Special to the Record Dr. Ellen Rovner, a prominent historian with an expertise in Chelsea’s Jewish history, led a cooking class Tuesday at GreenRoots’ Teaching Kitchen. Rovner taught residents in her second Jewish cooking class at the new facility located on Pearl Street. “I’m happy to be teaching some traditional Jewish cooking classes,” said Rovner, who holds a Ph.d from Brandeis University. “We’re making dishes that were very common when the Jewish population really flourished in Chelsea.
The wonderful thing about it is that most of our cooks today are of Spanish origin and they’re loving the food. For all of us, it brings up stories of our families and how we all stay connected around the tables of the foods that we ate. So it’s been a really great experience for me.” Rovner added that her documentary on Chelsea’s Jewish history is set to be released soon.
“The film is coming along really well,” said Rovner. “I’m working closely with Debra Zabot. She’s been wonderful, and we’re excited about the project.” Roseann Bongiovanni, executive director of GreenRoots, welcomed the large group of residents to the Teaching Kitchen. Bongiovanni said residents are welcomed to host cooking classes at the facility. She talked about a local “guest chef” teaching series where local residents are leading cooking classes for the community at large.
Carlota Isabel Gaitan Guzman, the sister-in-law of Chelsea powerhouse Mike Sandoval, will be leading the next course where she will teach participants how to make Honduran Fish and Coconut Stew. Jojo Emerson, GreenRoots’ Teaching Kitchen Coordinator, has done an amazing job engaging dozens of residents in activities and programming since the Kitchen formally launched programming. From April to July alone, GreenRoots has carried out 39 classes and workshops engaging 549 participants! “Building off of our food justice efforts cultivated in our community gardens, our Teaching Kitchen aims to create accessible and inclusive culinary programs for residents.
Community leadership made the kitchen a reality, and we are working to foster greater leadership by making this a space where community members can contribute in their own ways. That could be sharing their heritage cooking or simply participating in programming to learn something new. We want everyone who walks through the door to feel they have both something to add to our programs and something to gain from attending them!” offered Jojo.
To learn about and register for upcoming classes or to lead a class yourself, visit our website at www.greenrootsej.org or contact Jojo at [email protected].