Here in Lincoln, Nebraska, they’re exhibited in the same place! Last week, 25 chefs and over 400 hungry patrons gathered at the Sandhills Global Event Center to taste a variety of curries from all over the world at the Asian Center’s 12th Annual Curry Clash. A large banquet hall overflowed with music, dance, camaraderie, and an abundance of flavor. Our very own Diane Temme Stinton served as a competition judge, and attendees from our Anchovy team described the event by using phrases like “scarfing it down”, “couldn’t stop”, and “never seen before”. All agreed, the experience was one of a kind.

Each year, our friends at the Asian Community and Cultural Center host their signature fundraising event featuring 25 local chefs and their own unique curry dishes. In exchange for their donation, ticket buyers are invited to sample every dish (best to attend with a big appetite!) Among this year’s selection were Baked Spiral Curry Buns, Red Chai, Curry Pinwheels, and Crazy Rich Pandan ice cream. These delicious recipes (and plenty more) can be found in Curry Ignited, our newest cookbook in collaboration with the Asian Center. For seasoned spice junkies, the curry curious, or anyone who wants to support the Center’s mission of empowering all refugees and immigrants in our hometown, find the cookbook in our app and consider making a purchase.

It’s a spice, it’s a dish, it’s…

Both and more. Curry, in nearly every way we might think of it today, is steeped in cultural exchange. Its seeds in medieval Indian cooking spread and then transformed as the world traded, colonized, and globalized. That red hot heat many of us sweat over… Any history buffs here? Portuguese exports of chili peppers from South America (then introduced to Southeast Asia) are responsible! With unique curries in countless regional cuisines and across continents, it’s a truly international dish.

Come share it with us.