“Oh, but you’re not a real Southerner,” she exclaimed with a wave of her hand and a laugh. “Your ancestors came from CHINA!” I had just bumped into a woman outside the pizza shop who knew my sister. She loved hearing about my cooking classes and tours connecting food and culture which highlight the best of East, West and the Deep South. Noticing my puzzled look, she ... Continue Reading
Fusion at its Best: Asian Cuisine Experts, Teachers, Food Historians
Fusion at its BestMy Mom: Country Asian Chef and Teacher of the YearMy mother was born in Hunan, China, grew up in Taiwan, and immigrated to the U.S. to attend graduate school. Her dream was to become a journalist but decided to became a schoolteacher. First landing with a host family in Houston, Margaret got her first job working in the law office of her dear “Jewish ... Continue Reading
Video Interview: Growing up Asian and Southern, Five Spice Rutabaga
https://vimeo.com/69388655My mom invented Chinese fast food long before Panda Express ever came along. She told friends, “I worked full-time as a school teacher, had three kids, and they didn’t sell tofu or soy sauce at the local Winn-Dixie grocery store back then. Who had time to make dumplings for dinner?”Margaret was way ahead of the popular cooking class trend. She ... Continue Reading
Video Interview: Redefining Authentic, Fusion Food
https://vimeo.com/69388655Natalie shares about growing up in Smyrna, Georgia and how family dinners and fusion comfort food like "five spice rutabaga" and mom's Hot Hunan Catfish helped her cope with being different and one of the few Asian families in town. ... Continue Reading
Humor at the Table: Chicken Surprise
Dad loves jokes and is a great joke-teller. Sometimes he translates Chinese jokes into English for us and other times, they lose meaning in English (play on tones or vocabulary) so he tells them in lively Chinese! Since Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language (Be careful: don't call your mother a horse (same word, different tones!) These are the times I am glad that I can speak ... Continue Reading