Emmanuel Sanchez, a Lowell High School student who immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic in 2019, signs a copy of “Tasting History” for local resident Carol Karstedt during a reading at LaLa Books on April 29. (Courtesy of Lowell Public Schools)
The students in teacher Jessica Lander’s class at Lowell High School come from 17 countries around the world, but if there’s one universal truth, it’s that no matter the culture, language, religion or preferred starch, grandmas never want to reveal their secret recipes.
This fact was the biggest challenge students faced as they compiled home-cooked recipes from their home countries for the sixth edition of “Tasting History,” a cookbook produced annually by immigrant and refugee students in Lander University’s American History II seminar. This year’s edition features 99 recipes from 17 countries.
Emmanuel Sanchez, who immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic in 2019, offered his family’s recipe for “habichuelas con dulce,” a dessert made with red beans, sweet potatoes, raisins, coconut milk and spices. He said it was the first dish that came to mind because it reminded him of neighbors and community in the Dominican Republic and the way people share food.
Just don’t ask Emmanuel what’s in it or how he makes it.
“I don’t know much about recipes,” he admitted. “My grandma told me not to look up recipes. She wrote the ingredients in her recipe book. I haven’t looked at it yet because she told me not to, but I peek every now and then.”
At a book launch party and signing event held April 29 at LaLa Books downtown, Lander and five students spoke about their book project in front of a packed audience and answered questions from moderator Kelly Keeler of Mill City Grows.
“The class will be about immigration from Ellis Island to Angel Island and the laws that were and weren’t inclusive,” Lander said, adding that the idea to create a cookbook came to her while she was searching online for class and project ideas.
“A lot of the lessons involved asking students to imagine they had to leave their home country and come to a new country,” she recalled. “Of course, my students didn’t have to imagine, because they are the experts. I wanted to create a project that centered around their expertise and really helped them understand that their history is a central and important part of our country’s history.”
The cookbook project allows students to hone their English writing and communication skills in a new way, share their own and their family’s stories and cultures, learn more about their classmates and the world, and even try new foods.
“There was a lot of really good food, but some of it wasn’t my favorite,” laughed Isadora Pires, who came to the U.S. from Brazil in 2022. “But I still respect their food and what it means to them.”
Like Emmanuel, Isadora struggled to master her grandmother’s favorite recipe: “ang a baiana,” a flavorful stew made with ground beef, smoked sausage, bacon, cornmeal, tomato sauce, corn, cheese and spices.
“My grandma would always make it for me when I was sick, and she would make it all day,” Isadora said, “and it was the last food I had before I left Brazil.”
At first, the grandmother was reluctant to share her recipes, but was amazed when she saw the book.
“My grandmother was really proud and she cried a lot,” she said, “and I cried a lot too.”
“I learned a lot about the diversity in the class and really enjoyed reading their stories,” said Isabella Valencia Velez, who came to Lowell from Colombia in 2019. The recipe she provided was salpicón de fruta, a fruit salad topped with condensed milk and ice cream that can be found at food stalls in parks in her hometown of Cali, Colombia.
In her book, Isabella writes that Salpicón de Fruta reminds her of her childhood visits to the parks in Cali with her parents.
“I remember the bakeries, the ice cream stands, the food stalls, the games. If it was hot, we went for a salpicón with condensed milk and ice cream,” she wrote. “We would sit on a bench until everyone had finished eating.”
Isabella never realized how important those times were until she came to America at age 12 and everything suddenly seemed strange, new, and confusing.
“All I want is to one day return to that moment (in California) and eat with my family without any worries,” Isabella wrote. “When I think back to that moment, I feel calm and at peace, as if everything was right in the world.”
One unexpected bonus of producing the book was a partnership between Lander’s classes and the Lowell Public Schools food service department, which came to Lander a few years ago interested in replicating “Tasting History” recipes in the LHS cafeteria and across the district.
In 2022, dishes from Cambodia, Guatemala, Rwanda, Bangladesh, Brazil, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ecuador and Somaliland will be available in the LPS cafeteria for the first time, starting with the fan-favorite Cambodian Lok Lak.
“Each month, LPS Food Services selects recipes and adjusts them to fit nutritional guidelines so they can be served to thousands of students,” Lander said. “What’s really cool and what I love is that the food service director comes into our classrooms with samples and asks the students for feedback on the food. The adults in the classroom are getting closer to these young people who are real teachers.”
“Tasting History” can be purchased at Lala Books, 189 Market St. in downtown Lowell, or at jessicalander.com/tasting-history.
