ma ma at The Table began in 2019 with a collaboration between The Table (Brittany Shepherd) and ma ma (Heather Canlas Rigg and Magdalyn Asimakis) – a dinner on a hot July day with fifteen guests, sharing the food they grew up eating, reading out loud together, and discussing how familial relationships to food function as sources of knowledge. The invitation asked guests to reflect on something they have learned through food: What was the dish? How did you learn about or experience it? What was lost, or gained in translation? How has it affected you?

This publication collects the 15 stories of difference, love, spirituality, mystery, and myth shared that night, and develops them into expansive cookbook with personal recipes, photographs, and reflections on the emotive impact of food and family.