African diaspora event explores home through cuisine
“Cuisine cannot exist without the free and fair movement of ingredients, ideas, and people,” writes Chris Ying in You and I Eat the Same. This observation is demonstrated in the African Diaspora Migration and Foodways event held on Sept. 23 in the University Chapel, where Maryam and Malvin Wright, founders of Yaya’s Kitchen, cooked a curated menu, blending the flavours of northern Nigeria and the Sahel region through a modern interpretation. The accompanying talk brought into conversation what happens to food, and to the people who make it, when they move to a new place.
For Mt.A sociology Professor Claudine Bonner, event organizer and Canada research chair in African Diaspora Migration and Racial Justice, the exploration of the effects of migration kept circling back to the foods we eat. The event focused on a wide geographic range, from northern Nigeria, the Sahel, and regions towards Ethiopia. “Thinking about the ingredients, or the particular dishes that are specific to those areas: what do they look like when you move to Atlantic Canada?” Bonner asks.
The question is broader than geography: “When you think about what happens when people move to a new place, one of the first things we have to do as humans is figure out how to sustain ourselves,” Bonner said. “We have to think: what will we eat? And in that new place, we need comfort, and that need for comfort usually comes in the form of food, because comfort food is home.”
During the event, Malvin Wright emphasized this point, discussing how food is a powerful vessel of memory, identity, and connection. He described the history of acarajé, a bean fritter originating from southwestern Nigeria that travelled to Brazil through the transatlantic slave trade, as a case study. He noted that the way it is prepared in Brazil today remains close to how it was made generations ago, but in Nigeria, the dish has evolved through colonization, independence, and modernity. Across the diaspora, acarajé remained a connection point for people.
This dynamic was also present at the event, as noted in an emailed statement to The Argosy from Kevinique Stubbs, a former international student and now a student success guide at Mt.A. “My table had a student from Nigeria, a student from Jamaica, myself from the Bahamas, and a professor with Jamaican heritage,” Stubbs said in the email. “As the chef was speaking, we were also comparing our own experiences, saying things like, ‘my mom prepares it this way,’ or ‘in Jamaica, we make it this way’.”
Stubbs also noted how “even when we were talking about the same ingredient or dish, everyone had a slightly different story attached to it.” Stubbs pointed to a memory that also captured the same idea of a dish evolving across generations while still holding onto its roots, like acarajé. “When my parents visited me in Canada, we realized we had forgotten to bring grits from the Bahamas. My mom bought cornmeal and played around with it until she got something close to the consistency of grits,” Stubbs said. “While it wasn’t the same, it was close enough to give us that piece of home.”
Stubbs imagines that version continuing, with the cornmeal recipe being what she might pass down to her children. “Eventually, you have a recipe that looks a little different from what my parents or grandparents made, but it still carries that cultural connection and the story of where it came from,” Stubbs said.
Mt.A’s International Centre works directly with students new to the country. Christa Mason, the International Student advisor at Mt.A, said food’s role in identity is why events like this one matter for students. “Food is such an important part of culture and identity. It is connected to family, traditions, memories, and a sense of home,” Mason said. “Food can also create opportunities for students to connect and learn about different cultures. Events like the African diaspora migration event are a wonderful example of how food can open the door to those conversations.”
With this awareness, Mason pointed to a new resource aimed at helping students navigate this transition. The International Student Handbook, developed last year with Chinenye Jessica Okponwa, a student from Nigeria and former International Centre intern, includes guidance on finding familiar foods and international groceries in the area.
The handbook is available on the International Centre’s website here: https://mta.ca/current-students/community-supports/international-students/international-student-programs-and