"Then we get into questions of--okay, based on life experience, based on the thoughts that have surfaced here for everybody, what, if anything, are you wondering? What kind of questions come to mind?"
On this week’s show we revisit a conversation with Laura Scheper and Kayleigh Dance about pairing food with art for socially distanced cultural events.
We visit with Mori Willhite, the chef and owner of a teaching kitchen featuring Japanese food.
And we have the story behind a chocolate cake recipe that some people are willing to share, and some aren’t.
Dad Took the Cake (Recipe)
Family recipes may be beloved within the family, but they don’t usually rise to the level where people ask for them outside the family. And when they do, sometimes the family is protective of the recipe. They feel it’s so much a part of their identity, they can’t give it away.
Producer Alex Chambers grew up with a chocolate cake recipe that his father made for most special occasions. It was beloved within the family, and when other people tasted it, they wanted it to be beloved in their family too. It’s become a standard cake in many households connected to the Chambers family. But the recipe’s origins have been murky. So Alex went home and, while his dad baked another edition of the cake, Alex got the recipe – and pinned his dad down on where it came from.
Gather Around the (virtual) Table, to Talk About Food and Art
The pandemic has changed the way many of us experience education, dining, socializing and culture more broadly--including the visual arts. Here at Indiana University, in the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art Laura Scheper had to find new ways to engage the public with the museum’s collection.
Her role as the Public Experiences Manager, is to design experiences that facilitate connection between the artworks and the people visiting the museum. Without visitors in the physical space of the museum, Laura faced a challenging situation.
She found inspiration in an informal zoom call between her family and another family (friends of hers) where they cooked together for a socially distanced culinary experience. It was so much fun, she thought it might make for an engaging experience with the museum.
She enlisted the support of a local foodie and social media influencer, Kayleigh Dance.
Together they crafted a series of art and food pairings for monthly zoom sessions throughout the semester.
Hear all about it on the show this week.
Note: this story originally aired in 2021.
A Japanese Cooking School in the Heartland
One of the featured guests for the Eskenazi Museum’s Food and Art Pairings was Mori Willhite.
Mori has been running the Katsumi's Teaching Kitchen for about six years, but recently moved her business into a storefront on Main Street in downtown Beech Grove, on the outskirts of Indianapolis. Mori describes herself as a snob when it comes to Japanese Food, and says she's more of a teacher than a chef. She has a background as a Japanese language instructor, but she’s found that sharing food is a fun way connect with others around Japanese culture. And she likes the idea of bringing more Japanese cuisine to Indiana.
She teaches cooking workshops where participants learn how to make sushi rolls (news flash: it is all about the rice, NOT the raw fish), Japanese-style potstickers, Bento and more. She takes the time to talk in depth about rice, different types and grades (and why that matters) and she helps students source Japanese ingredients so they can continue to cook Japanese food at home. Bloomington residents can find most of what Mori talks about in the episode at B-Town International Market on the east side of Bloomington.
Once the pandemic hit, Mori moved her cooking classes online. Now she teaches both in-person classes (with fewer students) and zoom classes.
Listen to our conversation, and catch Mori's instructions for building umami flavor in her miso soup--on this week's episode of Earth Eats.
Find more recipes from Mori, including how to perfect your sushi rice, on the Earth Eats YouTube channel. There's more of those to come, so you might as well subscribe so you don't miss any!
Note: this story originally aired in 2021.
Music on this episode:
The Earth Eats’ theme music is composed by Erin Tobey and performed by Erin and Matt Tobey.
Additional music from the artists at Universal Production Music.