The history department continued their series on food this week by having Pittsburgh restaurant Conflict Kitchen speak with students on Thursday.
The restaurant spoke about its origins and purpose while also allowing students to sample some of their food options from other countries.
Conflict Kitchen is a restaurant that serves food from countries that the United States is in conflict with. The current Haudoenosaunee version introduces customers to the food, culture and politics of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy.
Blaine Siegel, outreach and education director for Conflict Kitchen, was one of two representatives form the restaurant who spoke to students about the restaurant. Siegel said the foods currently served are exact replicas of foods from Iran, Afghanistan and Cuba. Members of the restaurant visit the location for one full week to get a feel for the foods, going into the homes of residents there to learn how to cook the food authentically.
Siegel said the restaurant wraps all their food in wrapping that is covered in quotes from different people around the world so that customers get a feel of human opinion and interaction.
“We made the wrapper to allow you to hear the voices and the opinions of the Iranians,” Siegel said.
Conflict Kitchen also has sit down interviews where members from other cultures have discussion sessions, with communication being done through a professional translator.
Siegel said that the restaurant aims to bring all people together through human interaction.
