cat reaches its paw out to snatch a piece of durian from its owner.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-cat.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-cat-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-cat-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-cat-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-cat-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-cat-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Even the cat loves durian. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Jennifer Wong)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">D\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>urian. The King of Fruits. 榴蓮. The heart of my Singaporean Chinese family and the gateway to knowledge of my father’s culture. I grew up with no true understanding of Singapore. For those living in the Bay Area of the ’80s and ’90s, it barely even registered as a country. My father’s vague stories of his Singaporean past always read as being about China in my immature mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But then he would bring home a durian. A spiky ball that looks like a medieval weapon, with a pungent, pale yellow, fleshy interior. Dad would find a soft spot between those spikes to stab the fruit’s bottom and wedge it open with a knife and rice paddle. The strong rind once fought back, breaking the tip off of his massive chef’s knife.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was serious work, but Dad is serious about durian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Durian may be nature’s most misunderstood fruit. It grows high up in trees from precariously thin stems — a falling durian can literally kill you. Searching for the word “durian” online will dredge up articles on the fruit’s “terrible smell” and videos of people eating under-ripe specimens and gagging on camera for the likes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925895\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13925895\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2020-thanksgiving-durian.jpg\" alt=\"Woman holds up a piece of fresh durian, with the one of the fruit's large seeds on a plate in front of her.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2020-thanksgiving-durian.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2020-thanksgiving-durian-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2020-thanksgiving-durian-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2020-thanksgiving-durian-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2020-thanksgiving-durian-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2020-thanksgiving-durian-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author enjoys a piece of Red Prawn durian purchased from the online company Year of Durian. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Jennifer Wong)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Admittedly, to the untrained nose, durian smells strange, even rank. But the fruit also has an unexpectedly custardy texture and — with hundreds of varieties — complex flavor profiles akin to wine, coffee and chocolate. For those of us who hail durian as our king of fruits, the smell elicits an undeniable longing — for both the fruit itself and the cultural remembrance it represents. That feeling sticks with you, sits deep within your bones. It stayed with my father even as he crossed an ocean to live in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My father immigrated to San Francisco in the ’70s. While he and his siblings found camaraderie amongst other first- and second-generation Chinese here, they rarely encountered other Singaporeans. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 had only just reversed the racist immigration policies codified by the Asian Exclusion Act. And Singapore had just gone through its own transformation, separating from Malaysia that same year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>In his first decades in the States, Dad also never encountered his favorite tropical fruits — jackfruit, rambutan and the infamous durian. He speculates that many Bay Area folks at the time hadn’t even heard of durian. Even if they had, shopkeepers probably wouldn’t have wanted it in their stores because of the smell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925897\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13925897\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-dad.jpg\" alt=\"A man sits in his doorway wearing protective gloves as he prepares to open a durian.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-dad.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-dad-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-dad-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-dad-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-dad-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-dad-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-dad-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author’s father prepares to open a durian. \u003ccite>(Jennifer Wong)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The first time Dad saw durian after he immigrated was on a road trip to Vancouver, Canada, in the early ’80s. He and his sister Patty spotted them at a market. Elated, they bought one quickly, not noticing that it was previously frozen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Was this sad, unripe durian an indicator of progress?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed it was! My father estimates that he first saw (or maybe smelled) frozen whole durians in San Francisco not long after, in the late ’80s or early ’90s, at a Chinese grocery on Clement Street. Seeing them brought back wistful memories of his own father bringing home durians by the basketful, and how he and his family would “eat it like crazy.” It was a different experience in Singapore, he explains. You would have a durian feast with family, opening several durians at once and pigging out. There were always mangosteens to balance out the durian’s 熱氣 — “yeet hay,” or build-up of internal heat, according to traditional Chinese medicine. Mangosteens are cooling by contrast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Durian is too costly in the U.S. for it to have ever been an everyday occurrence for our family. But Dad would bring one home when he “got a craving,” he tells me. Whenever he did, my brother and I used to run away, hiding with my mom in our parents’ bedroom and leaving dad alone with his bounty. Eventually, we came around — first for a taste and now for handfuls of the delicious fruit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What I love about durian is the tactile feeling of pulling out a seed, the luscious, custardy texture and the complex flavor. Whenever I take a bite, the room goes quiet while my mouth analyzes whether the durian is sweet or bitter, smooth or stringy, fruity or nutty. My fellow durian enthusiasts and I discuss which pieces are our favorites and trade bites — after all, it’s nearly always a social event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925901\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13925901\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2009-durian-dad-auntie-geraldine-01.jpg\" alt=\"Durian eaters hold up sticky fingers at a durian stall in Singapore.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2009-durian-dad-auntie-geraldine-01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2009-durian-dad-auntie-geraldine-01-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2009-durian-dad-auntie-geraldine-01-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2009-durian-dad-auntie-geraldine-01-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2009-durian-dad-auntie-geraldine-01-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2009-durian-dad-auntie-geraldine-01-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author, her father and his cousin hold up sticky fingers at a durian stall in Singapore. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Jennifer Wong)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A Newfound Appreciation\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>My first trip to Singapore in 2007 was a massive eye-opener. I thought my one ethnic identity was Cantonese, which felt ordinary in San Francisco, where Chinese Americans make up 21% of the population. Singapore, on the other hand, is a melting pot of Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Eurasian. It’s a tropical island nation filled with exciting foods I’d never even heard of and rich cultures I barely recognized. How could this be part of my own identity?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reality could not be further from how I had envisioned my father’s childhood. Government-subsidized public housing developments almost touching the clouds were nothing like the kampongs he described. I met dozens of family members that I’d never even heard of — great-aunts and uncles, first and second cousins. And instead of the simple choice of “durian or no durian” that I’d experienced in San Francisco, Singaporean durian came in endless, eye-popping varieties — D24, Musang King, XO and other names in Chinese that I couldn’t read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What remained familiar were the family gatherings in the name of our king. On one of my first days there, we convened at a great-auntie’s flat to feast on durian and mangosteen. About a dozen of us across generations sat around in the summer heat with fans blasting. One of my dad’s cousins, Katherine, taught me how to open a mangosteen, which I quickly fell in love with. Each of us ate durian until we had our fill, then rested, satisfied, in the cool breeze of the fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another of my dad’s cousins, Geraldine, brought us to a neighborhood durian stall, where she ordered more whole durians than there were people in our party because “each one has a different taste. You have to try many.” We had leftover durian for days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925902\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13925902\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2007-durian-at-2nd-auntie.jpg\" alt=\"A spread of split durian, still in its spiky green rind, spread on top of sheets of newspaper.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2007-durian-at-2nd-auntie.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2007-durian-at-2nd-auntie-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2007-durian-at-2nd-auntie-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2007-durian-at-2nd-auntie-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2007-durian-at-2nd-auntie-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/2007-durian-at-2nd-auntie-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A durian feast at the author’s great-auntie’s flat. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Jennifer Wong)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I came back to SF with a newfound appreciation for my Singaporean heritage. This understanding even put my grandmother’s accent into perspective — I had always thought of it as a Chinese accent, when in fact it was Singaporean. I was finally part of the inside joke when my grandmother purchased a durian for our white elephant gift exchange. I now sought out connections to Singaporean culture wherever I went, and a big part of that was trying to eat durian as often as I could.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Durian Renaissance\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Thankfully, durian is widely available in the Bay these days, much to the delight of Dad and the rest of the family. You’ll find it everywhere from mom-and-pop Asian grocery stores to name-brand shops like H-Mart and even Costco. Tracy Goh, chef-owner of \u003ca href=\"https://damansarasf.com/\">Damansara\u003c/a>, a Malaysian restaurant in San Francisco, likes to buy hers through a specialty online ordering service called \u003ca href=\"https://www.yearofthedurian.com/\">Year of the Durian\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Compared to when I first arrived 10 years ago, the varieties have expanded beyond Thai Monthong and the occasional Malaysian Musang King,” Goh tells me. “And I am seeing more genuine appreciation for durian outside of the Southeast Asian community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>In San Francisco alone, you can now find durian in ice cream from \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/gelatoMP/\">Marco Polo\u003c/a>, chocolates from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/socolachocs/\">Socola\u003c/a>, mooncakes from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pineapplekingbakery/\">Pineapple King\u003c/a> and desserts from \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/mangomedley/\">Mango Medley\u003c/a>. Socola even has a special mailing list for releases of their durian truffles. (Of course, I’m subscribed.) At the same time, a growing number of Singaporean and Malaysian restaurants have opened across the Bay to much fanfare, including Damansara, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dabaosingapore.com/\">Dabao Singapore\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/liondancecafe/\">Lion Dance Cafe\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sataybythebaysf/\">Satay by the Bay\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>The durian renaissance has been fueled in part by the 2004 U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement and the fact that many more Singaporeans have come to this country to study in the past decade. Here in the Bay Area, where Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are \u003ca href=\"https://bayareaequityatlas.org/BayArea-API-diversity\">the fastest growing demographic\u003c/a>, new immigration always leads to a mixing of cultures and exposure to new foods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My love of durian ties me back to my Singaporean culture. It’s a secret language that I use to find my people. As Goh puts it, “I used to feel more compelled to give a whole crash course on my ‘complicated’ identity. I no longer feel the need to explain my existence in this country to someone who questions it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, I might just offer you some durian. For me, the fruit is a litmus test for those who hope to understand the Singaporean part of my identity. If I introduce someone to durian and they’re not even willing to try it, they might never understand me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, even my cat loves durian! And whenever I feel the tug of nostalgia, I know I don’t have to go far. If I’m lucky, Dad will call to say that he brought a durian home. He’s just waiting for me and my brother to come over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925903\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13925903\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-cat.jpg\" alt=\"A cat reaches its paw out to snatch a piece of durian from its owner.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-cat.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-cat-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-cat-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-cat-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-cat-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/durian-cat-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Even the cat loves durian. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Jennifer Wong)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "A New Farmers Market in West Oakland Promises Healthy Foods and Community Flavor",
"headTitle": "A New Farmers Market in West Oakland Promises Healthy Foods and Community Flavor | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The West Oakland neighborhood where Elliot Johnson grew up during the 1980s was filled with community abundance — but hampered, at times, by a lack of fresh, organic foods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On 14th and Center there was a store, but a real grocer wasn’t really around until Acorn Super. Then they closed,” he remembers. “The people were happy, but it was real bad poverty back then. You had to go to Alameda or Rockridge for fresh food. It was tough. So when [West Oakland Farmers Market] started, we knew we had to be part of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson and his wife, Shawlaya, operate \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/goldisgourmetspices/?hl=en\">Goldi’s\u003c/a>, a small-batch spice business that pops up every Sunday at the quirky \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/westoaklandfarmersmarket/?hl=en\">West Oakland Farmers Market\u003c/a>. The new outdoor market — located in the Prescott neighborhood on Peralta Street, between 18th and 20th Streets — offers a mosaic of goods provided by a diverse spectrum of local vendors and artisans. The hope is to reflect the neighborhood’s robust past and evolving future in order to serve the community’s present needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On any given Sunday, you can browse the market’s selection of tasty beverages and natural foods while strolling a quiet, two-block road sentineled by nearby Victorian homes. Perhaps more importantly, you’ll notice that the market is helping to open a fresh lane in the community: one that creates a path for aspiring entrepreneurs in the area’s overlooked pocket of healthy foods commerce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925807\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925807\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/goldis_alanchazaro-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A man stands in front of his spice booth at the market\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/goldis_alanchazaro-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/goldis_alanchazaro-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/goldis_alanchazaro-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/goldis_alanchazaro-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/goldis_alanchazaro-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/goldis_alanchazaro.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elliot Johnson grew up in West Oakland in the 1980s and now sells his spices at the new farmers market. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Launched in the summer of 2022 with the support of Oakland Councilmember Carroll Fife and the \u003ca href=\"https://cao-94612.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/Neighborhood-Council-Meeting-Schedule-2_2022-09-20-192105_fkcl.xlsx\">Prescott Neighborhood Council\u003c/a>, the market is currently the neighborhood’s only farmers market. Less than a year later, the market has turned into the only intersection in West Oakland where such a collection of organic farmers, florists, breadmakers, honey purveyors, ranchers, meat suppliers and wide-ranging community members like the Johnsons can share their homemade offerings to a steady base of market-goers..\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Featuring anywhere from 25 to 50 vendors each week — and predominantly representing Black, brown and Asian diasporas — the market spotlights a potpourri of creative offerings with an emphasis on providers who aren’t usually the biggest demographic at other farmers markets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Working with future generations of diverse organic farmers, it’s harder for them to get into more established markets,” says Harvindar Singh, the founder of \u003ca href=\"https://www.foragersmarket.org/about\">Foragers Market\u003c/a>, the organization that operates West Oakland Farmers Market along with a handful of similar markets around the Bay Area. “But things are changing. [The idea of] traditional, old, white hippie farmers is beginning to open up to more diverse farmers and vendors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coming on the heels of last year’s sudden closure of \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2022/02/24/oakland-community-foods-brahm-ahmadi\">People’s Community Market\u003c/a>, one of West Oakland’s only grocery stores, the farmers market arrives at a time when the neighborhood once again finds itself with limited access to such resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Often described as a “food desert,” West Oakland — like many communities shaped by decades of segregation and systemically racist practices — has struggled to maintain a sustainable, concentrated supply of high-quality groceries, particularly in recent years as the Bay Area has only become increasingly unaffordable and inaccessible for working class families. Besides small, community-led sources like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bottomsupcommunitygarden/?hl=en\">Bottoms Up Community Garden\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.cityslickerfarms.org/about-us/\">City Slicker Farms\u003c/a>, which supply fresh produce directly to the immediate area, the neighborhood doesn’t have many options. \u003ca href=\"https://www.good.is/articles/change-through-food-bringing-an-oasis-to-the-west-oakland-food-desert\">Mandela Foods Cooperative\u003c/a> is a heralded beacon, providing the only walkable source of varietal produce for those who call the area home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within this complex landscape of food injustice, the West Oakland Farmers Market — which partners with Mandela to allow its vendors to distribute at the co-op in order to foster a mutually beneficial relationship — is hoping to shift the narrative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925810\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925810\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_foodhall_alanchazaro-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"the inside of a commercial building that is planning to be turned into a foodhall\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_foodhall_alanchazaro-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_foodhall_alanchazaro-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_foodhall_alanchazaro-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_foodhall_alanchazaro-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_foodhall_alanchazaro-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_foodhall_alanchazaro.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Plans for a food hall near the West Oakland Farmers Market will feature local foodmakers. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the same time, it’s necessary to look at any emerging venture in West Oakland with a certain degree of skepticism — to perhaps wonder if this is another attempt to gain footing in an increasingly gentrifiying sliver of land. After all, the farmers market is funded by a commercial real estate developer, \u003ca href=\"https://srmernst.com/\">srmERNST Development Partners\u003c/a>, which is also in the process of building a new food hall nearby — an impressive space that will host local foodmakers as well. Joe Ernst, srmERNST’s founder, and the folks behind West Oakland Farmers Market all seem to have good intentions. They say they want to deliver a promising, collaborative space for the neighborhood’s residents. But the larger issue of community revitalization is layered and intersectional, and no single effort can resolve more than nearly a half-century of institutional neglect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we know from mounting research over the past four to six years is that geographic access inequalities are actually a pretty poor explanation of dietary inequalities,” said Priya Fielding-Singh, author of \u003ci>How the Other Half Eats\u003c/i>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13907528/how-the-other-half-eats-food-deserts-food-inequality-bay-area\">in a past interview with KQED\u003c/a>. In other words, food deserts are only a small part of the problem, and the addition of a single farmers market can only do so much to improve the way that people in West Oakland eat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That said, the West Oakland Farmers Market does represent a tide of change and opportunity, with potential to become a generative outlet for both vendors and market-goers. In \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/west-oakland-farmers-market-17782486.php\">a recent \u003ci>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/i> interview\u003c/a>, Ernst, the developer, said he wants to “have an impact on the area, not just build and lease.” What better way to make an impact than through good food?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Singh, who has over 10 years of experience as the “local forager” for Whole Foods and has built relationships with farmers around Northern California, seems to be the right man for the task, with his empathetic outlook and understanding of what’s at stake for small businesses and community members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Markets like these are incubators,” Singh says. “They’re designed to give people a way to start up, scale, grow and then go to broader markets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under Singh’s energetic leadership, the new farmers market is taking a community-first approach to ensure that the space will remain accessible — and useful — to local buyers and sellers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For instance, 80% of the vendors at the market are BIPOC and representative of the neighborhood, Singh tells me. It’s an intentional effort to provide a space for fledgling micro-businesses around the area. For many of the vendors, it’s one of the only markets they have a chance to sell at, allowing them to supplement their pop-up business while trying to expand sustainably.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925808\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925808\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/sanalo_alanchazaro-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"two local siblings sell smoothies and granola at the market every Sunday\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/sanalo_alanchazaro-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/sanalo_alanchazaro-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/sanalo_alanchazaro-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/sanalo_alanchazaro-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/sanalo_alanchazaro-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/sanalo_alanchazaro-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/sanalo_alanchazaro-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cristian and Grisela Sánalo can be found selling smoothies every Sunday at the new market. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One such vendor is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sanalo2022/\">Sánalo\u003c/a>, a smoothie and snack company founded by Cristian and Grisela Sánalo, two Mexican American siblings with roots in Oakland and Hayward. The young venture is a part-time hustle for the Sánalos, who work full-time jobs and side gigs on weekdays, then set up on weekends to serve treats like toast and granola.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Living in a major city, it can be difficult to find [a feeling of community],” says Cristian Sánalo. “But the culture [at West Oakland Farmers Market] is definitely inclined to feel like a community. They’re good people who want everyone to do their thing and be successful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sánalo’s “Green Magic” smoothie is a rich blend of chia, dates, apple, kale, pineapple, celery and spinach. And the “Apapacho” (a hot beverage made from oats, kabocha squash, ginger and cinnamon) — whose Spanish name, derived from indigenous Nahuatl, roughly translates to “tender affection” — allows customers to tap into less commonly available flavors that reflect the Sánalos’ heritage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If beverages aren’t your thing, there’s amazing sourdough from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rizeupbakery/?hl=en\">Rize Up Bakery\u003c/a>, a Black-owned bakery from San Francisco that, \u003ca href=\"https://rizeupsourdough.com/pages/about\">according to founder Azikiwee Anderson\u003c/a>, was “born as a way to channel energy into something healing during the social unrest caused by the murder of George Floyd.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking for less carbs? Bassline Coffee — whose owner, Brad Katz, is \u003ca href=\"https://www.waveworksav.com/\">involved in the local music industry\u003c/a> as an audio-video engineer and first dipped into coffee-making during the pandemic — is pouring “a roast for every rhythm” and supplements his coffee company with his passion for mixtapes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13905374,arts_13915889,arts_13908432']Don’t do caffeine? A few booths away you’ll come across \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/clandestinacocinaberkeley/?hl=en\">Clandestina Cocina\u003c/a>, a Berkeley-based Cuban eatery serving island-style soul food and classic favorites like ropa vieja (shredded steak in tomato sauce with bell peppers and onions) and the eternally-delicious Cubano sandwich. Havana-born chef Lilian Duran is happy to feed others, including Chari Parla, a Cuban American who used to work at the market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My first day at the market was such an amazing, dreamlike treat to look up from my booth and see Clandestina across the way,” says Parla, originally from Miami. “I’ve been living [in Oakland] for six years, and I can count on one hand how many Cuban people I’ve met. We don’t find each other often. For me to see, smell, taste and hear all of those Cuban elements is really just warming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the sort of feeling that Singh hopes to facilitate, often surveying customers and nearby residents about what else they would like to see. The Sunday market has featured live music and, at one point, curated open mic poetry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an effort to be inclusive, Singh has also lowered, or in some cases removed, the entrance fees for vendors in need, making it easier for non-traditional suppliers to participate. The market also donates products to \u003ca href=\"https://www.acdsal.org/farms\">Dig Deep Farms\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://westoaklandhealth.org/\">West Oakland Health Council\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1028996737152976&paipv=0&eav=AfY-Rcqphpmcxw2XqrXOeF-Er55s2YHMJsNxFrdjBL7sCfKrKHC4zSHr63ISC8UwZEo&_rdr\">Eritrean Task Force-Orthodox Church\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925809\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925809\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_shoppers_alanchazaro-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a group of friends pose for the camera while exploring the new market\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_shoppers_alanchazaro-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_shoppers_alanchazaro-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_shoppers_alanchazaro-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_shoppers_alanchazaro-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_shoppers_alanchazaro-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_shoppers_alanchazaro.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of friends pose for the camera while exploring the new market. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In many ways, the West Oakland Farmers Market doesn’t feel like most other farmers markets. Singh’s track record of investing in nascent, grassroots business is a strong focus, and his compassionate compass helps him navigate the market’s larger civic goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fernando [from Catalan Farm] is an organic farmer from Alba,” says Singh. “He teaches immigrant farmers how to grow organically. He’s the perfect example of how this market is about uplifting space to converse and support locally. It’s gonna take time to build, but we’re in it for the long haul. I’m having a blast, I love this community and these customers communing and supporting each other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the aforementioned food hall already under construction in partnership with the developer, Ernst — who initially funded the West Oakland Farmers Market during its start-up phase before it became self-sufficient — Singh says Foragers Market hopes to continue to provide enriching economic opportunities for vendors and accessible, affordable and natural foods that meet customers wherever they’re at. It will require care, awareness and precise management — much like a field of crops, I imagine — but if done right, could yield a cornucopia of possibilities. And for many, it’s what they’ve been waiting for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like being back home,” Johnson, the spice vendor who grew up in West Oakland, says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12904247 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>West Oakland Farmers Market is open every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (on Peralta Street between 18th and 20th Streets). WIC/EBT accepted.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Vendors say the West Oakland Farmers Market represents new opportunities for a long-neglected neighborhood.",
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"description": "Vendors say the West Oakland Farmers Market represents new opportunities for a long-neglected neighborhood.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The West Oakland neighborhood where Elliot Johnson grew up during the 1980s was filled with community abundance — but hampered, at times, by a lack of fresh, organic foods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On 14th and Center there was a store, but a real grocer wasn’t really around until Acorn Super. Then they closed,” he remembers. “The people were happy, but it was real bad poverty back then. You had to go to Alameda or Rockridge for fresh food. It was tough. So when [West Oakland Farmers Market] started, we knew we had to be part of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson and his wife, Shawlaya, operate \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/goldisgourmetspices/?hl=en\">Goldi’s\u003c/a>, a small-batch spice business that pops up every Sunday at the quirky \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/westoaklandfarmersmarket/?hl=en\">West Oakland Farmers Market\u003c/a>. The new outdoor market — located in the Prescott neighborhood on Peralta Street, between 18th and 20th Streets — offers a mosaic of goods provided by a diverse spectrum of local vendors and artisans. The hope is to reflect the neighborhood’s robust past and evolving future in order to serve the community’s present needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On any given Sunday, you can browse the market’s selection of tasty beverages and natural foods while strolling a quiet, two-block road sentineled by nearby Victorian homes. Perhaps more importantly, you’ll notice that the market is helping to open a fresh lane in the community: one that creates a path for aspiring entrepreneurs in the area’s overlooked pocket of healthy foods commerce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925807\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925807\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/goldis_alanchazaro-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A man stands in front of his spice booth at the market\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/goldis_alanchazaro-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/goldis_alanchazaro-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/goldis_alanchazaro-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/goldis_alanchazaro-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/goldis_alanchazaro-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/goldis_alanchazaro.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elliot Johnson grew up in West Oakland in the 1980s and now sells his spices at the new farmers market. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Launched in the summer of 2022 with the support of Oakland Councilmember Carroll Fife and the \u003ca href=\"https://cao-94612.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/Neighborhood-Council-Meeting-Schedule-2_2022-09-20-192105_fkcl.xlsx\">Prescott Neighborhood Council\u003c/a>, the market is currently the neighborhood’s only farmers market. Less than a year later, the market has turned into the only intersection in West Oakland where such a collection of organic farmers, florists, breadmakers, honey purveyors, ranchers, meat suppliers and wide-ranging community members like the Johnsons can share their homemade offerings to a steady base of market-goers..\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Featuring anywhere from 25 to 50 vendors each week — and predominantly representing Black, brown and Asian diasporas — the market spotlights a potpourri of creative offerings with an emphasis on providers who aren’t usually the biggest demographic at other farmers markets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Working with future generations of diverse organic farmers, it’s harder for them to get into more established markets,” says Harvindar Singh, the founder of \u003ca href=\"https://www.foragersmarket.org/about\">Foragers Market\u003c/a>, the organization that operates West Oakland Farmers Market along with a handful of similar markets around the Bay Area. “But things are changing. [The idea of] traditional, old, white hippie farmers is beginning to open up to more diverse farmers and vendors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coming on the heels of last year’s sudden closure of \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2022/02/24/oakland-community-foods-brahm-ahmadi\">People’s Community Market\u003c/a>, one of West Oakland’s only grocery stores, the farmers market arrives at a time when the neighborhood once again finds itself with limited access to such resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Often described as a “food desert,” West Oakland — like many communities shaped by decades of segregation and systemically racist practices — has struggled to maintain a sustainable, concentrated supply of high-quality groceries, particularly in recent years as the Bay Area has only become increasingly unaffordable and inaccessible for working class families. Besides small, community-led sources like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bottomsupcommunitygarden/?hl=en\">Bottoms Up Community Garden\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.cityslickerfarms.org/about-us/\">City Slicker Farms\u003c/a>, which supply fresh produce directly to the immediate area, the neighborhood doesn’t have many options. \u003ca href=\"https://www.good.is/articles/change-through-food-bringing-an-oasis-to-the-west-oakland-food-desert\">Mandela Foods Cooperative\u003c/a> is a heralded beacon, providing the only walkable source of varietal produce for those who call the area home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within this complex landscape of food injustice, the West Oakland Farmers Market — which partners with Mandela to allow its vendors to distribute at the co-op in order to foster a mutually beneficial relationship — is hoping to shift the narrative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925810\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925810\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_foodhall_alanchazaro-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"the inside of a commercial building that is planning to be turned into a foodhall\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_foodhall_alanchazaro-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_foodhall_alanchazaro-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_foodhall_alanchazaro-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_foodhall_alanchazaro-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_foodhall_alanchazaro-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_foodhall_alanchazaro.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Plans for a food hall near the West Oakland Farmers Market will feature local foodmakers. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the same time, it’s necessary to look at any emerging venture in West Oakland with a certain degree of skepticism — to perhaps wonder if this is another attempt to gain footing in an increasingly gentrifiying sliver of land. After all, the farmers market is funded by a commercial real estate developer, \u003ca href=\"https://srmernst.com/\">srmERNST Development Partners\u003c/a>, which is also in the process of building a new food hall nearby — an impressive space that will host local foodmakers as well. Joe Ernst, srmERNST’s founder, and the folks behind West Oakland Farmers Market all seem to have good intentions. They say they want to deliver a promising, collaborative space for the neighborhood’s residents. But the larger issue of community revitalization is layered and intersectional, and no single effort can resolve more than nearly a half-century of institutional neglect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we know from mounting research over the past four to six years is that geographic access inequalities are actually a pretty poor explanation of dietary inequalities,” said Priya Fielding-Singh, author of \u003ci>How the Other Half Eats\u003c/i>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13907528/how-the-other-half-eats-food-deserts-food-inequality-bay-area\">in a past interview with KQED\u003c/a>. In other words, food deserts are only a small part of the problem, and the addition of a single farmers market can only do so much to improve the way that people in West Oakland eat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That said, the West Oakland Farmers Market does represent a tide of change and opportunity, with potential to become a generative outlet for both vendors and market-goers. In \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/west-oakland-farmers-market-17782486.php\">a recent \u003ci>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/i> interview\u003c/a>, Ernst, the developer, said he wants to “have an impact on the area, not just build and lease.” What better way to make an impact than through good food?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Singh, who has over 10 years of experience as the “local forager” for Whole Foods and has built relationships with farmers around Northern California, seems to be the right man for the task, with his empathetic outlook and understanding of what’s at stake for small businesses and community members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Markets like these are incubators,” Singh says. “They’re designed to give people a way to start up, scale, grow and then go to broader markets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under Singh’s energetic leadership, the new farmers market is taking a community-first approach to ensure that the space will remain accessible — and useful — to local buyers and sellers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For instance, 80% of the vendors at the market are BIPOC and representative of the neighborhood, Singh tells me. It’s an intentional effort to provide a space for fledgling micro-businesses around the area. For many of the vendors, it’s one of the only markets they have a chance to sell at, allowing them to supplement their pop-up business while trying to expand sustainably.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925808\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925808\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/sanalo_alanchazaro-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"two local siblings sell smoothies and granola at the market every Sunday\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/sanalo_alanchazaro-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/sanalo_alanchazaro-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/sanalo_alanchazaro-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/sanalo_alanchazaro-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/sanalo_alanchazaro-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/sanalo_alanchazaro-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/sanalo_alanchazaro-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cristian and Grisela Sánalo can be found selling smoothies every Sunday at the new market. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One such vendor is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sanalo2022/\">Sánalo\u003c/a>, a smoothie and snack company founded by Cristian and Grisela Sánalo, two Mexican American siblings with roots in Oakland and Hayward. The young venture is a part-time hustle for the Sánalos, who work full-time jobs and side gigs on weekdays, then set up on weekends to serve treats like toast and granola.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Living in a major city, it can be difficult to find [a feeling of community],” says Cristian Sánalo. “But the culture [at West Oakland Farmers Market] is definitely inclined to feel like a community. They’re good people who want everyone to do their thing and be successful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sánalo’s “Green Magic” smoothie is a rich blend of chia, dates, apple, kale, pineapple, celery and spinach. And the “Apapacho” (a hot beverage made from oats, kabocha squash, ginger and cinnamon) — whose Spanish name, derived from indigenous Nahuatl, roughly translates to “tender affection” — allows customers to tap into less commonly available flavors that reflect the Sánalos’ heritage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If beverages aren’t your thing, there’s amazing sourdough from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rizeupbakery/?hl=en\">Rize Up Bakery\u003c/a>, a Black-owned bakery from San Francisco that, \u003ca href=\"https://rizeupsourdough.com/pages/about\">according to founder Azikiwee Anderson\u003c/a>, was “born as a way to channel energy into something healing during the social unrest caused by the murder of George Floyd.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking for less carbs? Bassline Coffee — whose owner, Brad Katz, is \u003ca href=\"https://www.waveworksav.com/\">involved in the local music industry\u003c/a> as an audio-video engineer and first dipped into coffee-making during the pandemic — is pouring “a roast for every rhythm” and supplements his coffee company with his passion for mixtapes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Don’t do caffeine? A few booths away you’ll come across \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/clandestinacocinaberkeley/?hl=en\">Clandestina Cocina\u003c/a>, a Berkeley-based Cuban eatery serving island-style soul food and classic favorites like ropa vieja (shredded steak in tomato sauce with bell peppers and onions) and the eternally-delicious Cubano sandwich. Havana-born chef Lilian Duran is happy to feed others, including Chari Parla, a Cuban American who used to work at the market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My first day at the market was such an amazing, dreamlike treat to look up from my booth and see Clandestina across the way,” says Parla, originally from Miami. “I’ve been living [in Oakland] for six years, and I can count on one hand how many Cuban people I’ve met. We don’t find each other often. For me to see, smell, taste and hear all of those Cuban elements is really just warming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the sort of feeling that Singh hopes to facilitate, often surveying customers and nearby residents about what else they would like to see. The Sunday market has featured live music and, at one point, curated open mic poetry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an effort to be inclusive, Singh has also lowered, or in some cases removed, the entrance fees for vendors in need, making it easier for non-traditional suppliers to participate. The market also donates products to \u003ca href=\"https://www.acdsal.org/farms\">Dig Deep Farms\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://westoaklandhealth.org/\">West Oakland Health Council\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1028996737152976&paipv=0&eav=AfY-Rcqphpmcxw2XqrXOeF-Er55s2YHMJsNxFrdjBL7sCfKrKHC4zSHr63ISC8UwZEo&_rdr\">Eritrean Task Force-Orthodox Church\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925809\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925809\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_shoppers_alanchazaro-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a group of friends pose for the camera while exploring the new market\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_shoppers_alanchazaro-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_shoppers_alanchazaro-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_shoppers_alanchazaro-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_shoppers_alanchazaro-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_shoppers_alanchazaro-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/westoakfarmersmarket_shoppers_alanchazaro.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of friends pose for the camera while exploring the new market. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In many ways, the West Oakland Farmers Market doesn’t feel like most other farmers markets. Singh’s track record of investing in nascent, grassroots business is a strong focus, and his compassionate compass helps him navigate the market’s larger civic goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fernando [from Catalan Farm] is an organic farmer from Alba,” says Singh. “He teaches immigrant farmers how to grow organically. He’s the perfect example of how this market is about uplifting space to converse and support locally. It’s gonna take time to build, but we’re in it for the long haul. I’m having a blast, I love this community and these customers communing and supporting each other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the aforementioned food hall already under construction in partnership with the developer, Ernst — who initially funded the West Oakland Farmers Market during its start-up phase before it became self-sufficient — Singh says Foragers Market hopes to continue to provide enriching economic opportunities for vendors and accessible, affordable and natural foods that meet customers wherever they’re at. It will require care, awareness and precise management — much like a field of crops, I imagine — but if done right, could yield a cornucopia of possibilities. And for many, it’s what they’ve been waiting for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like being back home,” Johnson, the spice vendor who grew up in West Oakland, says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12904247 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>West Oakland Farmers Market is open every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (on Peralta Street between 18th and 20th Streets). WIC/EBT accepted.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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},
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"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
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},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
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"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
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},
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"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
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"order": 10
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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},
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"order": 1
},
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 9
},
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"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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},
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"source": "NPR"
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 18
},
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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