- You have a version of shakshuka, I have a version of shakshuka - You know what I'm saying?

- like intense, so many correlations, right?

It just makes sense to be together and be friends and create unity within our community.

- I like food (fork clattering drowns out speaker).

- Around food.

- Absolutely.

- Always food.

I'll eat always.

(laughs) - [Imani] Food is our saving grace.

Food is our common ground.

Food is what brings us together.

Food allows everyone to be invited to the table.

- [Jamal] We've exhausted a lot of our forms of communication as humans.

And I feel that something has remained consistent, which was the adversity or the conflicts withing our two respective faiths.

But food has always been billed as like the last key for us to stay connected.

I want to share the things that bring us together instead of the things that divide us.

- [Imani] And if we love a culture's food, then it should be a given, we love the people that are gifting us this food.

So, food is going to change the world.

My name's Imani Jackson, I'm the founder and executive chef of Chopped & Served, and I'm a black Jew.

- My name is Jamal Hashi.

I am a consultant and a chef, and I'm currently practicing Islam.

(cheerful music) - [Imani] I'm going to be surprising Jamal with my own version of my Blewish meal.

And in turn, he's going to surprise me with his own version of his significant dish to him.

As some of my ancestors say, you know, like, sit down with me, eat my food, and you'll know who I am.

And I think that's exactly what the meal I made today was.

I love candied yams.

I love latkes.

So just in that, those are two different, you know, my black and Jewish side.

So I combined them.

Brisket, I've always ate for Hanukkah.

That's a given, got to have the brisket in there.

And shakshuka I've actually learned, enjoy and love during my time traveling To Israel.

- [Jamal] So the dish that we're making today is introducing goat shoulder with the Dalac Bilash the bananas, the green sauce.

I'm excited.

The Dalac Bilash is similar to the shaskshuka with tomato base, fresh herbs and so on.

And that will be the base for the goat shoulder.

And then we'll be having that with Somali rice.

Faith definitely influences our diet, what we eat and how we eat, and for example, hospitality.

You're supposed to host any family that comes to your door, by right away cooking for them, slaughtering a whole goat.

That's the context I want us to take, that food will be the conduit that leads to good communication.

I want to be in that purpose in that space.

- [Imani] Judaism for me has allowed me to understand and to encourage others to come to the table.

And if being able to actually create allyship, and have unity within our community through food will be the best way we can create change and have that common ground.

(Imani laughs) - Thank you so much chef.

- Nom nom nom nom nom.

- Yeah, this looks fantastic.

Did you guys do prayers or any other..?

- We did do prayers, but I never led them or anything, but I just bowed my head and listened.

- Absolutely.

So I think the way with like the, they don't do a whole prayer.

They just say Bismillah.

Otherwise they believe that you're not appreciating the meal, and you're not appreciating everything that went into the meal, and you know, the slaughtered animal that's here.

So you just got to embrace all that.

- A big part of kosher food is, there's no torturing behind the animals.

And so the Shochet, which is the person who slaughters the animal and where it becomes deemed kosher and et cetera, is very vital to, you know, kosher food.

For you and halal, I'm assuming it's similar yet different because kosher means halal, halal means kosher.

- Of course, yeah, technically.

the only difference would be, they would not have to be by a person that's specifically certified by a Rabbi, or mostly, all the halal trips I've been to, have Muslim butchers.

- Yeah, okay.

- You ready to try this thing?

- I was, I was ready to dive in.

- Go for it.

- And then I forgot, you know, we had to do our blessings.

- Absolutely.

Absolutely.

I think that's the, that's the- - Ready to eat.

- Let's do this.

- Should we try that tomatoes first?

- Let's do that.

Let's do that.

I want to try your shakshuka as well.

- Really?

Tomato to tomato.

Wait, we got to cheers homie.

- Oh sorry, I'm just hungry.

(Imani laugh) - Ooh, that was good.

- Thank you.

So I'm glad that you presented the shakshuka.

I mean, this is a, what we call it, Dalac Bilash in my region of the world.

- All over the world, you can find an empanada, or a fritter of some sort, but here we are now we're kind of learning that there's different version of stews.

- And it was old ancient society as well.

You see that the food is still prepared in the respective of diet.

You know, whether it is the Orthodox Christians, the Jews and Muslims as well.

I mean, they all share the similarities, but I feel that divide is much greater when you come to the west, because it seems like everyone's doing their own thing.

The media like it is not always presented in that, in a positive light.

It's always- - Perpetuating stereotypes.

- Exactly, you know what I mean?

- Yep.

Just within that, being able to bring this, you know, plate of food, that plate of food and come together just like we're doing now and chop it up, talk about it, you know, spread the love, while we spread the table.

- I love it.

I love it.

It's amazing that we were able to share it with the world.

You know, That there is love and we can co-exist and eat together amazing meals.

(Calm Music) - And I've never had goat before you guys.

- Aye.

(Imani laughs) - [Jamal] For real?

This was the first?

- Yeah, literally.

I told you I don't eat a lot of meat.

- My God.

(talking over each other) - I just ate some goat y'all woohoo.

- That's a big deal.

- Yo my mom's going to be proud, my hand's dirty, but my mama's going to be proud too.

And we got it on camera.

That one was for you, mama.

- I love it.