Burundian rice and beans Photo by Guy Hand
I’ve been working for several months on a documentary book project for the Western Folklife Center called Making West Home.
The goal of the project has been to interview and photograph refugee families in their gardens and kitchens, learning the significance of food and cooking in their lives, how they’ve preserved cooking traditions in this new land, adapted to unfamiliar ingredients and, in turn, introduced new ingredients and recipes to this patch of the Northwest.
I’ve been shooting the photographs; Sarah Barsness is doing the interviews. Together we’re documenting the cooking of Somali Bantu, Congolese, Bhutanese, Burundian, Turkish, Colombian, Afghani, Ethiopian and Bosnian families all living in the Treasure Valley area of Idaho.
For Sarah and me, both native Idahoans, it’s been entry into a world of food and families more diverse and compelling than we’d ever imagined — and so close to our own doorsteps.
As part of the project, a cookbook called Making West Home in Boise will be published in May. Until then, here’s a slideshow of just one of our visits, to a Burundian family making a mid-day meal of rice and beans, fufu and goat stew. The audio is of the kids talking and singing to a recording while waiting for lunch.
[stream provider=video flv=x:/www.nwfoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/MakingWestHome3 .m4v img=x:/www.nwfoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/BurundiFamily.jpg embed=false share=false width=640 height=400 dock=true controlbar=over bandwidth=high autostart=false /]
|
Guy Hand is a writer, public radio producer and photographer specializing in food and agriculture. |
Hello Guy,
I happened upon this piece today and thought it was time I simply cheered your ongoing contributions. I remember first becoming aware of your work by an intriguing piece I heard while back that made an impression on me. It was on potatoes, pesticides, and mustard. I’m also interested in the intersection of sustainability, food, and the local, and appreciate thoughtful information design. Thanks.
Guy,
I can’t wait to see to the book. I grew up on Midwestern casseroles and jello but moved to Boise from a sojourn in Senegal. Sometimes I could just die for ~neling (coarsely pounded millet steamed into “couscous”, nutty and delicious), laax ag sow (even more coarsely pounded millet cooked into porridge with homemade yogurt [no starter, it just happens]), or gerte gu tooey (peanuts harvested before they ripen, when they’re still tender, then cooked in hot sand by women on the streets – one of the most delicious foods I’ve ever eaten).
Cindy