OnTheTable: Mediterranean Cuisine Linked Inextricably with Immigration

CASPIAN CAFE 

Rating: 4.5/5

4375 Sinton Rd.

www.CaspianCafe.com

(719) 528-1155

Mon-Sat: 11am-9pm Sun: 4pm-8pm

Prices: $16-$27

What you need to know: Swath of Mediterranean fare with a diversity that belies its quality 

Caspian Cafe boasts a menu that embraces the whole of the Mediterranean, and beyond—from Italy to Spain, Morocco and Greece, all the way to Turkey, and yes, Iran. The restaurant was established by an Iranian immigrant who came to America at the age of seventeen, with numerous family recipes in his bloodline. One may be forgiven for an initial skepticism at an attempt at so many cuisines. Yet, such skepticism is quickly replaced with wonderment at this immigrant family’s culinary artistry.

Starters include broiled eggplant, simmered in a honey glaze with a ginger induced spice, that may be the best eggplant dish you’ve ever encountered, as it strikes a sweet/savory balance, made complex by citrus and cumin, and further juxtaposed by a tangy yogurt side ($6.95).

An Iranian family recipe, the appetizer of feta crisps might be to Iranian children what grilled cheese is to American kids: quintessential comfort food. Herb-spiced feta richly stuffs pita-pockets, pan-fried to a crisp exterior leaving an unctuously soft interior ($6.95).

Entrees may be partially eclipsed by the starters, but cannot be faulted; such would be tantamount to faulting a cellist for not comparing to Yo-Yo Ma (also an immigrant). From the cuisines of Spain and Morocco were the camarones de naranja ($21:95, a dozen shrimp posthumously swim through a rich saffron cream sauce, which emits a balancing essence of citrus), and the lamb tagine ($19.95, a North African comfort food of braised lamb riddled with whole almonds and dried apricots).

Each paired well with recommended wines of Italian and Greek origins.

Savory gave way to saccharine with the house-made baklava ($5.95) with a richly spiced filling, and crunchy texture devoid of the honey-induced sogginess that plagues other versions. The delectable orange and saffron custard drenched in honey-caramel is bright, cool and creamy ($5.95).

Dining of this caliber, of this variety, is akin to world-travel. Yet one need not escape Colorado Springs to do so. Much is credited to culinary skill. Yet even more so, one must see that it is a family of immigrants who have striven to create their own American-dream by sharing their culture with us. So as to not risk the disappearance of cuisine such as this, perhaps we as Americans ought not abandon what has been our long standing policy of welcoming the immigrant. 

America’s food culture depends upon immigrants 

2016 was a year when many voters—primarily British and American—voiced their penchant for a more nationalistic posture toward people unlike themselves. Ethical and moral ramifications aside (this is a food column after all), it is beneficial to examine certain, food-related, collateral implications of this rise of protectionism.

In 2014 the Pew Research Center reported that of the 11.6 million food industry workers, twenty percent (2.3 million) were “foreign born.” More specifically, as reported by the Pew Hispanic Center in 2008, twenty percent of the 2.5 million chefs (not dishwashers) in America were immigrants. Immigrants are an integral leg upon which the restaurant industry (including Caspian Cafe) stands—and this leg is not composed only of dishwashers and night porters.

Anthony Bourdain, renowned for his eloquently satirical travel/food shows, currently hosts CNN’s acclaimed series, Parts Unknown. When asked to comment on the possibility of the expulsion of certain immigrants, Bourdain replied, “Every restaurant in America would shut down…we’re a country of immigrants.”

“Never, in any of [my restaurant management] years, not once,” continued Bourdain, did “any American-born kid walk into my restaurant and say ‘I'd like a job as a night porter or a dishwasher.’ [Americans are] just not willing to start at the bottom like that.”

What Pew Research and Anthony Bourdain seem to recognize is food culture’s dependence upon immigrants holding the jobs that even young Americans are unwilling to shoulder. Between this willingness, and the gastronomic joy that is truly good, ethnic food (as evidenced at the Caspian Cafe), let us reflect pensively upon our individual and national posture toward the immigrant. Our food depends upon it.