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A Huge Turnout for Afghan Cuisine at “Tables Across Borders”

01/02/2024 01:26:32 PM

Jan2

By Erica Serlin and Lynn Silverman

On Sunday, October 1, 96 Temple Beth El congregants and community members gathered at TBE to feast and learn at Tables Across Borders, the second in a series of multicultural community dinners highlighting the cuisines and cultures of local chefs who are refugees or seeking asylum. Tables Across Borders was initiated by Kai Gardner Mishlove, executive director of Jewish Social Services, based on a similar successful program in Milwaukee. This latest dinner was co-sponsored by TBE with help from our Immigrant and Refugee Rights Action Team and generously supported by the Cheryl Rosen Weston fund of the Jewish Federation of Madison.  

In the words of Kai Gardner Mishlove, the objectives of the Tables Across Borders dinners have been to “raise awareness and increase advocacy regarding the contributions of our refugee communities via a cultural exploration of the cuisines of local refugee chefs, to serve as an incubator for refugees interested in pursuing culinary arts and establishing food businesses, to build bridges between communities and combat antisemitism, bigotry, racism, and anti-immigrant sentiment, and to eat delicious food with new friends!”

The October 1 dinner featured chef Bahkt Mohammad, a refugee from Afghanistan who was resettled by JSS and is now being supported in his dream to open an Afghan restaurant in Madison. Prior to coming to the U.S., the chef owned and operated a wonderful restaurant in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he had quite a following due to his delicious cuisine!

We had the privilege of sampling his wonderful dishes with a menu that included chicken prepared several ways, fried fish, meatballs, a complex and savory bean dish, rice pilaf with carrots and raisins, potato samosas, an assorted fresh vegetable salad, a mixed spinach dish, custard, and sweet milk tea with spices. There was plenty of variety—even for the vegetarians among us!

TBE was excited to be a part of this wonderful celebration and, as a bonus, to have it incorporate Sukkot. Rabbi Jonathan Biatch welcomed people to the TBE sukkah and explained the meaning of the actual structure and the rituals associated with this holiday. We were also fortunate during dinner to be able to meet new JSS staff, including the refugee resettlement director, Sunday Nzitatira.  

In summary, the food was superb and people were excited to gather as a community, to see old friends and meet new people at such a joyous occasion. To learn more about chef Bhakt Mohammad’s catering business, which currently operates out of FEED Kitchens, please visit AfghanKabulCuisine.com.

April 29, 2024 21 Nisan 5784