In her Jakarta kitchen, Michelle Santoso makes videos of herself cooking Palestinian food. And while cooking, she tells stories about the history of the dishes or the stories of the people who shared the recipes with her.
Santoso, 37, didn't know much about Palestine before she began researching its cuisine. She asked herself how she could have known so little about Palestinian people, culture, and food. These questions led her to start reading about Palestinian history. What began as curiosity evolved into a way to understand and share a side of Palestine that is often overlooked––its culture of tradition, celebration, and resilience.
Santoso said she wanted people to understand that Palestinians are more than just their suffering, and to see them as people who celebrate their culture and joy.
Palestinians are more than just their suffering.Chef Michelle Santoso
Many of the dishes Santoso prepares, like maqluba and kibbeh, come from Palestinians who have shared recipes passed down through their families.
As a Chinese-Indonesian, Santoso said she knows what it feels like to stand between cultures. She is often seen as not fully Indonesian and not fully Chinese. That sense of being in-between helps her relate to Palestinians in the diaspora. But she pointed out that she can still visit her home countries while many Palestinians in the diaspora are unable to do so.
Some people, Santoso said, have criticised Santoso on social media, questioning her right as a non-Arab to share Arab cultural stories. But she remains undeterred, believing that understanding the history behind food is essential to respecting culture.
But beyond Palestinian culture, Santoso also shares the stories of other cultures, including her own. In her social media, she also highlights the foods of her Chinese heritage, as well as dishes from Indonesia.
"It made me realise that if Palestinian food has given me the platform and the understanding that culture is important, then so is my own culture and other cultures as well," she said.
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