Joshua Gamson: Cooking with a Side of Heritage

I first started liking cooking probably around like five, four years ago — I was realizing that I was like a part of something. I went to Morocco and I experienced what it was like to get in touch with different types of food. It was different to experiment with new ingredients that I have had before, but I have not used before. 

My favorite Morrocan dish is called dafina. It’s kind of like cholent but different, because it’s not really like a stew. It’s placed on individual platters or on one platter instead of like in one pot. 

 Inside it there can be multiple different things, and it is not always made the same way — you can add ingredients and take out ingredients. I like the smell of it and how it tastes — like, turmeric or saffron — when the ingredients come out all together.  I don’t cook Moroccan food that often but I feel like when I’m eating it, I feel a lot different. I feel when I’m eating and cooking Moroccan food I’m a part of my heritage.