Community Potluck Becomes Recipe to Unite Skokie

Skokie residents come from all over the world, but they were united through food on May 1 during the second annual .

About 80 residents gathered at the Oakton Community Center,  701 Oakton St., and piled their plates with jerk chicken, samosas, brisket and apple pie as they shared their culinary heritage.

The free event was organized by Skokie’s Human Relations Commission, which provided plates, utensils and drinks and encouraged residents to bring a favorite dish to share. The impressive spread included spicy lentil stew, buttery croissants, pans of roasted vegetables and rich Jamaican friendship cookies loaded with shredded coconut and chocolate chips.

“What’s wonderful is because we have such a diverse community we have a wonderful selection of ethnic foods,” said commission member Ina Silvergleid.

Jelly Caradang brought pancit, a traditional dish from the Philippines made with rice noodle sautéed with vegetables and chicken. Eating the long noodles is said to extend one's lifespan so they are often cooked for birthdays.

Caradang said she has been preparing the dish  “since I learned how to cook a long time ago.”

Krishna Goyal, another member of the Human Relations Commission, brought 80 samosas served with a spicy green sauce. She said she knew she would need to bring a lot because of how popular the dish was at the Skokie Festival of Cultures potluck ethnic dinner in October.

“People like them,” she said. “I get asked ‘Are you bringing the samosas?’ ”

Satinder Ajmani was worried about making her food too spicy, so prepared a mild Indian dish of bread dipped in gram flour, which is made from ground chickpeas. The dish is quick to prepare and had been popular when she brought it to her children’s school.

Ajami said she decided to come to the event after seeing an ad in the local newspaper. “I wanted to meet people and know more people in the community,” she said.

Skokie’s foreign-born population has more than doubled in size between 1980 and 2000, and now accounts for 39 percent of the village’s population. While many people were representing their heritage at the potluck, others shared dishes they had learned from others.

Flor Clarito is Filipino but brought spanakopita, a healthy spinach pie she learned to make from her Greek neighbor. The dish was so popular only crumbs of the flaky crust were left 30 minutes into the two-hour event.

Eriko Kojima is from Japan and has been living in Skokie for seven years. She and her husband, Nehru Arunasalam, who is originally from Malaysia, brought a Chinese noodle dish that she makes differently every time, depending on what ingredients she has on hand. She said they often cook Chinese food since it is popular in both of their native countries.

“It’s a common thread that we have,” Kojima said.

This was the second community potluck that Kojima had attended and she came this year because the first one was “really great.”

“It’s nice to meet people from different parts of Skokie,” she said. “The food really unites people.”