Art, food and politics

Can eating the national dishes from your avowed enemies create peace, love and understanding?
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For a group of artists from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, the answer is Yes. They opened the provocative Conflict Kitchen in early June to serve the national cuisines from Iran, North Korea and Afghanistan.
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Their debut was the Kubideh Kitchen, a food stall serving Iranian kubideh, a ground beef sandwich served on flat bread with basil, mint and onion. The artists believe that if people taste food from other cultures, they may also get curious about other cultures, which could possibly lead to ..gasp, thinking.
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The sandwich wrappers were covered with the thoughts of the local Iranian community. They also held a community dinner that linked diners in Tehran with those in Pittsburgh via webcam. Over sharing a stew of chicken with pomegranate and walnuts, the diners began talking to each other.
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Read the rest here: http://www.salon.com/food/feature/2010/06/09/conflict_kitchen_restaurant/index.html?source=newsletter (photo courtesy Salon)