#like i just think ultimately it was foolish to think a central river in a city like Paris would be clean ENOUGH for competition

[transwolvie]

But okay legitimately I saw people dunking on France abt the Seine cleanup and how much it cost and the breaking news abt it still failing those tests for feces.... and they STILL made the poor Olympians swim in it?? It's got doodie in it!

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Worship from Home: July 9, 2017

This series aims to provide folks who can’t make it to church for any variety of reasons with prayers, songs, and sermons. My hope is that these posts will help you worship from home, knowing that others are using the same content and thus, though we may be miles and miles apart, we worship together. See this post for more information.

If you prefer to worship with different material, see this masterpost of sermons and full services online that should all be LGBT+ friendly.

Connecting the various scriptures for this week may appear difficult at first, but the central theme tying them all together is that of grace -- received rather than earned. Being the beloved of God is another theme. Moreover, as this webpage notes, “There is also a distinctly female note in the texts, and it might offer opportunities to explore a dimension of the Bible which is often overlooked.”

[Image description: a painting of Rebekah giving water to Abraham’s servant, who is acting as a go-between for Isaac the suitor. A camel can be seen behind Rebekah, whom she also watered. Rebekah will soon decide -- she is given her own choice! -- to go with the servant to take Isaac as her husband. She will leave the land and culture she knows to do so -- when are we like Rebekah, choosing to go where we do not know in order to follow the will of God?] 

Let us worship God, together.

(The worship material is under the readmore – let me know if you are unable to access it!)

Gathering 

Let the sound of this South African song, “Come Bring Your Burdens to God,” wash over you. 

If you cannot listen, the English part of the lyrics goes like this:

“Come bring your burdens to God, / Come bring your burdens to God, / Come bring your burdens to God / for Jesus will never say no.”

Reflect: What burdens do you have right now in your life? Do you believe Jesus will take them -- will help you to carry them? Who else can help you carry them? Whose burden can you help carry? 

Call to Worship

Blessed be God who creates all out of nothing; Blessed be Jesus who gives all for nothing; Blessed be the Spirit for whom nothing is impossible; Blessed be God forever!

Creator Spirit, wellspring of our lives, As your faithfulness is deeper than the deepest ocean carry us safely on the tide of your love.

As the refreshing rain falls on the just and unjust alike Refresh us with your mercy, who know our own injustice.

As a river flows steadily on, defying all the odds of stone and water Flow over every boundary and border that separates us from each other.

As we were once held in the waters of our parent’s womb, Hold us in the peace and power of your abiding presence.

As the waters of our baptism washed us and welcomed us Renew us now in fullness of life and unity of love. Amen, thanks be to God!

[source]

Confession

God who startles and upturns our expectations,

You do not reveal your Wisdom to the ones the world calls wise. Rather, Wisdom dazzles the minds of infants; She dances with those we call fools and whispers Her secrets to those we shove to the margins.

Have mercy on us when we do not recognize Her among the downtrodden.  Have mercy on us when we do not recognize Her amongst ourselves in our own struggles with illness, with poverty, with oppression. 

Have mercy on us when we fail to use your grace to fight for justice and peace for all your Creation.

Have mercy on us when we doubt your promise to lift our burdens from our shoulders to take us in your arms as your Beloved.

Assurance of Pardon

God of Grace,

You make the fool wise and you call the unwanted your Beloved.  We give thanks and praise for your unending grace,  for the love and compassion you extend to us when we are distracted by burdens or weighed down by doubts. 

Assured of your mercy, we can move forward  striving ever onward to the full life you secured for us and lifting others up along the way. 

Amen. 

Hymn: “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light”

Scripture

Genesis 24:34-67

Commentary on this passage (which is my personal favorite scriptural account of courtship): “The Old Testament readings...all celebrate the gift of love and marriage, though in quite different ways. Genesis introduces us to Rebekah, one of the great matriarchs of the Bible... Rebekah has an arranged marriage, perhaps the ultimate arranged marriage, since God plays a decisive part in it. ..." [source]

Song of Songs 8:2-13

Commentary on this passage: “The passage from the Song of Songs is unmediated and personal, and its unnamed woman singer is overflowing with anticipation and joy. It catches the sweet constraint of anticipation, the discipline of waiting for something eagerly hoped-for. It is perhaps one of the most difficult and yet most deepening aspects of our humanity: it is the last weeks of pregnancy, the last days of the school year before the holidays, the last long miles of the weary traveller’s journey home. ...Now is the time for singing! And who could disagree that, in truth, the singing is not more joyous, the source not more deeply carved into our being, because of the anticipation.” [source]

Hymn: a contemporary piece called “Come Away with Me” by Norah Jones fits the themes of the Song of Songs passage well. 

Romans 7:15-25a

Commentary on this passage: “A whole sermon could easily explore the ways in which we don’t do the good we want to; rather do the evil we don’t want to. Are we driven by the need to justify ourselves -- either by our worldly achievements or by our spiritual perfectionism? What does it mean to let go of our striving? When are we most open to grace?” [source]

Matthew 11:16-30

Commentary on this passage: It "connects us again with Sophia, Wisdom, in both her strengths and her limitations, and again it’s worth reading the whole chapter, for in it we follow Jesus through the frustration with the crowds, so lacking in wisdom and unable to hear him... It is to the poor and vulnerable, the small and powerless that his word will speak; they are the ones who will receive the true wisdom of kindness, humility and gentleness. These are not what worldly wisdom thinks of as characteristic masculine qualities -- do we need to challenge our definitions, or even our church practices? Who do we admire, consider suitable for high office? Who lets the light in, if not the people whose need and vulnerability makes them transparent?” [source]

Hymn: “ ‘We played the flute,’ the children said”; text here, melody here

“Forgive us, Lord, what we expect! We want a faith that we control — Yet faith is not what we direct, For it's your grace that makes us whole.”

Sermon

Option 1: a reflection entitled “The Right Yoke,” text only, pretty short

“In Matthew 11:16-19 Jesus addresses the crowd and describes the differences between himself and John. One is a bug-eating ascetic, the other enjoys celebrations and making wine at weddings. One lives in wild, isolating places, while the other surrounds himself with crowds of people and travels to the heart of cities. John and Jesus are dramatically different people; one rough and uncouth, the other accepting hospitality. Each implores their followers to repent and turn back to God. Yet for John and Jesus, their lifestyles were used as an excuse to reject the message. It might not matter if you’re an ascetic like John or outgoing like Jesus: if the crowd doesn’t like what you’re saying then they’ll come up with a reason not to listen.”

(Reminds me of how the messages and good fruits of LGBT+ folks are rejected or ignored in favor of denouncing our “lifestyles”)

Option 2: an audio sermon with transcript available; 12 minutes

This sermon focuses on the Romans 7 passage, so make sure to go back up and read that if you didn’t 

“The calling that we have that I hope really ignites this parish is a calling to be yoked with God and God’s ministry of love and salvation for the whole world.”

Option 3: a video sermon on Song of Songs 8, no subtitles; 17 minutes

What is God calling us, the Beloved, to “come away” to? What makes us hesitate?

On fuller life and hope

Reflection

God our Beloved, you hold out your hands, which bear the wounds of your love, to accept us into your arms as one spouse takes another.

We will cling to you without fear, for you will never reject us, and you will never swallow up our selfhood in yours  but rather will delight in what we are, the true selves you free us to be.

May we mold our lives to yours, while learning to love ourselves as we are.

May we be yours forever, freed from the burdens of fear and doubt and thus empowered to be your love to the world.

Amen.

Hymn: “I Am Your Bride,” contemporary piece by Danielle Rose; with lyrics

Prayers of the People

Compassionate God, you promise us your yoke is easy and your burden light.  You promise rest for those of us who are weighed down under burdens too great for us to bear. 

We lift up the prayers of our hearts to you -- the burdens and pains, the sorrows as well as the joys. 

Take a moment to pray for yourself, for those in your life, for others in the world, for Creation as a whole -- for whomever the Spirit moves you to lift up.

Amen. 

Hymn: “Come to the Water,” with lyrics

Benediction

In your life, Jesus, you showed us that joy in banquets and good company can be a sacred thing. We are ready to go out to expand the banquet of your love.

In the woman of the Song of Songs, we learn that passion and pleasure can unite us and lead us to God.  We are ready to go out to learn to delight in our own bodies, and to grow closer to one another, your people.

O Sophia, Holy Wisdom, beholding your choosing to share your truth with the cast-offs of society, with the naive and the ignored, We are ready to go out to share the Wisdom the world calls foolish.

Let us go out with hearts transformed, with minds striving to improve while not fearing imperfection, with bodies ready to have their share of work and of rest, all for the glory of God our Beloved. 

Thanks be to God! 

Hymn: “Lead Me, Guide Me”, with lyrics

[ Image Description: a detail from He Qi’s piece “Song of Solomon.” An abstract type style is used; a gazelle and green mountains/hills take up the background; and the image centers on two figures, both with black hair and full lips. The one is facing the viewer, the other is turned in profile and her face is in front of half of the other figure’s face. Their faces seem to unify into one, with each contributing one eye, and half the lips; one contributing the ear, the other the nose. ]

[biteblue81-blog]

How ‘Chef’s Table’ Star Asma Khan Is Breaking Down Barriers With Her All-Women Kitchen

Asma Khan is a force of nature. When I interviewed her for this video, shortly before her featured episode in the recent season of Netflix’s Chef’s Table aired, I left her restaurant feeling both giddy with hope and moved to deep introspection. An encounter with Asma and her warrior spirit is like nothing else.

As an immigrant to England from India, she has found her calling in life by lifting up the women around her—mostly immigrant women, women of color, and women who would otherwise likely be housewives or house cleaners in West London. Asma’s restaurant, Darjeeling Express, employs a rockstar all-women kitchen.

When we were chatting off-camera, I asked her about what she considers to be the best London souvenir. She chuckled, “Maybe I’m biased because I like him, but I think Paddington Bear. He’s from the deepest, darkest Peru and he came to London; he’s my ultimate refugee bear. I like his spirit, and that he settled in and made the best of it!”

I sat down with Asma at a cozy table in her restaurant to hear more about her women-run staff, why her Second Daughters charity is so important to her, and her stirring philosophy on life all of her experiences along the way.

KATIE QUINN: Tell us what it was like shooting Chef’s Table! How did it feel having the cameras follow you around all day?

ASMA KHAN: This was the first time I’ve done anything like this. I had no expectations. What I did not expect was 13 people to turn up in my very small restaurant and film from so close. I could’ve cooked two of the camera guys in my biryani! I think it was interesting for them to be in close proximity with seven women jostling for position. I said, yeah, this is like being on an Indian bus or train, in Bombay a commuter train. It was so fun—they were so incredible.

KQ: You exude confidence, both in the show and in person. It’s powerful! Have you always been so confident?

AK: I was born to lead. In my blood is the genes of my ancestral family, I come from one of the oldest warrior tribes in India, I come from a royal family that was known to be great warriors. So I was aware from a very young age that I came from this family. Even though I’m a second daughter...so now I promote and support second daughters. I think the confidence comes from the fact that I realized I needed to do something spectacular in my life to justify my…my…

KQ: Existence?

AK: …my existence and my right to stay in this family, to be counted. To be acknowledged. Because you sense that you are not wanted when you’re born, because you’re not the heir, the boy everybody hoped.

KQ: Right, the dowry system. Everyone wants a boy.

AK: And you know, when you have a girl the first time, everyone’s like, “Oh, how exciting”—you know, first baby. “Of course, the second one will be a boy,” they think. But when the second one is another girl, there is actual sorrow. And I think that either it crushes you, or makes you into this person with this fire to change the world. I think that’s what it did to me: It left me with a huge desire to do good, to make a difference, to lift other women. To be so good that no one would ignore you or think you’re a burden.

KQ: No mediocrity!

AK: No! And this is not arrogance. I realized that I needed to be something different, I needed to shine so that I could also bring light to other people who are going through this tough realization that maybe they’re unwanted and maybe people see you as a drain on the family because of this crazy dowry system.

KQ: I’ve heard you refer to yourself as a warrior. Will you talk about that, and how it relates to what you’re doing now?

AK: As a child, every time other people pushed me around, I saw myself as a warrior and I would just close my eyes and imagine myself flying, being victorious. Every time I faced a hurdle because I was a girl, I didn’t even just see myself overcoming it, I saw myself flying over it. I was visualizing myself with my family flag, which is not something that most girls would hold, but I would see myself putting down this flag, fighting for others, and making sure I got where I wanted to go and making sure nothing was going to stop me. I’ve always seen myself as a warrior.

KQ: Wow. Just wow. I see you as a warrior, too... Can we rewind to when you first came to this England from India? What was that like?

AK: It was the darkest time of my life. It was horrible. I didn’t know how cold winter can be—I grew up in Calcutta, which is hot the whole time—and I moved to Cambridge, UK in January. It was one of the coldest winters, where even the river had frozen. Walking through trees that were stripped bare, I felt like the trees. I felt everything I knew had been stripped bare in this cold land that I could not relate to. I was just empty. That’s when I realized how important food is to me and I learned to cook. It may sound a bit shallow that food is so important, but when you can’t change anything around you as an immigrant, having no family and friends, the only thing you can do is infuse your kitchen with aromas of home. This way you claim back that space and you feel you have the right to be there, to exist in this space, and that was why food was so important.

KQ: You joined your husband, who was already living in Cambridge, and then you started studying law, right?!

AK: Right. I applied, I got a space at Cambridge, but then my husband and I moved to London and that’s where I did my law degree and then went on and did a PhD at Kings College London, and I loved it. It was a way of trying to find a way to have roots in this country. It’s a classic immigrant’s story, you know—you try to fit in, try to get a better qualification, get a good job. That’s what the law degree was supposed to be for, but of course I realized very soon that my greatest passion and my calling was cooking.

KQ: Wow, that’s a different path! How did the career switch go?

AK: When I finished my PhD, I kept very quiet and didn’t tell anybody what I was going to do was to cook, because I didn’t want to look foolish. I was the first person in my family to go to college, to study law, the first female PhD. Everyone was so proud of me; I was going to embarrass everybody by doing the one thing that all the women in my family can do, who are not allowed to go to college—is to cook. It’s seen as something so ordinary. That’s the greatest pity of it: that no one has celebrated their cooking, so they thought me cooking was equally not worthy of celebrating. And this is the sad thing that has happened to our culture: The women who cook at home are considered to be just housewives.

KQ: But you have taken that concept, that notion, and flipped it on its head. Talk about all the women you have in your kitchen.

AK: All the women in my kitchen are home cooks. For all of us, this is the first restaurant we’ve worked in. But that doesn’t mean we don’t know how to cook!

KQ: Yes! Home cooks can be the best cooks!

AK: Home cooks are brilliant because we can multitask, we’re used to cooking in very cramped spaces, we have very limited resources and we don’t shout at each other! Because you don’t need to shout—we just look at each other. There’s a lot of chatting going on, but no one is screaming instructions. This is not the army! There’s no hierarchy in my kitchen, no one has any ranks.

...when you can’t change anything around you as an immigrant, having no family and friends, the only thing you can do is infuse your kitchen with aromas of home. This way you claim back that space and you feel you have the right to be there, to exist in this space...

KQ: You’re all on a level playing field because you’ve all cooked for families and big events.

AK: Anyone who has an Indian friend, who has been to an Indian wedding, has been to an Indian house will know that cooking and food is very central to our existence. When you have a small gathering of family—it’s 50 people! And people arrive with no warning! It’s pretty much like working in a restaurant. No one has booked and then 50 people walk up. For everyone it’s like “Oh yeah, family’s turned up.”

KQ: Right, well, your biryani serves 100 people, right?! It can’t serve less than 100 people.

AK: It can’t serve fewer than 100 people because, you know, this is the way we learned to cook. Food is so important, it’s a way of showing respect. And honor. So we cook very much in that tradition. And this is why I could not have chefs cooking for me, because if you learned to cook in culinary school, you learned it as a profession. I need people cooking for me who have soul, who feel happy with the small things you get right. So it had to be an all-woman kitchen.

KQ: Going back to when you realized this was your passion and you decided to leave law, it’s not like you snapped your fingers and bam you had this incredible, successful restaurant in London’s Soho. You had a supper club for five years, right?

AK: Yes, for five years. Because I had no money and no major support from my family to do supper clubs, I did all the supper clubs behind my husband’s back. Every time he traveled.

KQ: Ha! I’ve got to hear more about this.

AK: My husband is an academic who likes his peace and quiet. The fact that 40 people were coming into his house and eating on his dining table would not have impressed him. So I didn’t lie, I just didn’t tell him it was happening. I waited for him to leave and then it was literally like he left and then all the supplies would come in, all the women would turn up, and we would cook in this crazy way in my house. Entertain, wash up. When he came back, he had no idea! It was a great sense of adventure.

KQ: But the supper club did eventually lead to a pop-up, which led to your opening your restaurant. You don’t strike me as an average business person; you’re not in it for the bottom line. Can you tell me what food and politics mean to you?

AK: For me, they’re completely related. The restaurant is not a business, it’s a platform for me to discuss issues about race, ethnicity, immigration. In today’s world, the word "immigrant" is seen by many—politicians—as an abuse. It’s a way of scaremongering and creating hatred and mistrust. I’m an immigrant business. People, when they listen to me, they hear the voice of an immigrant. I’m accented. I give away the fact that I come from a different heritage. But I am a proud Londoner—I’m so grateful. And I can be whatever I want to be, and I think that people need a space where they can discuss these issues. Especially women of color need to be able to see other women of color.. on television, listening to them on radio, women they can relate to. And this goes for all women, I think.

KQ: What’s it like having this platform in London?

AK: London has a huge heart. People in London will always embrace you because that’s what the city is! It does it so well. It’s this umbrella under which so many of us have got shelter and have grown. And I’m using the restaurant for that purpose. On Sundays I give the restaurant to women who are home cooks, to take over the restaurant and to cook. I just think it’s important to give back. So I give the space for free so I can inspire the next generation of Asmas. I want to start the ripple effect so that long after I’m gone people will still feel that a woman has a right to follow the path I did, and women will succeed. The biggest thing that holds us back is fear, and that’s the one thing that I’m trying to communicate: let go of fear. And you will succeed.

KQ: Asma, you’re amazing. Can I have a hug?

AK: Yes, absolutely. (Hugs.)

This interview has been edited for clarity and length. Source: https://food52.com/blog/23896-chefs-table-asma-khan-darjeeling-express-second-daughters

[pisceslentil8-blog]

How ‘Chef’s Table’ Star Asma Khan Is Breaking Down Barriers With Her All-Women Kitchen

Asma Khan is a force of nature. When I interviewed her for this video, shortly before her featured episode in the recent season of Netflix’s Chef’s Table aired, I left her restaurant feeling both giddy with hope and moved to deep introspection. An encounter with Asma and her warrior spirit is like nothing else.

As an immigrant to England from India, she has found her calling in life by lifting up the women around her—mostly immigrant women, women of color, and women who would otherwise likely be housewives or house cleaners in West London. Asma’s restaurant, Darjeeling Express, employs a rockstar all-women kitchen.

When we were chatting off-camera, I asked her about what she considers to be the best London souvenir. She chuckled, “Maybe I’m biased because I like him, but I think Paddington Bear. He’s from the deepest, darkest Peru and he came to London; he’s my ultimate refugee bear. I like his spirit, and that he settled in and made the best of it!”

I sat down with Asma at a cozy table in her restaurant to hear more about her women-run staff, why her Second Daughters charity is so important to her, and her stirring philosophy on life all of her experiences along the way.

KATIE QUINN: Tell us what it was like shooting Chef’s Table! How did it feel having the cameras follow you around all day?

ASMA KHAN: This was the first time I’ve done anything like this. I had no expectations. What I did not expect was 13 people to turn up in my very small restaurant and film from so close. I could’ve cooked two of the camera guys in my biryani! I think it was interesting for them to be in close proximity with seven women jostling for position. I said, yeah, this is like being on an Indian bus or train, in Bombay a commuter train. It was so fun—they were so incredible.

KQ: You exude confidence, both in the show and in person. It’s powerful! Have you always been so confident?

AK: I was born to lead. In my blood is the genes of my ancestral family, I come from one of the oldest warrior tribes in India, I come from a royal family that was known to be great warriors. So I was aware from a very young age that I came from this family. Even though I’m a second daughter...so now I promote and support second daughters. I think the confidence comes from the fact that I realized I needed to do something spectacular in my life to justify my…my…

KQ: Existence?

AK: …my existence and my right to stay in this family, to be counted. To be acknowledged. Because you sense that you are not wanted when you’re born, because you’re not the heir, the boy everybody hoped.

KQ: Right, the dowry system. Everyone wants a boy.

AK: And you know, when you have a girl the first time, everyone’s like, “Oh, how exciting”—you know, first baby. “Of course, the second one will be a boy,” they think. But when the second one is another girl, there is actual sorrow. And I think that either it crushes you, or makes you into this person with this fire to change the world. I think that’s what it did to me: It left me with a huge desire to do good, to make a difference, to lift other women. To be so good that no one would ignore you or think you’re a burden.

KQ: No mediocrity!

AK: No! And this is not arrogance. I realized that I needed to be something different, I needed to shine so that I could also bring light to other people who are going through this tough realization that maybe they’re unwanted and maybe people see you as a drain on the family because of this crazy dowry system.

KQ: I’ve heard you refer to yourself as a warrior. Will you talk about that, and how it relates to what you’re doing now?

AK: As a child, every time other people pushed me around, I saw myself as a warrior and I would just close my eyes and imagine myself flying, being victorious. Every time I faced a hurdle because I was a girl, I didn’t even just see myself overcoming it, I saw myself flying over it. I was visualizing myself with my family flag, which is not something that most girls would hold, but I would see myself putting down this flag, fighting for others, and making sure I got where I wanted to go and making sure nothing was going to stop me. I’ve always seen myself as a warrior.

KQ: Wow. Just wow. I see you as a warrior, too... Can we rewind to when you first came to this England from India? What was that like?

AK: It was the darkest time of my life. It was horrible. I didn’t know how cold winter can be—I grew up in Calcutta, which is hot the whole time—and I moved to Cambridge, UK in January. It was one of the coldest winters, where even the river had frozen. Walking through trees that were stripped bare, I felt like the trees. I felt everything I knew had been stripped bare in this cold land that I could not relate to. I was just empty. That’s when I realized how important food is to me and I learned to cook. It may sound a bit shallow that food is so important, but when you can’t change anything around you as an immigrant, having no family and friends, the only thing you can do is infuse your kitchen with aromas of home. This way you claim back that space and you feel you have the right to be there, to exist in this space, and that was why food was so important.

KQ: You joined your husband, who was already living in Cambridge, and then you started studying law, right?!

AK: Right. I applied, I got a space at Cambridge, but then my husband and I moved to London and that’s where I did my law degree and then went on and did a PhD at Kings College London, and I loved it. It was a way of trying to find a way to have roots in this country. It’s a classic immigrant’s story, you know—you try to fit in, try to get a better qualification, get a good job. That’s what the law degree was supposed to be for, but of course I realized very soon that my greatest passion and my calling was cooking.

KQ: Wow, that’s a different path! How did the career switch go?

AK: When I finished my PhD, I kept very quiet and didn’t tell anybody what I was going to do was to cook, because I didn’t want to look foolish. I was the first person in my family to go to college, to study law, the first female PhD. Everyone was so proud of me; I was going to embarrass everybody by doing the one thing that all the women in my family can do, who are not allowed to go to college—is to cook. It’s seen as something so ordinary. That’s the greatest pity of it: that no one has celebrated their cooking, so they thought me cooking was equally not worthy of celebrating. And this is the sad thing that has happened to our culture: The women who cook at home are considered to be just housewives.

KQ: But you have taken that concept, that notion, and flipped it on its head. Talk about all the women you have in your kitchen.

AK: All the women in my kitchen are home cooks. For all of us, this is the first restaurant we’ve worked in. But that doesn’t mean we don’t know how to cook!

KQ: Yes! Home cooks can be the best cooks!

AK: Home cooks are brilliant because we can multitask, we’re used to cooking in very cramped spaces, we have very limited resources and we don’t shout at each other! Because you don’t need to shout—we just look at each other. There’s a lot of chatting going on, but no one is screaming instructions. This is not the army! There’s no hierarchy in my kitchen, no one has any ranks.

...when you can’t change anything around you as an immigrant, having no family and friends, the only thing you can do is infuse your kitchen with aromas of home. This way you claim back that space and you feel you have the right to be there, to exist in this space...

KQ: You’re all on a level playing field because you’ve all cooked for families and big events.

AK: Anyone who has an Indian friend, who has been to an Indian wedding, has been to an Indian house will know that cooking and food is very central to our existence. When you have a small gathering of family—it’s 50 people! And people arrive with no warning! It’s pretty much like working in a restaurant. No one has booked and then 50 people walk up. For everyone it’s like “Oh yeah, family’s turned up.”

KQ: Right, well, your biryani serves 100 people, right?! It can’t serve less than 100 people.

AK: It can’t serve fewer than 100 people because, you know, this is the way we learned to cook. Food is so important, it’s a way of showing respect. And honor. So we cook very much in that tradition. And this is why I could not have chefs cooking for me, because if you learned to cook in culinary school, you learned it as a profession. I need people cooking for me who have soul, who feel happy with the small things you get right. So it had to be an all-woman kitchen.

KQ: Going back to when you realized this was your passion and you decided to leave law, it’s not like you snapped your fingers and bam you had this incredible, successful restaurant in London’s Soho. You had a supper club for five years, right?

AK: Yes, for five years. Because I had no money and no major support from my family to do supper clubs, I did all the supper clubs behind my husband’s back. Every time he traveled.

KQ: Ha! I’ve got to hear more about this.

AK: My husband is an academic who likes his peace and quiet. The fact that 40 people were coming into his house and eating on his dining table would not have impressed him. So I didn’t lie, I just didn’t tell him it was happening. I waited for him to leave and then it was literally like he left and then all the supplies would come in, all the women would turn up, and we would cook in this crazy way in my house. Entertain, wash up. When he came back, he had no idea! It was a great sense of adventure.

KQ: But the supper club did eventually lead to a pop-up, which led to your opening your restaurant. You don’t strike me as an average business person; you’re not in it for the bottom line. Can you tell me what food and politics mean to you?

AK: For me, they’re completely related. The restaurant is not a business, it’s a platform for me to discuss issues about race, ethnicity, immigration. In today’s world, the word "immigrant" is seen by many—politicians—as an abuse. It’s a way of scaremongering and creating hatred and mistrust. I’m an immigrant business. People, when they listen to me, they hear the voice of an immigrant. I’m accented. I give away the fact that I come from a different heritage. But I am a proud Londoner—I’m so grateful. And I can be whatever I want to be, and I think that people need a space where they can discuss these issues. Especially women of color need to be able to see other women of color.. on television, listening to them on radio, women they can relate to. And this goes for all women, I think.

KQ: What’s it like having this platform in London?

AK: London has a huge heart. People in London will always embrace you because that’s what the city is! It does it so well. It’s this umbrella under which so many of us have got shelter and have grown. And I’m using the restaurant for that purpose. On Sundays I give the restaurant to women who are home cooks, to take over the restaurant and to cook. I just think it’s important to give back. So I give the space for free so I can inspire the next generation of Asmas. I want to start the ripple effect so that long after I’m gone people will still feel that a woman has a right to follow the path I did, and women will succeed. The biggest thing that holds us back is fear, and that’s the one thing that I’m trying to communicate: let go of fear. And you will succeed.

KQ: Asma, you’re amazing. Can I have a hug?

AK: Yes, absolutely. (Hugs.)

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Source: https://food52.com/blog/23896-chefs-table-asma-khan-darjeeling-express-second-daughters