My Cham Tongue: A Community Iftar

Chef Nurhaliza Mohamath on Cham cuisine, food sovereignty, and keeping culture alive through food & storytelling. 

On March 15, we came together at Rainer Beach Urban Farm & Wetlands for My Cham Tongue: A Community Iftar — a celebration of Cham cuisine and history through the eyes of Chef Nurhaliza Mohamath. The evening also fell on her birthday, making it all the more special.

Born in Saigon and raised in Seattle’s Rainier Valley, Nurhaliza brings her Cham Muslim heritage and dedication to food sovereignty into every dish she creates. Her cooking tells stories of resilience, culture, and connection.

This was the first Community Kitchen dinner of the year; a program that brings chefs, volunteers, and community members together around shared meals, learning, and stories. For many guests, it was their first time experiencing Cham food and the tradition of Iftar during Ramadan. It was a beautiful introduction to the flavors and traditions that have helped shape Nurhaliza’s life.

Cham Food and Sustainability

One of the things that stood out while creating this meal was how naturally sustainable Cham cooking is. Lime rinds, which are often discarded, were used to deepen the flavor of a roasted shallot tomato fish sauce. It’s a simple and thoughtful way to reduce waste while adding rich layers of flavor. We also made a plant-based version of Poo Kha Ra, a dish traditionally made with beef, using locally sourced mushrooms instead.

During prep the day before, Nurhaliza demonstrated this approach again. After making tamarind paste, she blended the leftover seeds with pulp, ice, and sugar to make a refreshing drink. It was a perfect example of turning potential waste into something delicious.

This resourcefulness runs deep in Cham cooking, and in many Indigenous and diaspora food traditions. Using what you have, wasting nothing, working with seasonal ingredients, and adapting to new environments while staying true to the culture. These aren’t modern sustainability principles. They’re practices that have always been that way.

Cham History

The Cham people are one of Southeast Asia’s oldest Indigenous communities, with a rich history spanning centuries. Once rulers of the kingdom of Champa along the coast of what is now central and southern Vietnam, they developed a unique culture influenced by Hinduism and later Islam. As a maritime kingdom, Champa was a hub of trade and cultural exchange across the region.

The Cham people have faced severe hardships, including targeted persecution under the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s. During that time, nearly half of Cambodia’s Cham population was lost, and their cultural and religious practices were brutally suppressed.

Despite centuries of change and hardship, the Cham people have preserved their language, faith, and traditions. Today, Cham communities primarily live in south-central Vietnam and parts of Cambodia, while significant diaspora populations have settled in countries such as the United States, Malaysia, Thailand, France, and Australia. The largest Cham ethnic enclave in the United States is right here in South Seattle.

It is within this diaspora that Nurhaliza’s work takes root. Through food and storytelling, she carries this legacy with grace and care, keeping her community’s stories alive. Her book My Cham Tongue isn’t just about preserving recipes; it’s a celebration and reclamation of Cham culture and resilience. Sharing this meal with community was a way to honor that history and show that Cham culture is very much alive.

Love and Lineage

“This love feeds what I do today. It helps me stay steadfast, creative, and honor sustenance from start to finish — from seed, to crop, to plate, to a hungry soul, and all the immeasurable moments in between. I can only thank the Creator.” — Nurhaliza Mohamath

Throughout this experience, the love that shaped Nurhaliza and her community was present in every part of the event: the volunteers in the kitchen, recipes Nurhaliza gathered from the matriarchs in her life, to Nurhaliza’s mother, Chef Salima of Salima’s Specialties, who arrived at just the right moment to make sure a dish tasted just right.

It was truly a privilege to help bring this dinner to life and celebrate Cham culture through Nurhaliza’s vision. Her work is a powerful reminder of the strength and beauty of her community and lineage, and of the importance of caring for the food and stories we pass on. Nurhaliza’s generosity in sharing her culture, her kitchen, and her family’s recipes is something we won’t forget.

We are grateful and we are still full.

This event was funded in part by a Public Participation Grant from the Washington State Department of Ecology.