What happens when you mix cooking, culture and grandmas? You get the League of Kitchens, a New York City based organization that pairs immigrant grandmas who are accomplished home cooks with foodies who are eager to try new cuisines and learn about the culture behind the food. Founded by Lisa Gross, the League of Kitchens hosts regular cooking workshops inside the homes of talented home cooks from all over the world. I spoke with Lisa ahead of her talk tonight at the Tenement Museum about the mission behind the League of Kitchens…
The League of Kitchens seems like such a timely project in a country that feels increasingly hostile towards immigrants. When you launched the organization, in 2014, did you think about the broader political message the League of Kitchens would convey? How has your mission evolved since its conception?
No, I didn’t think things would deteriorate to this point! Unfortunately, this project has become even more important in our current cultural moment because so much of the current dialogue around immigration is dehumanizing. Even the language used to describe immigration – infestation, flood, etc. – is alienating. League of Kitchens is about recognizing and celebrating the incredible contributions that immigrants make to our society and culture – especially food culture – and that feels even more important now.
Fighting for basic human rights and justice for immigrants is important but we’re doing something different at League of Kitchens. We’re creating opportunities of joy, connection and celebration around immigration. It’s also important to recognize the richness that immigrants contribute. Our classes are not an act of charity. They’re deliberately priced at the same price point as classes at the French Culinary Institute. It’s a privilege and an honor to cook with these women. They have so much to share in terms of knowledge, expertise and culture. The workshops are fun and bring so much pleasure from the connection to these women.
Your personal mixed heritage (Korean and Jewish) was one of the main influences behind creating the League of Kitchens. Why do you think NYC remains such an immigrant-rich city and do you think New York will ever be at risk of losing its multi-cultural status?
I don’t think so. New York City has always been a place of entry for people from around the world. Statistically, NYC is still the most diverse place on the planet. Close to one third of the population is foreign born. It’s an incredible city of immigrants and children of immigrants and that’s a huge part of the richness and dynamism of New York.
Your website mentions a quote from Conde Nast Traveler which calls the League of Kitchens “quite possibly the coolest foodie thing to do” in NYC. Besides your own cooking workshops, what is your personal favorite foodie thing to do or place to go in New York City?
I love the Malaysian breakfast at Kopitiam in the Lower East Side! I’m a huge fan of savory breakfasts and the chef at Kopitiam is Malaysian of Chinese descent and I just love the traditional Malysian cuisine there.
As an Iranian-American myself, I was thrilled to see how often you host Persian cooking workshops! How did you meet the League of Kitchens’ Persian instructor, Mab? And how have people reacted to Persian cuisine and the exposure to Iranian culture?
One of the most powerful things in our cooking classes in general is how they create an opportunity for people to get a real, personal sense of different countries and cultures around the world beyond what’s in the news, so it’s not so abstract and foreign. For instance, our Persian instructor Mab was a well known women’s rights and gay rights activist in Iran, as well as a documentary filmmaker and an incredible cook who grew up cooking with her mother and grandmother. Through her workshops, she’s creating an opportunity for people to get to know her, her personal story and Iranian culture – which is very different from the common narratives around Iran that you get from the news.
Food is often referred to as a bridge between cultural divides. There are countless TV series, documentaries and blogs that blend food and travel, exposing millions of Americans to foreign cultures…and yet, almost 60% of Americans still don’t have a valid passport! Why do you think that is? And what can be done to change this?
A lot of it is fear. If they haven’t had experiences with people from other cultures or been in a different, unfamiliar environment, it can be scary and unappealing. Things like League of Kitchens and other experiences where you can get to know individuals from different cultures do a lot to break through that barrier.
A number of our students have actually gone to visit the home countries of our instructors! One of our Uzbek instructors met up with their student in Uzbekistan. More experiences like that are important. Even though New York City is diverse, there are few opportunities for meaningful interactions, beyond service-based interactions at places like bodegas and dry cleaners, so it’s easy to stay in your own bubble. League of Kitchens creates meaningful, cross-cultural connections and learning exchanges that personalize and humanize parts of world that may feel foreign. Especially with countries with which the US is in conflict – like Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. – it’s so important for those instructors to step forward and teach people about their culture.
Meet Lisa Gross at 6:30pm tonight, January 16th, for a talk on Kitchen Liberation: Immigrant Home Cooking and Women’s Rights at the Tenement Museum. Details here.