Like many middle-class families growing up in the Philippines, Maria Polotan’s family’s Sunday lunch centred around pochero — a hearty all-in-one meal based around a rich soup-stew of mixed meats and vegetables flavoured by chorizo or ham bones. The flavours speak to a strong colonial influence, a cousin of Spanish dishes like cocido Madrileno or Portuguese cozido, but the addition of saba (a cooking banana similar to plantain) as well as the accompanying berenjena (eggplant-garlic sauce) makes the dish uniquely Filipino. Bowls of the rich broth are served to start, followed by a big platter of the meats and vegetables neatly arranged, accompanied by a bowl of berenjena and, of course, rice.

Long-time Dep favourite, Chef Dali Chehimi brings a mix of traditional Tunisian and Moroccan favourites to the table for a delicious tour of North African cuisine. Complex spices, lush combinations of sweet, savoury and spicy, Mediterranean ingredients and a hint of French colonial influence make for an exquisite culinary adventure.

Greek and Jewish cuisine is not an especially common fusion, which is actually kind of odd, given the thousand-plus years of coexistence that they shared in antiquity, stretching back to at least 400 BCE. The ebb and flow of empires and diasporas severed ties and diverged paths, but some common threads remain — e.g. the tradition of leaning to the left during the Passover seder it considered by some to derive from the preferred leaning posture of reclining Greek & Roman nobles at their banquets… an emulation of the table manners of the ancient ruling class, emphasizing the luxury of eating like a free man vs. slave. Tonight’s dinner is a Greek-Jewish fusion, prepared by Alissa Kondogiannis, a Greek-Jewish mash-up herself, equally inspired by classic Hanukkah treats and the Mediterranean flavours of Greece.

In early 2016, shortly after hundreds of Syrian refugee families arrived in Toronto, The Depanneur reached out with an invitation to share our kitchen. From that small gesture of hospitality emerged Newcomer Kitchen, which evolved into a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating social and economic opportunities for newcomer women while enriching the culinary landscape of our city. Now, 5 years and thousands of meals later, a small group of the original participants have teamed up to form their own catering business, Syrian Sisters. Tonight’s menu features a selection of traditional Syrian dishes that were among my favourites from the Newcomer Kitchen project.

Iván Wadgymar has some unfamiliar job titles for a Torontonian: Tortillero, Molinero, and Sembrador, each one taking him deeper into the heart of a culinary tradition. As a Tortillero, he runs Maizal Tortilleria making artisanal Mexican tortillas and totopos (aka tortilla chips) using locally grown organic corn. As a Molinero he processes raw corn using the traditional nixtamal method that transforms it into the raw masa dough that is the foundation of much of indigenous Mesoamerican cooking, making it more digestible and nutritious in the process. As a Sembrador (sower), he grows his own heirloom varietals of corn and other vegetables, herbs and spices in the sustainable permaculture tradition of the small milpa farms of Mexico. Together, he connects land, seed, process and product in a way that is a celebration of both our local terroir and his hispanic heritage, putting the culture back into agriculture. Along the way he both protects and reveals the unique flavours of a culinary tradition that is both ancient and very much alive.