This event will take your palate from the Caribbean to West Africa, illustrating how various dishes reflect patterns of colonial migration. Delve into the rich histories behind the ingredients to discover how resilience, adaptation, and resistance have influenced African and diasporic cuisines. 

Ethnobotanist Tinde van Andel will talk about her multidisciplinary research project on traditional rice cultivation among Maroons in Suriname and French Guiana. In this project, oral history and traditional knowledge of the Maroons are linked to archival documents, written texts and DNA research on rice varieties.

Tabili will curate a dialogue paired with small bites. Connection, conversation and cuisine are skillfully combined to create the ultimate experience of nourishment for body, mind and soul. 

Join us for a feast as we explore the intersection of history and healthy, soul-nourishing traditions.

This workshop is part of the Well-being Week 2024.

About the contributors

Tinde van Andel is an ethnobotanist who has researched traditional plant use in Guyana, Suriname and Western Africa since 1995. She is employed by Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden and is Special Professor Ethnobotany at Wageningen University and Special Professor in History and Botany and Gardens at Leiden University.

Tabili organises and hosts dinners, gatherings, and events that bring us closer to the power of the table. Tabili aims to counter individualism by bringing back the essence of the table as a place of human-to-human connection, gathering, depth of meaning, nourishment, openness, safety and vulnerability, cultural exchange, knowledge enhancement, growth, and of course good food.

From their food to conversational topics, research zines, panel discussions, question cards, rituals and other exhibitions – all are carefully curated to enhance and stimulate the essence of the table, so that at Tabili, everyone feels like they have a seat at the table.