Taboo Issue Topic: Politics
\n<\/strong>Words by Melaina Balbo Phipps
\n<\/strong>Photography by Conflict Kitchen<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pulling into a parking spot, I wasn\u2019t surprised when my stomach started to growl. It was, after all, the first time I\u2019d driven seven hours for Venezuelan food\u2026okay, for any food, really. But I\u2019d made the day-long trek to Pittsburgh from NYC to find Conflict Kitchen, and Venezuelan cuisine was what they\u2019d be serving me.<\/p>\n

At the takeout window Quinton, a native of Arkansas with a background in food and editing, pointed me to the Chivo al Coco con Mofongo<\/i> (slow cooked goat with fried green banana mash), Jugo Naturale<\/i> (a papaya), and, for dessert, some Besitos de Coco <\/i>(\u201cCoconut Kisses\u201d or sweet coconut cookies\u2014a bit like mini macaroons). While I waited, we talked about the food, the project, and the biggest surprise he\u2019s encountered while being a Conflict Kitchen employee: \u201cIt\u2019s amazing how many people just don\u2019t read the news.\u201d<\/p>\n

My order ready, I collected a menagerie of colorful pamphlets offered to educate me\u2014the diner\u2014about hot-button issues in Venezuela: crime, oil, internal polarization, race\/class, and the perception of the U.S. government and U.S. citizens.<\/p>\n

And just like that I became part of the project.<\/p>\n

To read more about Conflict Kitchen, subscribe to CAKE&WHISKEY magazine or purchase the single issue\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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