Chef Blong Vang, the community chef, centers the community at the core of his work. He chose the name Paj Ntuab Cusinie as a representation of not only his Hmong identity but also of how the process of embroidery, in which threads are woven together, reflecting the way he interlaces his identity, love for cooking, and passion for giving back to the community, as he shares “I want to stitch my own story, the people I impacted and the people that impacted me.”
I met Chef Blong Vang on a crisp morning for coffee and pastries. We engaged in a deep conversation about what it means to live in today’s diverse world and how we can sustain and preserve our culture along the way. While at first we spoke about the shared dishes we enjoyed at family gatherings, learning how to cook what we considered “Hmong food”, the conversation morphed and transcended merely preparing these dishes. It soon became about understanding the rich history and stories behind them—the importance of the people and the environment in which these dishes are made. He states, “I don’t come as one person but we come as a group.” The act of preservation extended beyond the dish itself to encompass the shared experience of creating it together. It was about the people, the laughter, the gossip, and the community-building that unfolds when a meal is made collectively. In our conversation, we talked about the change of our dishes today, where access to food and healthy options are among the many barriers that prevent many communities from accessing their cultural foods. As he shares, “it became more than teaching Hmong food but also teaching healthy foods, foods that are affordable.” Furthermore, in a blending community, the question of what it means to become Hmong in connection to food shapes how we modernize food while preserving the essence of its meaning.
When contemplating preservation within the context of food, it extends beyond the mere intricacy of a dish to incorporate the ingredients, the significance attributed to those ingredients, the historical backgrounds associated with them, the individuals engaged in the preparation of the dish, and the occasions during which the dish is presented. Through the lens of preservation, it acknowledges the intricate nuances while simultaneously recognizing the dynamic and evolving essence of food, including aspects related to access to nutrition and the implications this holds for preservation.
Kalia Vue 