Small Business

Woman Owned

Home-Based

 

How it started…

Hi! Did you eat? I’m Jessica. aka tister. That’s how my little brother used to call me sister when we were kids- and it’s a nickname close to my heart. In my family, food is our love language and cooking is a personal passion.

When we went into shelter-in-place in 2020, I found comfort in cooking the Filipino food I grew up eating. I identify as mixed race, both Filipina and White. As a second-generation born in the US hapa, I’m part of a diaspora- and my understanding of Filipino food is framed by that.

I was raised in San Francisco. It is there that my auntie first introduced me to Salvadoran rice pupusas. I already loved rice - an anchor in Filipino food. So, rice pupusas - with their chewy yet toasty exterior- quickly became a fav. Balompié on 18th & La Santaneca near Holly Park were my go to spots in the city.

As I was cooking, it hit me: Filipino food + Salvadoran rice pupusas.  Rice is the ingredient that connects both. What if I could bring my favorite food together? What if there was a pupusa…Filipino-style? Y’all, I had to know! And so, I set off to find out. After many tastings and gatherings, I decided to launch Tister’s Table.

The food at Tister’s Table is a celebration of Filipino food, Salvadoran rice pupusas, and my expression of it. I look forward to feeding you!

What doES “CelebratE mixedness on a plate” MEAN?

As someone who identifies as mixed race, I’ve learned and used the word mixedness to describe the experience of being mixed. Mixedness is not a uniform experience and has many meanings. For me, mixedness offers space to explore my White-ness and Filipino-ness shaped in my particular context while allowing for the distinct experience of being mixed. When I think about Tister’s Table, mixedness is the closest word that I have to express what I hope to achieve, and so I’m borrowing it.

I believe that in food there is some level of mixedness - some evidence of the coming together of people/ingredients/place - that has influenced what we eat. The context of why that happens in food is the result of complex histories. As we cook, it is valuable to learn these histories. It offers up an opportunity to see our connectedness and see each other’s humanity.

So, at Tister’s Table, we celebrate mixedness on a plate- the culinary traditions and histories from which our food comes and the new food experience that comes from traditions weaving together.