How You Can Celebrate Diversity by Cooking Together

It was about two years ago when we decided to take action and work towards raising awareness for diversity here at mySugr. We have been living diversity in a modern working environment for quite some years already — but we figured, it’s also relevant to talk about it within the company.

Take a look at mySugr, what do you see?

A company that went from a small startup to a big organization, growing fast and therefore hiring a lot of people within the past years. People from different backgrounds — professionally and personally.

Our company culture is living proof for the challenges that diversity brings at times, but more importantly for the uttermost rewarding impact it has — not only on the people involved but also on the company at large.

Working together as people that are different by countries of origin, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status, but somehow so much alike, makes us proud to be a part of mySugr.

Why does celebrating diversity matter?

Celebrating our diversity is a way of building bridges between all these people contributing their different worldviews to the culture. Bringing all these views together makes you aware of topics you might have never thought about before. Or might have thought about differently.

We want to value how diversity generates new ideas and creates a safe and decent environment where we feel welcomed and appreciated, no matter who we are or where we come from.

This year, we decided to celebrate diversity by honoring our various countries of origin. Each month, one of our colleagues chooses a recipe from his or her home country and becomes a chef for a day. During lunchtime, we get together in our kitchen to prepare the meal.

It’s all about talking about the stories behind those dishes, getting to know each other on a new level, having fun together and, of course, enjoying the meal together.

Secret ingredient: Diversity

One of the cooks from our previous diversity cooking sessions is Gabriel Fonseca who was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and prepared a typical dish from his country. We asked him to tell us a little bit about the background of the food he chose:

“Brazilian food doesn’t have exactly a big role in world cuisine, but I can guarantee you that we have awesome food! However, it’s hard to define it.

Within a big country, food styles change a lot. In the south, a lot of meat from the pampas. Southeast, where Rio and São Paulo are, rice and black beans are eaten almost every day. Northeast, a bit more African-related and rustic food, my favorite and particularly delicious.

But there is one ingredient that brings all the Brazilian kitchens together. That’s the manioc. Also called aipim or yuca/cassava in Spanish.

It’s a staple food from South America and the main source of energy for the natives for a long time. The wonder of the manioc is that it’s a super versatile starchy tuber. One can prepare different kinds of meals from its flour, for example, farofa or tapioca. The last is something like a crepe, to be savored with several different fillings, savory or sweet. Also, this wonder root is delicious when eaten deep-fried. This is actually one of my favorite versions, and a friend nicknamed it as Brazilian Fries. It’s so lovely that I’ve adopted the name from now on.

For the Diversity Cooking Day, I’ve prepared a menu called Manioc Experience. Three courses, all using a different form of manioc. As a starter, tapioca with cheese and coconut flakes. The main course, a traditional black bean stew called feijoada, with farofa and deep-fried manioc. For dessert, bolo de aipim, a manioc cake with coconut flakes. This is a perfect ending to have with a coffee and to get ready for the laborious digestion.”

If reading about all this delicious food made you as hungry as us, put on your apron and pre-heat your oven — but when cooking, don’t forget the secret ingredient: diversity!

co-written with Marie Kaiser