EVLovesNYC Pivots to Prepare Iftar During Ramadan [Video]

Our first step in planning an iftar menu — cooked with some Guinean asylum seekers behind the stove — was requesting a list of ingredients from them. Among foods we’re all familiar with, like tomatoes, onions, and chicken, the list included garden eggs. At first, I pictured a pastel-dyed Easter egg tucked beneath a leaf, but Google revealed that it’s another term for eggplant. And, honestly, not so different from the word egg-plant, right?

The mutual aid food bank where I volunteer, EVLovesNYC, was joining forces with these homesick and hopeful new arrivals to New York City to make a traditional West African iftar to share with people at a local warming center and a mosque. An iftar is the meal eaten after the sun sets during Ramadan and is often shared with friends and strangers.

EVLovesNYC was initially formed in response to the COVID pandemic and the one-two punch of lockdown: Many food banks shut down right …