A woman in a purple dress and patterned hijab holds a cup of tea in the foreground, with a bouquet of flowers to her left and a white cabinet in the background.

BIPOC Foodways Alliance

LXCL:4-course dinner; cash bar (N/A drinks) available. One guest per name and email address - this helps us track attendees for our grant!

General Admission

Sponsored by Minnesota Humanities Center, BIPOC Foodways Alliance is hosting FREE Immigrant Kitchen events in 2026! Step into Shahperai&#39;s Culinary Journey through stories and Afghani dishes learned through matriarchal inheritance 🥘. Together we&rsquo;ll explore the flavors, memories, and family rituals that shaped her journey and honor the BIPOC food traditions at the heart of our work. By registering, you help&nbsp;BIPOC Foodways Alliance uplift the cooks, caregivers, and culture-keepers whose recipes tell our histories. Come ready to listen, taste, and share in community ✨. Menu:&nbsp; Shahperai Formuly is part of an influx of Afghani refugees to Minnesota who arrived here after the fall of Kubul in 2021. Like many Afghan women, cooking for family is a cultural way of life. The most important moments of Shahperai&#39;s life are marked by cooking, and sharing her love through the kitchen.&nbsp; Mantu:&nbsp;a meat-stuffed dumpling dish. The thin dough wrappers are filled with a spiced mixture of ground lamb and lots of onions, then steamed and served layered with garlic yogurt, a split-pea or tomato-meat sauce, and dried mint. &ldquo;My mother was very good at cooking Mantu. When I was around 14 years old, I was alone at home and decided to prepare Mantu. I cooked it only with onion forgetting the meat. I shared a plate with the neighbors. They said it was very delicious, but they couldn&rsquo;t recognize what it was.This small moment became a sweet memory in our family, reminding us of my mother&rsquo;s creativity and love in cooking, and after that my mom encouraged more time in the kitchen with her 😀&rdquo;&nbsp; Afghan Salata:&nbsp;a traditional, refreshing national side dish made with finely diced tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions mixed with fresh cilantro, mint, and a bright dressing of fresh lemon or lime juice and salt Kabuli Pulao:&nbsp;the national dish of Afghanistan made with long-grain basmati rice mixed with tender, beef meatballs, rich meat stock, and a sweet, savory topping of caramelized julienned carrots, dark raisins, and nuts &ldquo;In the early days of my marriage, some of my husband&rsquo;s relatives came to visit us from out of town. We had around 30 guests, and I was given the responsibility of preparing Kabuli Pulao for everyone. After the guests had eaten and left, my mother-in-law asked, &ldquo;Who cooked the rice?&rdquo; For a moment, I became nervous. I thought perhaps something had gone wrong and I was going to be blamed. With a little fear, I told her, &lsquo;I cooked the rice&mdash;and the rest of the food as well.&rsquo; To my surprise, she happily tapped the skimmer on top of the large rice dish and said with relief, Now I feel comfortable! I have found someone else in the family who can cook rice as deliciously as I do.&rdquo;Her words made me so happy. Instead of criticism, I received appreciation and encouragement. That small moment gave me confidence and made my love for cooking even stronger.&rdquo; Khetayee:&nbsp;sweet biscuits baked with flour, milk powder, icing sugar, oil, and topped with ground pistachios. They are most commonly served during Eid celebrations alongside black or green tea To honor Islamic traditions, we are hosting an alcohol-free evening. N/A beverages will be available for purchase at the bar.&nbsp; Important information about our menus:&nbsp; BIPOC Foodways Alliance and Immigrant Kitchen has elected not to accommodate dietary restrictions - legacy food is an important cultural asset, and asking our co-hosts to change their dishes undermines the deep histories attached to them.This is a difficult decision, as we want as many people to participate in our programming as possible. However, the foods we are presenting are already culturally accurate and appropriate as they exist, and preserving their integrity in conjunction with our co-hosts is an integral part of our mission. If you are a guest who cannot tolerate the menu we are presenting, we invite you to check back for a future experience that might be more amenable to your dietary needs.Thank you for your understanding.

Sponsored by Minnesota Humanities Center, BIPOC Foodways Alliance is hosting FREE Immigrant Kitchen events in 2026! Step into Shahperai's Culinary Journey through stories and Afghani dishes learned through matriarchal inheritance 🥘. Together we’ll explore the flavors, memories, and family rituals that shaped her journey and honor the BIPOC food traditions at the heart of our work. By registering, you help BIPOC Foodways Alliance uplift the cooks, caregivers, and culture-keepers whose recipes tell our histories. Come ready to listen, taste, and share in community ✨. Menu:  Shahperai Formuly is part of an influx of Afghani refugees to Minnesota who arrived here after the fall of Kubul in 2021. Like many Afghan women, cooking for family is a cultural way of life. The most important moments of Shahperai's life are marked by cooking, and sharing her love through the kitchen.  Mantu: a meat-stuffed dumpling dish. The thin dough wrappers are filled with a spiced mixture of ground lamb and lots of onions, then steamed and served layered with garlic yogurt, a split-pea or tomato-meat sauce, and dried mint. “My mother was very good at cooking Mantu. When I was around 14 years old, I was alone at home and decided to prepare Mantu. I cooked it only with onion forgetting the meat. I shared a plate with the neighbors. They said it was very delicious, but they couldn’t recognize what it was.This small moment became a sweet memory in our family, reminding us of my mother’s creativity and love in cooking, and after that my mom encouraged more time in the kitchen with her 😀”  Afghan Salata: a traditional, refreshing national side dish made with finely diced tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions mixed with fresh cilantro, mint, and a bright dressing of fresh lemon or lime juice and salt Kabuli Pulao: the national dish of Afghanistan made with long-grain basmati rice mixed with tender, beef meatballs, rich meat stock, and a sweet, savory topping of caramelized julienned carrots, dark raisins, and nuts “In the early days of my marriage, some of my husband’s relatives came to visit us from out of town. We had around 30 guests, and I was given the responsibility of preparing Kabuli Pulao for everyone. After the guests had eaten and left, my mother-in-law asked, “Who cooked the rice?” For a moment, I became nervous. I thought perhaps something had gone wrong and I was going to be blamed. With a little fear, I told her, ‘I cooked the rice—and the rest of the food as well.’ To my surprise, she happily tapped the skimmer on top of the large rice dish and said with relief, Now I feel comfortable! I have found someone else in the family who can cook rice as deliciously as I do.”Her words made me so happy. Instead of criticism, I received appreciation and encouragement. That small moment gave me confidence and made my love for cooking even stronger.” Khetayee: sweet biscuits baked with flour, milk powder, icing sugar, oil, and topped with ground pistachios. They are most commonly served during Eid celebrations alongside black or green tea To honor Islamic traditions, we are hosting an alcohol-free evening. N/A beverages will be available for purchase at the bar.  Important information about our menus:  BIPOC Foodways Alliance and Immigrant Kitchen has elected not to accommodate dietary restrictions - legacy food is an important cultural asset, and asking our co-hosts to change their dishes undermines the deep histories attached to them.This is a difficult decision, as we want as many people to participate in our programming as possible. However, the foods we are presenting are already culturally accurate and appropriate as they exist, and preserving their integrity in conjunction with our co-hosts is an integral part of our mission. If you are a guest who cannot tolerate the menu we are presenting, we invite you to check back for a future experience that might be more amenable to your dietary needs.Thank you for your understanding.

BIPOC Foodways Alliance

Immigrant Kitchen: Shahperai Formuly's Culinary Journey

2125 E Hennepin Ave ste 205

General Admission

Free

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