Stamford Hill

SOCI 345 Global Cuisine and Food Culture in Britain: Stamford Hill

Stamford Hill is home to the most Orthodox Jewish people in London. While most places in Europe don’t see Jewish people walking the streets, that is all you will see here. Many Jews lived in East London during the industrial era until migrating to Stamford Hill. Though it is not a large area, Stamford hill is full of many kosher bakeries, supermarkets, butchers and Jewish clothing stores. The growing communities here originated from Holocost survivors and refugees. 

My first stop out of the station was a Polish Convenience shop called Smakosz. This store sold Polish meats and lollipops at the counter.

Then I followed a few Jewish people into Grodzinski Stamford Hill. This is a Kosher café that sells bagels, omelets, croissants, and even sushi. This was established in 1888 as a bakery under the Grodzinski family. They now own and operate twenty-four shops around London. 

After the Kosher shop, I passed a clothing shop, park, and library. In the library I took a break to assess what I’d seen from the community.

Many Jewish women, young or old, were accompanied by a stroller and several children.

Almost everyone I could observe was a practicing Orthodox Jew, and especially all of the school children, who walked home from their private Orthodox schools together. The men had long curls on either side of their heads, and hats with plastic coverings because of the rain. Everyone was dressed in black with clothing that covered their elbows and knees. 

Most stores said the word “kosher” on them. The word kosher is Hebrew for “appropriate” or “fit”.  One key rule to qualify a product as kosher, is keeping the meat and dairy completely separate from each other. People go so far as to use different pots and pans to compare dairy or meat, and eat the two things hours apart so that it doesn’t mix in their stomach.

Today there is no scientific basis of kosher being a more healthy diet, but Orthodox jews still eat this way because it makes them feel closer to God. It is believed that kosher is the right way to eat.

Palm Oil

SOCI 345 Global Cuisine and Food Culture in Britain: Palm Oil

On an old school London street called Ridley road, I visited Ridley market. It is very accessible as it’s located right off of the underground. My professor, Steve, instructed my classmates and I to find something there that doesn't look familiar, and to research it. 

There were many items that didn’t look like things I’m used to back home. Along the borders of the stands, there were fresh cuts of meat that flies flocked towards. The air was still and meat was cut at a slow and steady pace.

One of the items that I didn’t quite recognize was the red palm oil. I’d never seen it displayed in a simple bottle saying “MP Naija Pam Oil”. It is derived from oil palm fruit, and used to make Nigerian dishes such as Egusi soup. The merchant selling the item was not West African, but the market catered to West African cuisine, so naija palm oil is a reasonable thing to find there.

Ridley market provides a selection of well-priced goods to a multicultural group of the working class population. The area that surrounds it is rapidly changing. It was great to see the heart of an otherwise gentrified city. Ridley represents what London used to be for a long time.

Time Travel to the Griffin Brewery

Imagine this - you’ve been wedged into the middle seat of a row for the past 15 hours, gazing mindlessly out of a plane’s window. You exist in the same way you did 15 hours ago, but halfway through, after flying into a paradox, you appear in the near future, 11 hours ahead of what you’re used to. The name of this place is “London”.

You blink incredulously out of the clear window as the all-consuming sunset kisses the horizon into a glittering blue night. Welcome to the future! Here, we drive on the left side of the road, eat beans on toast, and mind our carbon footprint. Pastries are held to a high standard in Europe, and you can count on the competing cafés to create an incredible croissant. People don’t use plastic bags, and the toilets are small but practical.

One of your first class excursions for “Global Cuisine and Food Culture in Britain” is to the Griffin Brewery. This historic site is a perfect union of past and future. Those around you will often ask you if “you’re alright?”, but don’t worry, it isn't because they know

you’ve had 3 hours of sleep. This is just a common greeting phrase. Get used to everything being a wee bit smaller, which may include the small talk.

Griffin Brewery’s tour guide, John, asks you if you’re alright. You reply with yeah, thanks! He takes you all to first see a building protected by the proudest plant who’s climbing vines boast a bright and healthy green. While kindly covering the whole building, these lush vines have withstood 200 years, making it the oldest wisteria plant in England. 

Below this building, the factory tour begins. The sticky little cones on the hops vines are harvested. Then, they are extracted through a long process to add bitterness or aroma to the beer. You see a collection of different compressed hops in jars that can create 1⁄2 a liquid pint, 1 pint, and so forth. Some hops are roasted to create a chocolate or espresso flavor, while others are infused with orange zest to produce a light fruity note.

The brewery is ancient, but refurbished. It has modern equipment and extensions to guarantee efficiency without compromising the charm of the building. Key old equipment still remains. When the Griffin Brewery’s boiler was used in the 1820’s, for example, it was dreadful to clean. This dark, smelly, and difficult job required flashlights, a ladder, and determination. The young apprentices who cleaned the boiler were awarded a pint of beer after a job well done. The old boiler was last used in 1984, holding up to 160 barrels. The new silver boiler room is warm, sleek, and operates on a different accord.

At the end of the tour, you are taken to an underground tasting room with tall tables. The ceiling is white, and curved like a hobbit home. John walks to the Fuller’s Hock Cellar, and proceeds to show your group the different ales you may try. It’s a beautiful area and the tasting process is quite fun. 

The most popular beers are the London Pride, the Frontier, and the ESB. Many love the rich and smooth London Pride. Your favorite is the Honey Dew, which is what you’d expected. Its gentle flavor is a match for anyone who delights in light honey. You've just turned 21, but the drinking age is 18 here so that doesn't even matter!

Towards the end of the tour, you’ve realized your alcohol limits. You resist the urge to sing or laugh, and thankfully you get away with your giddy self, as your classmates and teacher guide you home via train. The trees and sunshine whisk by through windows and you feel like a proper daisy. The future is a welcoming place.

Beer is essential to historic English pubs. Stay tuned to hear more about  pubs as the main social gathering area and information center for Europeans of the 1500's to present! 

A Special Reunion!

Last March, I was one of the 23 selected students to participate in the Daniel Inouye Kakehashi Scholars Program. It was such an unforgettable experience, and even until this day, I feel incredibly lucky for the opportunity. One of the best things about the Kakehashi project was meeting and becoming friends with the students from Japan. 

Our last photo together at Fukuoka Jo Gakuin University.

During my time in Fukuoka, I bonded with a few of the girls. Fumika Sato, a senior at Fukuoka Jo Gakuin University was one of the girls I became close friends with. I forget how we got into this specific conversation, but Fumika mentioned that her boyfriend is from Australia. I later told her that I had planned to study in Brisbane, Australia the following year at Griffith University. Coincidentally, she planned to move to Australia on a working holiday visa around the same time. 

Our reunion at the Westfield Garden City mall.

Ever since I returned from Japan, Fumika and I remained in touch. Occasionally, we updated each other about our arrival dates in Brisbane and made plans to reunite. As we all know, the pandemic changed everything. I was confident that I would be sent home because of the uncertainty of available flights and my overall safety. However, I was given the choice to stay and I do not regret my decision. 

Enjoying the view at Eagle Heights Mountain Resort on Mount Tamborine.

About a week before my departure, Fumika and I finally were able to reunite. It was difficult to plan a day and location because Fumika lived in the countryside, while I lived on campus (which is closer to Brisbane City). We were able to meet up twice before I left. I know it sounds sad because it was a brief amount of time. However, due to the unusual circumstances, I am incredibly grateful we spent those two days together. 

Visited the coffee plantation on Mount Tamborine. 

This experience showed me the best part of being abroad is not only creating new friendships, but it is also the reunion, especially if it is on a completely different continent! 

Darkness and the Galapagos

Throughout the Galapagos Island Archipelago, there are volcanic tunnels that have solidified into subterranean pathways. Peaceful and cool, they host a darkness that many people would fear. A lack of light that can only be really experienced underground, the hollow and craggy pathway lit only by our headlamps feels like the beginning to a horror movie. But like anything, if you enter a place with fear it will present you with something to be afraid of. We are quiet, not because we have to be, but because something about the tunnel feels holy. As if it is a cathedral to the secrets of the inner workings of the earth. It is surprisingly peaceful. The darkness and the sound of our footsteps echoing. We decide to turn out the lights and sit in silence. I decide to lay on the ground. In the darkness I feel more connected to the earth than I ever had. For a profound 5 minutes, I feel inexplicable peace. We then turn the lights on, but no one speaks for a few moments. As we explore the caves more, talking about volcanism and geology, there is a deep sense of content. As if our heartbeats have aligned to the movements of the earth’s core. I knew then, I would never feel scared of being underground again.

~Sydney Lewark
SIT Ecuador: Comparative Ecology and Conservation

Floating Down the Amazon

Miles and miles from any town or city, branches of the Amazon river basin wind through untouched rain forests. The sunlight here beams through the leaves of a thousand different plant species, and the sounds from the forest are not dominated by a single group of voices. There is balance here, no artificial mechanism has unbalanced the natural order. Capybara wade at the river’s edge, tarantulas hide beneath the wide leaves, and flocks of brightly colored birds dive across the water’s surface. In the early morning the sky is grey, and the long canoe cuts through the water as a soft rain falls. We count the numbers and varieties of birds as the hunt for food before the heat of the day arrives. After any hour we jump into the cold river water and let the current take us back to the research station downstream. The current is strong but not dangerous. I lay on my back and watch the rain forest pass by. We all hope we will be visited by a pod of pink river dolphins, but we know how rare an encounter is. Despite the cold rain, we laugh and attempt to swim against the current. We don’t want the float to end any sooner than it has to. You cannot see the bottom of the river, the water is murky. But you don’t fear what lies beneath. There is a sense of belonging, that maybe can only be felt in the depths of a protected rainforest. As if the creatures below and above you feel that we do not intend to harm them. And it is that peace of mind, that the sun rises and the day begins.

~Sydney Lewark
SIT Ecuador: Comparative Ecology and Conservation

Life in The Paramo

Thousands of feet above sea level, the Ecuadorian Paramo is an Andean environment, where only the strongest survive. Trees and plants must huddle together for warmth, and organisms must adapt to survive high levels of UV, arctic temperatures, and low level of nutrients in the soil. If you venture out into the harsh terrain, you must brace yourself for the same conditions. Covered from head to foot in order to evade the cold wind, the snow and rain, and the intense sunlight, you feel like I you have stepped onto another planet. But there is an unparalleled beauty to this desolate land. Volcanoes that stand as giants against the brilliant blue sky, seem to be pulled from the dreams of a fantasy painter. The wind is so strong you are unsure if you won’t be picked up and be blown across the face of the gold touched valleys. The feeling of open space is one that not many places on the planet still possess. You can stand at the base of the mountains and watch the landscape spread out for miles and miles. Your breath is short, perhaps because the air is so thin, or maybe because you have glimpsed a remnant of the majesty the world once held before humankind walked the planet.

~Sydney Lewark
SIT Ecuador: Comparative Ecology and Conservation