​Cooking from Here: Food in the Chinese Diaspora
Location: Online, via Zoom
Sponsor: Harvard Asia Center
Co-sponsors: Department of Anthropology, Harvard University , Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies
After the Dragon: Asias/Africas in New York Speaker Series
Cooking from Here: Food in the Chinese Diaspora is a hybrid conversation and cooking demonstration with Sean Liu, Zoey Gong, and Veronica Peterson. Set in the historically Mexican and Chinese Sunset Park neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY, the speakers will cook recipes inspired by the neighborhood’s history and cultures. As they cook together, they will discuss how experiences of immigration have shaped Chinese diasporic cooking practices and how Chinese cooking has influenced American foodways.
Sean Liu is the founder and culinary director of My Sweet Grandma (@msg.kitchen), a food venture focused on changing the way we think about and approach food through discussing history and culture, sharing recipes, and feeding hungry souls. Sean was born into the restaurant industry and has been working ever since he was old enough to stand on a barstool, scooping rice into those iconic foldable Chinese takeout containers. But his fondest food memories are those he shares with his grandmother, his primary caregiver growing up. Sean's food is best described as Asian American cuisine. He takes techniques and learnings from his experiences and historical research and melds them with his affinity for Asian ingredients and flavor profiles. His approach to food is insightful and rooted in education, but Sean's main goal is to connect with people through food and make sure they have eaten well, just as Grandma did for him.
IG: @msg.kitchen
Veronica Peterson is a doctoral candidate in archaeology at Harvard University. She has a B.A. in anthropology and Chinese from Vassar College. Peterson investigates the relationship between home cooking and community identities in Chinese diasporic communities of Northern California. She traces cooking practices from late 19th century archaeological sites and uses historical and ethnographic methods to explore sustenance choices, community care, networks of reliance, alliance, and mobility strategies.
Zoey Gong is a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) chef, food therapist, and event producer based in Brooklyn, New York. Born in Shanghai, China, she has hosted hundreds of pop-up dinners, workshops, and events featuring TCM food therapy in both China and the United States since 2018, bringing healing foods and Chinese cultural traditions to thousands of guests.
IG: @zoeyxinyigong
Please join this event via Zoom here or use webinar ID: 939 0951 6444
If you would like to cook along with the event at home, try MSG Kitchen's Ode to Sunset Park Chili Crisp recipe.
Other events in the series are:
Oct 3, 2022, 06:30 p.m. EDT, Brooklyn to Beijing: Black People, Black Culture in China
Oct 19, 2022, 10:00 a.m. EDT, Asian Street Style
Nov 9, 2022, 06:30 p.m. ET, Afro Asia Beats
Dec 8, 2022, 07:30 p.m. ET, Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting (and Other Martial Arts)
