If you were to pick a dish to make for friends and/or family that best reflected your roots, what would you make?
As for me, I’m Jewish, with a mom from New York’s upper west side, a dad from right here in Chattanooga and grandparents by way of Russia. So I might host you for a Passover Seder and serve my mother’s oven-roasted chicken with matzo meal stuffing, some of which would come out of the oven deliciously clumped together and some of which would be toasted to crunchy, greasy perfection. Or maybe you’d come for a first-night Chanukah meal, at which time I would spend an inordinate amount of time looking for a box potato grater that I may or may not own so I could fry up some crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside sweet-potato latkes.
With so many more people cooking at home during the pandemic, we decided to see what signature dishes our neighbors from a variety of cultural backgrounds might whip up for their friends and family. Read on for a glimpse into meals from across the globe, and perhaps a little inspiration to try something different in your own kitchen.
Amanda Okafor of Nigeria
Amanda Okafor has a busy life as a pharmacist, owner of online Nigerian grocery store OsiAfrik.com and mom of four children under the age of 10, including a newborn. Originally from Nigeria, she came to the U.S. 20 years ago to attend the University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, and later moved with her husband, a urologist, to Chattanooga.