Food is soft power. In gentle and delicious fashion, it can shape preferences, open minds and create goodwill.
Enjoying the food from another country becomes the bridge to appreciating its people, culture, and common humanity. Nationally renowned Persian chef and cookbook author Louisa Shafia is dedicated to using her soft power. On October 24, the Nashville resident will be hosting a five-course Persian feast in the new headquarters of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) on Ezell Road. This will be the first in what will become a series of immigrant chef-led dinners in TIRRC’s newly opened events hall, designed to shine the light on the chefs, their food and stories, while underscoring the mission and programs of TIRRC.
It took a few years for Shafia to find her way to her profession; she’ll tell you that cooking was her third career. Initially, she aspired to be an actress. Then, she worked in broadcast journalism, writing and editing for Terry Gross of Fresh Air. When she reflects on her past, she sees that all the signs pointed to the culinary arts. Shafia’s mother is an Ashkenazi Jew from Philadelphia, her father an Iranian Muslim born in Tehran. Shafia grew up in a household formed by soft power. Her parents found tastes in common to both their heritages. Furthermore, her father, a cardiologist, made Persian dishes, naturally vegetable-centric and grounded in whole grains; her mother, a curious cook, liked to explore Indian and Chinese cookery as well as the recipes of Julia Child.
“I realized that I loved to cook when I took a summer job preparing meals at a yoga retreat,” Shafia says. “Soon after, I enrolled in the cooking school.”
She was fortunate to work under some amazing chefs at great restaurants, such as Eric Tucker of Millennium in San Francisco, and Marcus Samuelson at Aquavit in Manhattan. Her focus on Persian cuisine came later.
“When I was writing The New Persian Cookbook, I became entranced with learning everything about my heritage. The process of creating the cookbook was a journey of self- discovery.”
In 2015, she felt ready to leave Brooklyn after having lived there for years. She visited Nashville, fell in love, and decided to make it home. When the Muslim travel ban was enacted early in 2017, Shafia was distraught—she had relatives on her father’s side all in various application stages of visas/green cards/naturalized citizenship. What could she do? That’s when she learned about TIRRC.
Founded in 2003 and representing peoples of Central and South America, Africa, Middle East, Asia, and South Pacific, TIRRC is one of the most diverse and effective coalitions in the Southeast. Finding this wonderful, welcoming place as a resource to immigrants and refugees galvanized Shafia. She organized a Persian dinner as a fundraiser and the event was a sellout. It set her on a course of creating other such dinners at venues around the city and the country, in concert with other chefs, highlighting other cuisines. In Nashville, she partnered with Maneet Chauhan for a Saffron-inspired dinner, and a “Feeding Our Movement” meal with Elvira Vasquez, Lokelani Alabanza, Ruby Amanfu, and the team from The Café at Thistle Farms.
As Shafia continues this work, she serves as Culinary Liaison for TIRRC., TIRRC’s executive director, Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus, is grateful for her partnership.
“As a second-generation immigrant, she reached out to us when she felt compelled to do something in response to the anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies that she saw taking root,” Sherman-Nikolaus reflects. “Now that we have opened our brand new headquarters, we’re excited to host chef dinners in our Eloisa Salazar Event Center, and to showcase her talent alongside rising immigrant chefs. We are richer and stronger as a community for her contributions.”
Indeed, Shafia’s talents as a chef, writer, and community organizer reflect the triad of her careers. Her efforts align well in supporting TIRRC’s mission to build a more welcoming, inclusive Tennessee. To which Shafia would add, more delicious. (louisashafia.com)
TIRRC’S NEW HEADQUARTERS
At the corner of Ezell Road and Antioch Pike, TIRRC makes a bright, colorful and hospitable presence. The building’s outer walls have become canvases for vibrant murals. Surrounding it, you’ll see a playground, raised flower beds, a community garden, and a soccer field. Displayed along a wall backing the field are paintings of the national flags, representing the people served under the TIRRC roof.
Step inside, and you are immersed in more vibrancy: the Eloisa Salazar Community Room (named after major contributor Mike Curb’s grandmother) has been decorated in beautiful paintings and sculptures created by member artists. There’s a reception space, an area dedicated for children, a demo kitchen for pop-ups and classes, and a large communal space (available to rent) suitable for meetings, meals, and special events. Two large garage style roll-up windows open onto a terrace. The building includes legal offices, smaller meeting rooms, restrooms, and showers.
“Food, art and sports—these are all the places where we intersect and find our common interests, and recognize our humanity,” says Elizabeth Welliver Hengen, Community Relations Manager. (3310 Ezell Rd.; tnimmigrant.org)