Two of humanity’s great culinary ideas that show up in some form in food cultures — as snacks, mains, sides and street food specialties the world over. Across vast geographies, centuries and culinary traditions, culinary creatives and kitchen wizards have taken humble grains, flours and pounded starches, mixed and shaped them into batters and doughs, then transformed them in myriad ways: over griddles and open fires, inside skillets and frying pans, emerging as pancakes (aka hotcakes, griddlecakes, pikelets, crêpes, dosas, blini and countless other variations); or folded, filled, dropped and formed to be steamed, simmered, boiled, baked or fried, emerging as the vast family we call dumplings — aka pierogi, shumai, momos, jiaozi, pelmeni, khinkali, mandu, manti and many, many more…
Along the way, countless shapes, sizes, names, traditions and rituals emerged for each — all beautiful reminders of the ways our ancestors not simply nourished us across the human timeline, but intentionally found comfort and deliciousness in the act of doing so. 🥞🥟
📸 PHOTO CAROUSELS 🎡 ABOVE 👆🏽: Give glimpses of the culinary & cultural convergence through my lens: from classic American pancakes (and their complicated but undeniable connections to Black culinary creativity), to Ashkenazi-influenced potato pancakes, Chinese soup dumplings, Tibetan momos and American Southern-style chicken & dumplings with actual West African origins. And that’s just a sampling — pics of pierogi, shumai, gnocchi, Caribbean dumplings and so many more variations on these remarkably universal ideas also populate my iPhoto folders. LOL.
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Speaking of Cultural Convergence, Dumplings & Such 🥟: What better time to shout out a perfect place for dumpling deliciousness: Kings Co. Imperial (KCI) has now opened their latest great location — just two doors down from me (a one-minute walk away! 🙌🏽🙌🏽) here in my famously foodie-centric Park Slope, Brooklyn neighborhood. KCI’s menu has a lovely lineup of Chinese dumpling varieties to discover and devour — from potstickers, wontons, fan fan and long dumplings to soup dumpling specials sometimes—and for real one of the best egg rolls I’ve had in a looong time (which — right or wrong — I classify as a large-ish crispy dumpling and consider to be one of the best bar bites ever alongside one’s preferred beverage). Beautifully made dumplings — whether steamed or fried — are like compact little parcels of savory deliciousness. I mean, what better cocktail fare is there? Yes, that’s a rhetorical Q — even better yet, they’re practically designed to facilitate connection over great conversation — accompanied by amazing cocktails, which can also be found on KCI’s menu — the stage is set for superb snacking while sipping and sharing stories. Yes, I can clearly see Eléctrico Mezcal Artesanal fitting very nicely into the equation. 😉
Located in a special space full of fond memories and lots of functional food history for me, there’s so much cosmic symmetry here: over a decade ago, Chefs Josh Grinker, Tracy Young, and I would collaborate at this exact same address, co-creating special market-menu events and storied historical dinners that I helped bring together and produce — a few of which are featured in the photo carousel here — back when it was Stone Park Cafe’s Event Space, long before it became the lovely new home of KCI’s third aesthetic outpost. A proper “welcome back to the hood” story & such is forthcoming, but for now: Happy Dumpling Day & Cheers to old friends made new neighbors again! 🥟❤️
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