These are probably not fancy dishes. They might not be hard to prepare. They might not be particularly good for you, if you're counting calories or cholesterol. But they are the meals that connect the stomach and heart.  It's different for everyone. Your grandmother's chicken, your father's lumpia, your best friend's brisket, the carnitas from the local taco truck - one taste and you know you are where you're supposed to be. The OakBook is asking student photographers (ages 20 and younger) to document the chefs whose cooking tastes like home.

Shoot 'em rolling, stirring, searing, roasting, paring, folding. Capture the steam rising from the pot, the fingers flashing over the cutting board. Color or black and white, digital or film, shoot in whatever style you want, just make our stomachs growl. Make us hungry. Winners of the juried contest will have their work displayed at Art@TheOakBook gallery in Jack London Square during the Eat Real Festival, which runs from August 28 to August 30.

With the motto, "Putting the food back in fast," the Eat Real Festival is a celebration of tasty, healthy, "sustainable street food." Imagine the food concourse at the State Fair designed by a Slow Food-schooled East Bay foodie. In this instance, the East Bay foodie is Anya Fernald, who dreamed up the Eat Real Festival after organizing last year's Slow Food Nation in San Francisco. To learn more about her, read this profile in Sunday's New York Times Magazine.

Submissions can be sent electronically to editors@theOakBook.com or by mail to 423 Water Street, Oakland Ca 94607. The deadline is August 12, 2009. If you have any questions, give us a call at 510-761-3418.