From Spice to Spirit: How Food Unites Diverse Cultures

As we get closer to Fall, more of us will be getting into the habit of preparing and cooking chili and other soups. I don’t know about you, but I really enjoy a delicious bowl of chili.

If you think about the ingredients of it, have you ever considered the role that each individual ingredient plays in the overall taste? If you are like me, you enjoy about two or three different kinds of beans, corn, all chili seasoning, some sort of meat (or not) cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, hot sauce, cheese, maybe some crackers, or Fritos Corn Chips, (sometimes some Ramen if I don’t have crackers or chips), and sour cream.

My Chili and Ramen (Don’t knock it til you try it)

Each of them serve a different purpose and brings their own unique flavor to the dish. You don’t expect each ingredient to be the same. You allow for each one to do its own thing.  You celebrate and appreciate the taste they bring when they are mixed together.

Just like we celebrate those ingredients of chili or any one of our other favorite soups, we should appreciate the differences in humanity and celebrate the fact that not all of us are the same. If we were all the same, we would not be able to appreciate the plethora of culinary dishes from different cultures. I don’t know about you but I enjoy dishes from different cultures. By starting with food, I have been able to learn about customs from different countries like Nigeria, Haiti, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Panama, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Bolivia, Iraq, India, China, Japan, Greece, Germany, Italy, Korea, and probably more that I failed to list here. Over the years. I have had food that is unique to each one of these countries. I would never want them to change their recipes because I enjoy those specific foods because of each country’s special touch. Food is one of the vehicles that can be used to start conversations that will cause us to get out of our comfort zones and get to know other cultures, languages, and customs.

Haitian Egusi Soup with Fufu

Lamb Biryani (Indian Dish)

An invitation to a lunch by a church member from Iraq helped us to teach Kid President some Arabic and practice an Iraqian custom of showing appreciation. This encounter prepared me for a work meeting that I had with (2) Muslims earlier this year. It brought smiles to their faces and great joy to me to see their excitement when we started our meeting by me speaking some Arabic with them.

An Iraqian Meal

A Caribbean Dish

African (Nigerian Style) Egusi Soup with Fufu

Korean Kimchi

Intentionally doing this and reading about other cultures over the years has helped me to learn more about the philosophies and religions of people from these countries and religions. It has helped me to appreciate their humanity despite our differences. It is harder to hate people when you are intentional about learning about them and from them. When you tune out the social, political, and religious rhetoric that others are enemies, you can learn to understand and love the humanity of the person who the Creator handcrafted in the image of the Divine. The Jesus of the Gospels shared meals with those who the religious leaders of his day treated as “others.” How come we can’t do the same since we claim to be followers?

There is room in this world (and dare I say, even in this country) for diverse groups to dwell together. Don’t let anyone convince you to think otherwise. 

“Diversity is not about how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one another's uniqueness” ~ Ola Joseph