Rosa Gallagher, Museum Director, Dank Haus German American Cultural Center

Taste from Home is a collection of recipes and stories can be used as a way to connect with others and facilitate conversations about race, culture, and identity over a new recipe. Make a cultural dish and sit down with family and friends and have a discussion of the culture it represents. 

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today, if you are able. If you are unable to donate, you can still participate by sharing a recipe by using hashtags #tastefromhome, #tastefromhomerecipe, & #chicagocultural on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

I am the Museum Director at the DANK Haus German American Cultural Center, and absolutely love German food! This recipe for apple pancakes is simple, vegetarian, and uses basic ingredients, so lots of people are sure to enjoy it. 

Who taught you this recipe/how did you learn it?

My mom and Oma (grandma) made this for me when I was growing up. I myself have never been a pancake-maker, but I had a craving for it on a cold weekend this past winter. I searched “Apfelpfannkuchen” on YouTube and watched the one that looked best and was by a German person. I didn’t have “vanilla sugar” and it took me a few minutes to convert from grams to ounces, but it turned out fine. In fact, I started making it every few weeks, with a slight adaptation or twist every time. For the first batch, I used thinly sliced apples. The next time, I grated the apples on a cheese grater and just mixed it into the batter. The two methods are equally delicious!

When do you normally eat this dish? Is it for a holiday or celebration?

You can eat Apfelpfannkuchen any time of year. Pancakes are not just a breakfast food in Germany, in fact, I remember eating them in the afternoon as a sort of sweet lunch. They are more chewy and thin than American pancakes. 

What culture/country is this recipe from?

This recipe is German, though they are similar to French crepes. In my experience, the Germans eat them flat rather than folded or rolled.

Why is it important to you?

This recipe makes me think of fun afternoons having pancakes made by my Oma, then playing board games with my siblings and grandparents. I love German desserts that use fresh delicious fruit and amplify the flavors with lots of butter! 

The recipe is in the link. A donation is not required to view the recipe. Any donations made will support the Chicago Cultural Alliance’s mission to promote, support, and connect museums and centers of cultural heritage for a more inclusive and equitable Chicago. 

Maria Klimchak, Executive Curator , Ukrainian National Museum 

Taste from Home is a collection of recipes and stories can be used as a way to connect with others and facilitate conversations about race, culture, and identity over a new recipe. Make a cultural dish and sit down with family and friends and have a discussion of the culture it represents. 

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today, if you are able. If you are unable to donate, you can still participate by sharing a recipe by using hashtags #tastefromhome, #tastefromhomerecipe, & #chicagocultural on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

A celebration of Ukrainian food and inspiration from my aunt.

This story is about my aunt Anna (Hania) Lytwyn who was born in 1924 in Ukraine. In 1942 the Nazis took her to work in forced labor camps in Germany. In 1948 she emigrated from Germany to Canada…My multi-talented aunt and baba Hania was an amazing person. I remember her from my childhood through many letters, which we received from Canada, while we still lived in Ukraine. When we moved to USA, she embraced us all like we were her own children.

She was a lifelong member of the Ukrainian Womens’ Organization serving 10 years as president, and was a cornerstone member of the Ukrainian National Federation, as well as a founding member of the Seniors Club. She was well known for her catering skills in preparing traditional Ukrainian cuisine and taught specialty bread making (korovai) at Mohawk College even appearing on the W networks television show, Loving Spoonfuls. Embroidering, traditional Easter Eggs (pysanky), and tending to her rose gardens were something this amazing and multi-talented women enjoyed not only to do herself, but also to teach others her craft and skill. A woman of diversity and love of life and family, her ability to never stop learning will continue to inspire us all. She passed in May 2016. I hope you enjoy looking at my Ukrainian kitchen through “baba Hania’s” recipes.

The recipe is in the link. A donation is not required to view the recipe. Any donations made will support the Chicago Cultural Alliance’s mission to promote, support, and connect museums and centers of cultural heritage for a more inclusive and equitable Chicago. 

Randy Adamsick, Board Member, Chicago Cultural Alliance

Taste from Home is a collection of recipes and stories can be used as a way to connect with others and facilitate conversations about race, culture, and identity over a new recipe. Make a cultural dish and sit down with family and friends and have a discussion of the culture it represents. 

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today, if you are able. If you are unable to donate, you can still participate by sharing a recipe by using hashtags #tastefromhome, #tastefromhomerecipe, & #chicagocultural on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

When my grandparents arrived in Pilsen from Rabca, Slovakia around 1900, they brought little with them except their desire for a better life, work ethic, and many Old World traditions. Among our culinary staples like goulash, stuffed cabbage, pork with sauerkraut, was our favorite on a cold Chicago night, Chicken Paprikash.  Ours was the “peasant” soup version of Paprikash, because it went much further (especially when loaded with dumplings) for Andrej and Maria’s family of seven.  This included my dad who was orphaned with his siblings by the time he was 16.  Our block of 24^th St. was filled with sounds and smells and crazy characters who all seemed to have nicknames: “Pappy, K-Boy, Uncle Fat, Kiki, Copsy, and my dad, “Blackie.”  We never ate Paprikash without a big crowd around the table, drinking beer, telling stories, and complaining about the White Sox. 

In the 1970s, when my family moved out of the neighborhood, I missed what I didn’t know I had: an identity that went back generations to Slovakia, the homeland that I finally visited in 1997, nearly 100 years after the Adamcik arrival at Ellis Island. 

Chicago neighborhoods are full of such stories, and preserving these stories is the mission of a unique, only-in-Chicago non-profit, the Chicago Cultural Alliance.

Please support the Alliance with a gift to our Taste From Home Campaign. 

The recipe is in the link. A donation is not required to view the recipe. Any donations made will support the Chicago Cultural Alliance’s mission to promote, support, and connect museums and centers of cultural heritage for a more inclusive and equitable Chicago. 

Chinese American Museum of Chicago

Taste from Home is a collection of recipes and stories can be used as a way to connect with others and facilitate conversations about race, culture, and identity over a new recipe. Make a cultural dish and sit down with family and friends and have a discussion of the culture it represents. 

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today, if you are able. If you are unable to donate, you can still participate by sharing a recipe by using hashtags #tastefromhome, #tastefromhomerecipe, & #chicagocultural on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today, if you are able. If you are unable to donate, you can still participate by sharing a recipe by using hashtags #tastefromhome, #tastefromhomerecipe, & #chicagocultural on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

“In the late 1930’s, because of the war in China, I attended school near my home until just before my 8th birthday. My family lived in the town of Samkong (Kwangtung Province) in the hospital run by my mother Dr. Hoi-poh Yue. When I started 3rd grade, I went to boarding school 8 miles away in Linhsien, a 3-hour walk, rather difficult for a child. I walked to school each Sunday afternoon, and returned home each Saturday afternoon, so I had only one day at home with my family each week. My father, R. Paul Montgomery, had a room in the mission school. I was homesick and wanted to go home with him during the week, but that was not possible due to the distance between home and school. One Monday afternoon, I asked to go home with Father on his bicycle. I ran after him, the dorm matron trying to stop me. The matron’s bound feet prevented her from running fast enough to catch up with me. Father took me home that one time, as his heart was breaking. My mother was working with the Red Cross, helping the war-ravaged citizens. She sat me down and firmly lectured me about the importance of an education, telling me that I must stay in school and study hard. However, Mother promised to come fetch me on Saturday to take me out for dim sum, a rare treat at that time. My grandmother was worried about the food I was given in boarding school, so she would make the meat patty for me whenever a relative or villager was going from Samkong to Linhsien. There was no refrigeration in those days, as it had to be timed just right for my meals.”

Story & Recipe contributed by Margaret Larson for the Cook Book “Have You Eaten Yet?” published by the Chinese American Museum of Chicago.

The recipe is in the link. A donation is not required to view the recipe. Any donations made will support the Chicago Cultural Alliance’s mission to promote, support, and connect museums and centers of cultural heritage for a more inclusive and equitable Chicago. 

Elizabeth Carr, Development & Membership Intern, Chicago Cultural Alliance

Taste from Home is a collection of recipes and stories can be used as a way to connect with others and facilitate conversations about race, culture, and identity over a new recipe. Make a cultural dish and sit down with family and friends and have a discussion of the culture it represents. 

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today, if you are able. If you are unable to donate, you can still participate by sharing a recipe by using hashtags #tastefromhome, #tastefromhomerecipe, & #chicagocultural on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

1. Who taught you this recipe/how did you learn it? 

I learned this recipe (Cozonac) from my very lovely roommate, Raluca, who I’ve been living and cooking and baking with for almost a whole year now, who learned this recipe from her mother and grandmother (though we actually had to look up the recipe specifics because for Raluca’s family, you just know how to make it!) 

2. When do you normally eat this dish? Is it for a holiday or celebration? 

Cozonac is a traditional holiday sweet bread usually served on Christmas and Easter. 

3. What culture/country is this recipe from? 

This recipe is from Romania! 

4. Why is it important to you? 

When I asked my roommate for a recipe that her family makes that is important to her and reminds her of home, she chose Cozonac. Though Cozonac is not a tradition for my very non-Romanian family, my mother (like many mothers, as I have now learned) makes bread for Christmas and Easter and that always reminds me of home.  

Our first attempt at Cozonac was a delicious success and as a wonderful bonus, her family thought we did a great job! 

My roommate and I grew up in different countries and different cultures, but we wanted to attempt a recipe that tied together both of our family’s traditions and cultures to share with the Chicago Cultural Alliance’s Taste from Home initiative. 

The recipe is in the link. A donation is not required to view the recipe. Any donations made will support the Chicago Cultural Alliance’s mission to promote, support, and connect museums and centers of cultural heritage for a more inclusive and equitable Chicago.