New HBO show “Take Out With Lisa Lang” features Bangladeshi food
Lisa Lang featured Korai Kitchen, a mom and daughter restaurant in New Jersey cooking up homemade Bangladeshi food on the episode “Land of Rivers” on a new HBO food show called #TakeoutWithLisaLing. Ling tries traditional dishes, including eating shutki and rice with her hands.
Bangladeshi food has long been buried under the disguise of Indian food and is finally making a splash across American cuisine, a sentiment shared by the Korai Kitchen duo.
Ling explores recipes that she says survived war and resettlement in America.
Everyday Rosegold business creates sweets and treats to build wells in Bangladesh
Safa Khan is the owner of Everyday Rosegold, a sweets and personalized gifts company.
“Everyday Rosegold is really to bring personalized goods and pastries, like fusion pastries together into one experience,” says Khan.
She says she wanted to create sweets that can be enjoyed by different generations.
“It's like being able to experience something with the first generations, like our parents, and bring both cultures together to experience it the same way so it's familiar to them and it's familiar to us,” she says.
Khan’s parents are from Khulna, Bangladesh. She was born in Toronto and later moved to Michigan with her family.
She says being Bengali is her pride and joy. She enjoys living in Michigan where she can speak the occasional Bangla, and celebrate her identity.
“I'm constantly reminded of where I come from. I get to speak Bangla when I go to certain parts of Detroit or Hamtramck. I feel like I'm always immersed in the culture,” she says.
Khan is a third-year medical student. She says her business Everyday Rosegold became a creative outlet for her, and a way for her to raise money to give back to those in need.
“I wanted to have a means of bringing a profit to actually give to charities. That's one of my main goals through this business,” she says.
A percentage of her sales goes toward building wells in Bangladesh, where her family is from. So far she’s raised about $5,000 to build 18 wells.
Khan grew up in the kitchen, helping prepare meals with her aunt, who made her peel garlic, she laughs. Between informal cooking lessons and taking a French pastry-making class in high school, Khan brought the best of both worlds together to create things like her Rosh malai cupcakes - a fusion between Bangladeshi sweets and American treats.
“It's a cardamom-infused vanilla cake with tres leches. So it's like the Rosh malai syrup that we put on… it's soaked in that with whipped cream and rose petals on top,” she says.
Another crowd favorite is her baklava cheesecake macarons.
This year she plans to curate gift baskets during Ramadan with sweet and savory options and personalized gifts. They will be available for purchase through Instagram or Facebook.
Khan says she’s pretty new to the business world, but people have been supportive.
“It's definitely been a learning experience,” she says, between growing her business and networking.
She says the best part of having her own business is providing a service people enjoy.
“I love when people say they like what I've given them [and] customers who come back and say ‘that was amazing. I will order from you again.’ I'm just happy to be able to give them that experience.”