Exotic food unifies a diverse Syracuse community

The mouthwatering aroma of sourdough flatbread, garbanzo stew and lemon basil that filled the air and the vibrant sounds of live Burundian drumming made the Alibrandi Catholic Center feel like a family kitchen from some place exotic. The atmosphere was part of My Lucky Tummy’s biannual pop-up food court, where people from all over the world gathered to share a meal.

Five refugees, each from a different country, came together to cook and share their favorite traditional, homemade dishes. The menu featured entirely vegetarian foods from Bhutan, Eritrea, Indonesia, Tunisia and Afghanistan. Some of the chefs personally shared the significance of their dishes.

Chef Gusti Ayu Fransiska Dewi spent 12 hours preparing a traditional Indonesian dish called pepes tahu. Inside a wrap made of banana leaves were oyster mushrooms, tofu, candlenut and lemon basil. It’s a meal that unites her home community, she said. “The recipe is from my family, because in Bali, people in my village gather together to make this dish,” she said. “So usually we cook this all together with friends and neighbors.”

Creator of the My Lucky Tummy pop-up food court Adam Sudmann said the idea came to him one day while he was driving around Syracuse’s Northside. He saw a Congolese family and another from Bangladesh cross the street in opposite directions. At that point, he realized how truly diverse the city was and thought it ought to be celebrated, he said.

“You can say that someone coming here in a refugee capacity who doesn’t speak the language and is trying to get used to things is very isolated,” Sudmann said.

So, he hoped starting a pop-up food court would give refugees an additional place to mingle with fellow community members, while learning more about different cultures. Though he loves tasting the different, exotic foods, Jason Smith, a regular attendee of the pop-up food court, said he came for more than that. “I think the food is almost secondary to actually getting people here, experiencing their neighbors’ culture and learning about and celebrating different traditions.”

Vahid Schwart, a friend of Smith’s, has attended the annual event twice now. He hopes young people can learn more about the community through food-oriented events such as these.

“It’s really important to keep young people from universities involved,” Schwart said. “They’re the generation you want to target because they’re inheriting the corporate world and the government world and so they’re in a position to make incredible change.”

Portraits of My Lucky Tummy attendees by Ousman Diallo