Event Diaries: Women Who Roll - Intro to Sushimaking
Recently, AGI hosted an “Intro to Sushimaking” workshop for middle school students facilitated by Executive Chef Mary Nguyen of Olive & Finch. Chef Mary Nguyen is a trailblazing AANHPI chef in Denver and the owner of the Olive & Finch Collective. The recipes at Olive & Finch are lovingly prepared from scratch with only the freshest, wholesome ingredients.
For our “Women Who Roll” middle school event, Chef Mary led students through an intimate sushi-making workshop to learn culinary skills and to engage in empowering conversations about succeeding as a woman in a male-dominated field. We wanted to students to experience:
⭐️ feeling empowered by learning about the story of a trailblazing female chef in the male-dominated industry of sushi
⭐️ gaining pride in a new skill (sushi making!)
We want to thank Chef Mary and the team at Olive & Finch for sponsoring this event and for their enthusiastic support of AGI. Thank you for your generous contribution and passion that made the event memorable for all of us!
Chef Mary kicked off the event with a reflection on her career journey and how she found herself starting Olive & Finch. She shared about her family’s experiences as Vietnamese refugees and how that influenced decisions she made throughout her career. Despite facing challenges, Mary found herself pushing against the status quo and becoming the first female Executive Sushi Chef in the United States.
Chef Mary first introduced the students to basic sushi-making techniques and then guided them through the intricate process of crafting a variety of rolls.
We learned many new Japanese words and phrases along the way. Did you know?
“Sushi” means “vinegared rice.”
“Maki” means “roll.”
“Uramaki” is a roll with rice on the outside.
“Norimaki” is a roll with “nori,” or seaweed, on the outside.
Closing Circle
We like to end every event with a closing circle. If you’re unfamiliar with closing circles, it’s our way of wrapping-up in community by sharing a collective breath and voicing our head (something we learned), heart (something we felt), and hands (something we’ll take action on).
For this event, we centered our reflections around the theme of “Connection.” We encouraged students and staff alike to think about any connections they felt throughout the day. During this Connection-themed Closing Circle, we heard our students and team members share:
“I felt a connection when we were eating the sushi together because we were all tasting the same flavors and feelings.”
“[I felt a connection because] there were a lot of people the same ethnicity as me, which doesn’t happen much.”
“I felt connected to the chef when she shared her story with everyone.”
Reflections from Team AGI
Our Program Coordinator Annabel Kaey, shares these reflections on the event:
“During Women Who Roll, Chef Mary shared about her family’s refugee experience. Thinking back on my time as a middle schooler, I don’t remember having many conversations, if at all, about what the word refugee even meant in a personal context. It would be a distant term in a history book, not a story shared by a community member. I feel gratitude that Chef Mary chose to share that part of her life with us. She also offered her sushi knowledge and patience as the girls navigated this new skill with laughter and curiosity. It was a tasty and joyful evening!”
Team AGI is thankful for the support and enthusiasm for this event! Seeing that many middle school families were on the waitlist for this event, we plan on partnering again with Chef Mary Nguyen in the spring.
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About Asian Girls Ignite
Founded in October 2020, Asian Girls Ignite is a non-profit organization that provides educational programs for AANHPI girls and gender-expansive youth to celebrate their individual and collective power. We use storytelling to empower the next generation to write their futures in their own voice. Our programs and events nurture social-emotional learning to help our students grow in resilience, empathy, and self-awareness.
