In a world that appears to be divided, Mahomet’s Zainab Susi knows there is nothing quite like food to bring people together.
The Pakistani immigrant, who has been part of the Mahomet community for 30 years, grew up inside the comfort of her mother’s dishes.
A widow, Susi’s mother stayed at home while she raised her five daughters. The tradition of flavorful food led the girls to develop their own habits and specialities, but the time spent together is what Susi looks back on fondly.
“Cooking was always a part of a huge, huge part of our life everyday,” she said.
“Nobody was in front of the TV or in the car,” she said. “Whenever you’re available, we all sat down in a dining room or, if you’re a big family, we put a big rug on the floor, a long one, and then everybody can sit together and eat together.”
Not only did the family eat breakfast, lunch and dinner together, but Pakistan is known for community meals.
“It’s not just about eating,” she said. “When you eat together, people share together. When you share your thoughts.”
Some dishes took hours to develop the rich flavors, but Susi gravitated towards the practical, down-to-Earth, healthy meals, filled with the right amount of spices.
These are the dishes she brought to the United States with her when she became a resident in 1989. As a single mother raising two daughters in the Mahomet-Seymour School District, Susi was intent on teaching the girls how to cook and spend time together.
“My oldest is 26 and my youngest is 25 and they still look forward to eating together,” she said. “We can all sit and talk.”
Susi worked as a teacher’s aide in Urbana School District 116 and taught Tae Kwon Do to more than 30 students twice a week at the Central Illinois Mosque and Islamic Center, in Urbana until recently when she decided she’d like to pursue other dreams.
An avid writer, Susi has authored a book, Life is Beautiful. The collection of short reflections center around watching children grow and become independent while also finding an inner voice and purpose. Now, a columnist for the Mahomet Daily, Susi has also spent years writing for the Mahomet Citizen and the Tolono County Star.
Expressing herself creatively has been welcome. But there was one other passion calling to her from within. Susi knows that stories never consist of a single person. And the one way that she knows to bring people together, to tell and create stories is through sharing her love of food with family, friends and neighbors.
Of course, her plan to do so in 2020 turned out to look a little different than she imagined. But the end result, she hopes, is the same.
Upon request, Susi has prepared meals for families who want to try something new or just want to take an afternoon away from meal prep. With a wide-variety of Pakistani dishes to draw from, Susi said that she just likes to meet people where they are in their likes and give them something they won’t soon forget, no matter what culture developed the dish.
One of her staples is a fruit pizza with a flaky sugar cookie crust and a beautiful, symmetrical display of fruit on top. She also enjoys making flan and banana bread, although baking is not her calling.
“Baking requires measurement,” she said, “When I’m making Pakistani food, I don’t measure. I just use my common sense. That’s how I learned.”
Susi’s carefully packaged family-style meals tailored to the tastes of any family find a place in the center of the table with hungry loved ones all around, waiting to tell their story of the days events.
After years around the table with people she loves, Susi knows that the opportunity to share a meal provides a chance for people to learn about one another, make space for compassion and empathy while also finding a place of safety and security.
“I want them to experience love, care, pleasure and oneness,” she said. “It’s not just about your stomach getting full, but also they will also say; ‘Oh, I remember that meal.’”
To learn more about how to experience a meal to remember email Zainab Susi at zainabsusi38@gmail.com.
