Bay Area Bites » Shuka Kalantari http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites Culinary Rants & Raves from Bay Area Food Professionals Wed, 22 May 2013 23:46:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5 After a Hmong Healing Ceremony, A Feast http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2012/04/20/after-a-hmong-healing-ceremony-a-feast/ http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2012/04/20/after-a-hmong-healing-ceremony-a-feast/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:00:00 +0000 Shuka Kalantari http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/?p=41766 Hmong refugees have been resettling in California’s Central Valley since the late 1970s. Most arrived with few personal belongings, but they did carry their cultural practices -- and their recipes. At traditional Hmong healing ceremony in rural Merced, family members feasted on pork and cabbage rolls, fresh fish, and more.]]> A Hmong shaman blesses a young pregnant woman in rural Merced
A Hmong shaman blesses a young pregnant woman in rural Merced.

Hmong refugees have been resettling in California’s Central Valley since the late 1970s, when the CIA retreated from their “Secret War” in Laos. Today the Central Valley is a hub for Hmong refugees. Most arrived with few personal belongings, but they did carry their cultural practices with them — and their recipes. At a traditional Hmong ceremony in the small town of Winton, a few dozen family members gathered to honor a young, pregnant Hmong woman — Leena Yang. The ceremony was to ensure the healthy birth of the baby and a safe delivery for the mother. “It’s like a healing, prevention and protection together. The shaman welcomes the baby soul to the world,” said Changvang Her, a Hmong translator.

A traditional Hmong altar.
A traditional Hmong altar.

First the shaman, May Yang, and her husband prepare an altar with offerings of eggs, uncooked rice, paper money and incense. The eggs, the shaman explains through an interpreter, are toys for the shaman spirits to play with. The rice is for the spirits to eat if they get hungry. Family members then spread a plastic sheet across the living floor, and carefully laid a slaughtered pig on the sheet. The pig had a rope wrapped around its belly that led to another rope, wrapped around the belly of a pregnant woman. For the next two hours the shaman chanted while she swayed back and forth and played ceremonial bells. The chants, she later explained, are prayers to the spirit world, offering the slaughtered pig as a sacrifice in exchange for a healthy birth. Throughout the ceremony, the shaman’s husband burns pieces of the paper money as offerings to help the shaman pass through different spiritual levels, or realms.

May Yang, the shaman, rattles ceremonial bells to help the unborn baby's spirit.
May Yang, the shaman, rattles ceremonial bells to help the unborn baby’s spirit.

After the ceremony the men in the family took the pig to the garage to prepare it for the feast, while the women cooked in the kitchen and in a makeshift kitchen in the backyard. The first dish they began to prepare was the “pork and cabbage,” a pork and rice noodle dish wrapped in steamed cabbage.

Yep, that's the pig.The men in the family cut up the pig in garage in preparation for the feast.Meanwhile in the kitchen, the women carefully steam leaves of cabbage.

The pork meat is mixed with cilantro, green onions and thin rice noodles.The women then wrap the steamed cabbage around the meat.The cabbage rolls are steamed, then served

One dish was prepared only for the mother-to-be: a freshly killed chicken. The chicken, cut in half, represents the separation of the mother and baby’s spirits and is part of the ceremony. The Hmong believe that mother and daughter are joined in one life, and soon before birth you must split them into two lives.

The mother-in-law plucks the chicken in her backyard.She then rinses the last of the feathers off the chicken.The shaman's husband carefully places the chicken in the doorway.

He adds a paper cut out of two people on the chicken, representing mother and child.The shaman’s husband cuts the chicken – and the paper dolls – in half. This symbolizes the separation of the mother and child’s souls.The mother-in-law takes the other half of the chicken to her daughter-in-law, who eats it before the feast.

The final, and most complicated dish was the trout, which was mostly prepared in the yard while the shaman performed the ceremony in the living room.

Family members prepare the fish in the backyard.A young woman carefully cuts off a fish’s head.Garlic cloves are baked, peeled, then mashed up with a mortar and pestle.

Grilled chili peppers are also mashed in a mortar and pestle.After baking the women painstakingly take out tiny fish needles from the dish.The fish is then mixed with garlic, eggs and chili peppers. Then it's baked and ready to serve.

The women of the family — who did the vast majority of the cooking — proudly pose with the pregnant lady-of-honor in front of the feast they prepared.

Hmong women pose in front of the feast.

Then the men sit down to eat, while most of the women eat in the kitchen or the backyard.

Men sit down to eat.

After the feast, the mother-in-law warmly thanks the shaman and her husband. As they head to the front door, the shaman is gifted a bag filled with dozens of steamed pork and cabbage rolls to take home to her own family.

Visit KQED’s State of Health blog to read about how Hmong shamans in Merced are being trained in the basics of western medicine.

Traditional Hmong Healers Learning to Partner With Valley Doctors

]]> http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2012/04/20/after-a-hmong-healing-ceremony-a-feast/feed/ 4 A Hmong shaman blesses a young pregnant woman in rural Merced A traditional Hmong altar. May Yang, the shaman, rattles ceremonial bells to help the unborn babys spirit. Yep, that's the pig. The men in the family cut up the pig in garage in preparation for the feast. Meanwhile in the kitchen, the women carefully steam leaves of cabbage. The pork meat is mixed with cilantro, green onions and thin rice noodles. The women then wrap the steamed cabbage around the meat. The cabbage rolls are steamed, then served The mother-in-law plucks the chicken in her backyard. She then rinses the last of the feathers off the chicken. The shaman's husband carefully places the chicken in the doorway. He adds a paper cut out of two people on the chicken, representing mother and child. The shaman’s husband cuts the chicken – and the paper dolls – in half. This symbolizes the separation of the mother and child’s souls. The mother-in-law takes the other half of the chicken to her daughter-in-law, who eats it before the feast. Family members prepare the fish in the backyard. A young woman carefully cuts off a fish’s head. Garlic cloves are baked, peeled, then mashed up with a mortar and pestle. Grilled chili peppers are also mashed in a mortar and pestle. After baking the women painstakingly take out tiny fish needles from the dish. The fish is then mixed with garlic, eggs and chili peppers. Then it's baked and ready to serve. Hmong women pose in front of the feast. After the ceremony, the men in the family sit down to enjoy the feast. Food Safety with Health Dialogues http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2009/08/20/food-safety-with-health-dialogues/ http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2009/08/20/food-safety-with-health-dialogues/#comments Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:56:08 +0000 Shuka Kalantari http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/?p=6088 Spinach, alfalfa sprouts, peanut butter, beef…almost weekly, FDA and USDA alerts fill my inbox with notices about food recalls due to Salmonella or E. Coli. How does our food supply get contaminated? And what safeguards exist to ensure that the foods we eat are produced in safe and sanitary conditions? In response to concerns about the food supply, President Obama called for tougher food safety measures, and in May of this year launched a Food Safety Working Group to update the system of food safety in America.

picking romaine lettuce
Workers harvesting romaine hearts in a field at Ocean Mist Farms in Castroville, CA, in the Salinas Valley. Because of concerns over hygiene, workers now wear hair nets and plastics gloves. Photo by Sarah Varney

Tonight at 8pm on KQED Public Radio, Health Dialogues, takes an in-depth look at the safety of the food we eat. Host Scott Shafer begins by interviewing two voices familiar with food safety at the federal level: Michael Taylor, the newly appointed Senior Advisor to the Commissioner at the Food and Drug Administration, and Dr. David Acheson, who, until the end of July, worked as Associate Commissioner for Foods at the Food and Drug Administration. Later in the program, award-winning health care reporter Sarah Varney looks at how proposed food safety legislation in Washington could affect California’s food industry. We also pay a visit to the kitchen of UC Davis food safety expert Christine Bruhn, to hear about tips on consumer food safety in the home.

Research shows eating fish contaminated with mercury may cause brain damage or learning disabilities. The FDA regulates commercial fish, but what about sport fishing? Health Dialogues looks into the safety of fishing in the golden state.

Sport fishing may not always be safe, but growing your own food must be safe, right? Not necessarily. Gardeners, especially urban gardeners, should always test the soil for lead and other toxins before planting. You’ll hear a piece about a group that helps to plant gardens, and test the soil, in Alameda County.

Milk and Soy milk in store

Health Dialogues also visits two grocery stores in San Francisco’s Outer Mission with food inspector Sheldon Lew to see what the food inspection process looks like. Lew talks about what red flags he looks for during food inspections. Experience an audio slideshow of the food inspection tour.

Also, check out an audio slideshow of foods imported into the United States with FDA inspectors at the Los Angeles Port of San Pedro.

Listen to Making Fruits and Vegetables Safer on The California Report
When Congress returns to Washington after the August recess, the Senate will take up sweeping legislation to reform the nation’s food safety system. California’s produce industry could be affected.
Reporter: Sarah Varney

Listen to the entire program on Food Safety:

More Information:

Post by Shuka Kalantari

]]> http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2009/08/20/food-safety-with-health-dialogues/feed/ 2 picking romaine lettuce Milk and Soy milk in store