Our next pop-up is on February 16th: AROI/SARAP
The words “aroi” and “sarap” are cousins. They both mean “flavorful” in Thai and Tagalog, respectively. Both languages borrow many words from Sanskrit, and both words likely derive from the Sanskrit word for flavorful, or delicious: सुरस, “surasa” (In Laos “saep,” In Indonesia and Malaysia “sedap”).
Over homecooked meals and drinks, distracting ourselves from the pain of Super Bowl XLIX, we thought of Thai and Filipino as cousins. We thought about how Hawaii already laid out a blueprint for various food traditions to meet on one plate. We pinpointed the many similarities that tropical Thai and Filipino cooking shares: rice (of course), fermented seafood products, lots of citrus acid, banana leaves, coconut milk. Both cuisines carry many pre-Western contact influences from China and India. There were also distinctions: Thai food is all about that spicy kick—chiles are a main cooking ingredient; Filipino food is rarely spicy, and, if so, is usually only made so through condiments.
So we went back to what was most familiar to both of us, and tweaked a few ingredients. We came up with a menu that we hope exemplifies the idea that our food has always evolved through exchanges with one another—that “fusion” may be a buzzword to some, but to us it’s just how we’ve always done it. One person shares a recipe, the other shares a recipe, both try something new with something they’ve done many times before. And no matter how much time has passed or how many miles separate us, food can both bring us back to where we started, and tell us where we’re going, much like languages themselves.
