Fata Morgana
In collaboration with Jasmine Yeh
June 18, 2023, New Moon
Loyola Park Natural Area, Chicago, IL
Jasmine Yeh wanted to host a meal that could exist at the intersection of all four elements.
Earth, the natural beaches of Chicago. Water, the vast and ever-magical Lake Michigan.
Wind, off of the lake. Fire, which our guests cooked their food over communally.
Our moon-shaped grill pit was fueled by the bonfire it hugged. Taking inspiration from China’s Dragboat Festival, we served zongzi, a traditional Chinese dish made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves and a story of political resistance and memoriam of the famous Chinese poet Qu Yuan. Jasmine and I spent the week prior scouring the Asian groceries in Uptown to collect the ingredients so that they could teach me how to assemble the wrapped dumplings in the same mnanner their grandmother always has.
At the beginning of the meal, Jasmine led a series of intention-setting ceremonies with small groups before being given their zongzi, and afterwards we all grilled our skewered meats and vegetables while gathered around the moon-shaped pit. We passed around bronze-cast bells made by Yeh and played them together while the sun set, and ate a forgotten dessert of stone fruit salad informally around fire.
image credits: Eugene Tang