Ten Fantastically Flavorful Years of the Joslin Diabetes Center's Spoonful of Ginger Gala

By: Jessica Przysiecki

Winter is lingering a little longer than normal this year, but a Spoonful of Ginger – the Joslin Diabetes Center annual night of food and fundraising held at Art of the Americas Wing at the Museum of Fine Arts – is always a great way to remind Bostonians that spring is right around the corner. This year marked the 10th anniversary of the event, which brought together 24 of Boston’s best chefs and restaurants to satisfy the stomachs of guests and the mission of the Joslin Diabetes Center’s Asian American Diabetes Initiative.

Joanne Chang's Bahn Mi

If I had a picture for every delicious dish I ate at a Spoonful of Ginger, well…I’d have way too many pictures. But with chefs like the not-just-ubiquitous- in-Boston Joanne Chang serving up grilled tofu and roasted eggplant bahn mi’s with tomato jam for dinner, and coconut tapioca with a kumquat and apricot chutney for dessert, it’s hard not to go overboard on the eating. I’ve only heard great things about Sweet Basil in Needham and what Chef David Becker brought to the table at a Spoonful of Ginger night confirmed the Intel. A sweet carrot-flavored pasta was topped with a soul-satisfying white bean ragu, decorated with crispy bits of kale, shards of phyllo dough and a nutty sprinkling of parmesan. Perfection.

Jasper White's Duck Breast

Chef Jasper White of Summer Shack has been a regular at a Spoonful of Ginger, but I don’t think I could ever describe his food as such. This year he served a simply seared duck breast atop a bed of fresh greens with a papaya and mango salsa.

Andy Husband's Sliders

Korean pulled pork sliders with kimchi slaw? I’ll take 4 please. It was hard to just eat one of Chef Andy Husbands of Tremont 647’s sweet and spicy little sandwiches. They just fit so perfectly into my hands…and then my mouth.

Fuji Sushi

Tables of authentic Asian dishes also tempted guests, ranging from all-you-can-eat sushi from Fuji at Kendall, traditional grilled lemongrass chicken bun with peanut and fish sauce from Xinh Xinh in Chinatown, and delicious pork and shrimp wontons in a take-me-back-to-childhood warm and salty (in the best of ways) broth from Chinatown Café.

The 10th annual Spoonful of Ginger didn’t disappoint, but how could it? There was dancing, there were celebrity chefs, there was food for miles…and miles…and miles…, and of course there was a mission.