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. 

Tracey Suppo, Board Member, Chicago Cultural Alliance & CEO/Co-Founder Of Book+Main 

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.

From the time I can remember, I’ve always loved to cook. My grandmother, Clara, was an amazing cook and I grew up eating her food almost every Friday night when my family would go to my grandparents’ house for Shabbat dinner. Me, my parents, and my three siblings, plus my aunts, uncles, and cousins would all come together to celebrate the sabbath, eat, and catch up. My family moved away from Chicago when I was 12, but those gatherings are some of the most wonderful memories from my childhood.

My grandparents were Holocaust survivors. They met after the war and my mother was born in the Czech Republic. They came to the States when she was only six months old. Both of my grandparents had lost almost their entire families in the camps, and I can only imagine the joy they must have felt on those nights to be surrounded by a large, growing family that they created. Notably, my grandparents’ naturalization papers and many photos from my family’s archive are on display at the Illinois Holocaust Museum.

There are so many recipes that bring back childhood memories of my grandmother’s cooking: chicken paprikash, cholent, stuffed cabbage…and on and on.

However, in 2000, I went to Israel for the first time to attend my cousin’s wedding. I immediately fell in love with the country and its people—and, of course, its food. One of the dishes that has stayed with me since is shakshuka. I love vegetables and dishes that scream FRESH and have lively, bright flavors. I also like dishes that are really healthy. This is one of those dishes. There are many variations on shakshuka, and different ethnicities and countries often have their own spin. This is the way I learned to make it and it is a dish that I make often.

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. 

Teresita Aviles Bailey, Development and Membership Associate, Chicago Cultural Alliance

Taste from Home is a collection of recipes and stories inspired by the food that defines who we are and where we come from. As we are all home exploring new recipes and cuisines, we encourage you to share a recipe and story with us that connects you to your family and cultural heritage.

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.

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

I would love to say my mom taught me, since she is one of the best cooks in the family. However, she doesn’t measure things so as a teenager I never bothered to watch her and learn. So instead it is with great fun that I say that it was my American boyfriend (who is now my husband) taught me how to cook this traditional Nicaraguan dish. During my undergrad at Purdue I couldn’t afford to go home to Nicaragua and I was feeling quite homesick for one of my birthdays. He surprised me by cooking gallo pinto, although he was apologizing because he had burnt some of it. Little did he know that that was how my grandma (my Meme) would cook it. She would leave it on stove top on low while she did other things stirring it occasionally until it was nice and crispy. Now in our home, we serve it two different versions, a soft version for my husband and a crispy version for me.

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

Gallo Pinto is a staple meal and you will find it in every Nicaraguan household at any time of the day alone or as a side. It is not uncommon to eat it for breakfast with eggs, cheese, and CORN tortillas, for lunch with cabbage salad and some type meat, and then again for dinner with a churrasco and plantains or more tortillas. Pre-pandemic, I would cook it maybe once a month or every couple of months because it takes while to get it just right. Since the quarantine however, I’ve developed the habit of making a big pot of beans and keep some in the freezer to make a big batch of gallo pinto to eat throughout the week. My husband loves it and will eat everyday given the chance.

What culture/country is this recipe from?

Nicaragua, however, it is a very common dish throughout Latin America with a few variations of beans (black beans vs. red) or different kinds of oil depending on the region and personal touches from each family (My family- A LOT of garlic). On the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica for example, it is cooked with coconut oil which gives it a different flavor. In El Salvador it is called “casamiento” or “casados”. We all like to claim the dish as our own-which can lead to very heated debates- so before I get angry messages from family and friends: “El Gallo Pinto es Nica!”.

Why is it important to you?

It is quite simply a Taste From Home. It is a dish that reminds me of my family, friends, and my life in Nicaragua. It bring me joy and it is very comforting. My family is spread out around the world due to the Civil War during the 80’s but I am certain that they all cook this dish to remind them of home.