My brother and I loved to watch cooking shows when we were kids. By that time, Julia Child was well into re-runs. But we could see Graham Kerr, The Galloping Gourmet, on Canadian TV. And, another one of our favorites was Joyce Chen.
I was surprised to learn that she only filmed a year’s worth of episodes, because they seemed a fixture on Detroit public television.
These days, Joyce Chen (we never thought of her except with both names) may be best known for the cookery line that has outlived her.
But she introduced two Midwestern children to Chinese food, and helped us see that there were other things to eat than steak on Sunday and spaghetti during the week.
Her show was our gateway to every kind of Asian cuisine, and turned us both into enthusiastic cooks.
My culinary life would not be complete without the influence of dishes from Japan, where I have lived, through Korea, China, Thailand and the Pacific Islands.
Looking After Our Asian Friends
Because Asia is so important to me, I’ve been particularly distressed to see our Asian-American friends come under racist attacks, leading to the terrible tragedy this past week in Atlanta.
I say “friends” specifically, because the neighborhood where I live in Ann Arbor has a sizeable population of people with roots in Asian countries.
One entire apartment complex is home an elderly group of residents, who walk every day to our local strip mall to purchase groceries. Locals have offered them rides and would happily shop for them, but they’ve told us that they want to follow their custom of daily trips to the store.
Along with a large Asian grocery store, this mall has a wonderful bakery specializing in Korean pastry, an Urgent Care outlet that specializes in treating Asian patients, a Chinese restaurant, and other shops catering to people with Asian roots.
It’s also the location of the Songbird Cafe, one of my favorite places in Ann Arbor, whose proprietor is Jenny Song.
I recently finished work on a long story for the April issue of the Ann Arbor Observer about the baking scene that has blossomed on the Northeast side of town.
During my reporting, I dropped in to visit with Jenny, who is known for her delicious array of pastries, cakes and other treats, and I couldn’t help thinking how much we had in common.
She is the daughter of immigrants, while I am the granddaughter of immigrants on my mother’s side. Her parents moved to Ann Arbor from Korea when her father was working on his PhD at Michigan. My grandparents came from Latvia, and for a time, after my grandfather died you g, my grandmother ran a bakery.
We both went to local schools. We both ended up interested in business, she as a business owner, me as a journalist.
This year, the original Songbird (there is a second branch on the west side of Ann Arbor) is marking an impressive milestone.
It is celebrating its 10th birthday, something that only one in five small businesses is able to achieve.
To see how she does it, Jenny is sharing her entrepreneurial skills on Instagram.
Her @cafedreamery account is a look inside the running of her business, which helps people understand what it actual takes to achieve their dream.
The Support Of Our Families
Both of us have succeeded in part because of support from our families.
My mother, Bonny Maynard, was my first cooking teacher and my champion. Jenny’s mother works along side her in the kitchen at Songbird, an invaluable help during the pandemic.
I thought of all of them when I watched the movie Minari this past week. It’s the story of Korean immigrants like the Songs, only the family in the film are farmers.
They purchase a plot of land in Arkansas, and build their new life, running into multiple obstacles along the way. There’s the painful adjustment to a new place, language barriers, tragedy, and hope.
The cinematography is beautiful, the acting is superb and Minari received six Oscar nominations, including best picture.
Minari was on my mind as I heard about the tragedy in Atlanta. I immediately circled back to Jenny to see how she was doing, and ask if there was anything she wanted to share.
Here’s what she posted on Instagram.
“For me, I think instantly of my parents and the type of overt discrimination they faced as first generation immigrants. I think about my mom and the fearless, unapologetic approach that she has always had in all of her entrepreneurial endeavors.”
She went on, “Despite the language barrier, racist attitudes, and many hurdles that she faced as a first generation Korean woman in the States, she never saw those things as walls that would stop her but as barriers she would break through. And, she did.
So, in the midst of the tragedies of this past year and the painful events in Atlanta, I’m reflecting on the sacrifice, foundation, and work that has been done by the generations before me, and the work that lies ahead for me and this generation.”
You can help with that work — and in fact, all the work that all of us need to do in helping each other.
A first step
To me, the first step is a simple one. As I was growing up, I observed that my parents talked to everyone they met.
When my brother and I visited Detroit Metropolitan Airport with my father each summer, he introduced us to all the people we encountered, from the sky caps at the curb to the pilots waiting in the employee lounge to take their next flights.
My mother spoke easily with all sorts of people - musicians like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, the students who worked in her office at Eastern Michigan University, the wait staff in the dining room at the Ann Arbor City Club, and even my boss, Bill Keller, the executive editor of the New York Times.
Sometimes, these chats took place to my eye-rolling impatience. Once, I asked her why she was able to relate to such a variety. Her answer resonated with me: “They’re just people.”
There are concrete ways to help our Asian friends — places to donate, how to keep their businesses going, how to protect them from further harm. You will find many suggestions across social media, and all these ideas are good ones.
But in our daily lives, my mother’s advice is the best I can offer. Once you set all the definitions aside — race, nationality, background, religion, and so on — people are just people.
If we can view each other that way, then our differences don’t matter. Everything we learn about each other simply helps us grow, the way Joyce Chen did for my brother and me.
Virginia Willis Takes Off!
A lot of us have turned into slugs during the pandemic. I gasped last week to read that the average weight gain — the average — is 29 pounds.
I’ve luckily managed to avoid gain weight, but my exercise routine has essentially gone by the wayside. With spring here, my hope is that I can get outside and get some of my energy back.
Here’s an inspiration. Chef, cookbook author and media coach Virginia Willis has written a new eBook called Fresh Start: Cooking with Virginia - My Real Life Daily Guide to Healthy Eating and Weight Loss.
It’s available on Kindle and you can also order a paperback copy.
In recent years, Virginia ran into some life and health hurdles, and decided that it was time for a change. In her book, she talks about embracing Weight Watchers, getting more fit through daily walks, and the mental tools that she has used in order to lose 60 pounds.
One tip especially stuck with me. Virginia writes that when you’re hit by hunger pains, have a glass of water. Bored, and tempted to eat junk food? Have a glass of water. Headed for wine at the end of the day? Have a glass of water.
Of course, she wants you to eat, but she also wants you to make choices that are enjoyable.
Virginia thinks people need to eat a variety of foods, and also make sure that they are tasty. “Food that is loaded will stimulate your taste buds and be more satisfying so you won’t be as likely to eat as much,” she writes.
Those flavors come through Turkish hot sauce, Soom tahini, good quality olive oils, whole grains, maple syrup, and many more. Her book has 20 recipes and plenty of non-recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Around The World With Waffles And Mochi
I told you in February that Michelle Obama was developing a Netflix series for children about food and smart eating.
Waffles and Mochi made its debut last week. It’s darling, and even the smartest food people will learn something from it. The New Yorker reviews it in depth here.
The show has a wonderful premise. Waffles, a shaggy puppet, and Mochi, a little pink dessert ball, escape the Land of Frozen Food and wind up in a grocery store, where they exclaim over all of the fresh things in front of them.
But in order to buy them, they need jobs, and so they wind up meeting with the owner, Mrs. O., who sends them off in a magic flying cart in order to learn about food.
They rocket around the planet, from Japan to Peru, to Europe and back to the United States. Along the way, chefs such as Samin Nosrat, Jose Andres, Mashama Bailey and Michael Twitty pop up to teach them cooking lessons.
If you notice similarities in speed with Drunk History, it’s not an accident. The show’s creators are Erika Thormahlen and Jeremy Konner, who brought some of the same lightning fast video techniques to Waffles and Mochi.
Even if you don’t make it through the entire series, pick out one or two and ponder some of the questions that the show asks, such as, “Are tomatoes a vegetable or a fruit?” I’m still thinking about that one.
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