How does food bring success to chefs, cookbook writers and restaurant owners?

Two men walked to the stage of the demonstration kitchen, but only one looked like a chef. He is wearing a denim apron, a white shirt and khaki. His opponent, wearing glasses, a suit and a tie, strode onto the platform, just like a professor with a map of China under his arm.

What museum visitors may not realize that day is that Professor Paul Ma is about to resume the popular "Eat and Learn" course he taught in "Eat and Learn". From the late 1970s to 1980s, he worked in a restaurant in northern new york. Paul Ma? Mad China kitchen. In class, the guests enjoyed the live cooking demonstration, and combined storytelling with lectures to have more dishes and one meal. 20 17, 10 One day in June, his assistant wearing an apron on the stage of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History was his nephew, the famous Washington area restaurant owner and chef Tim? Horses.

The yellow map is covered with oil stains and ink-like soy sauce spots. This map is the same as the one he used to guide diners to browse the local food in China in his initial dining and study courses. Just like a cookbook or a meat cleaver, this map is an integral part of Ma Yun's kitchen in China and an educational experience he created for his guests. Later, he noticed: "I combine good food with good stories." And educational stories. So I have maps everywhere.

In the demonstration kitchen that day, Ma Yun once again relied on the map to explain the regional differences of cooking in China, and also told his migration story in China. * * * *' s father is an engineer in the General Arsenal of Chiang Kai-shek's army, so * * * *' s childhood is characterized by frequent activities in various parts of China, which also makes * * * come into contact with the vibrant and diverse local cuisines in various parts of China.

* * * When talking about the culture and politics of medieval China, he was in high spirits. When telling his early life history, he discussed the food culture in various regions and how his cooking pieced together these different local cuisines. 1970 or so, he immigrated to the United States. With these traditional cooking experiences from China, his China cooking skills became a part of American immigration and food stories.

With his yellowed map, Paul Ma (pictured above is him and his nephew, chef Tim? Tim Ma reopened his very popular course "Dining and Learning" for museum visitors on 20 17. (NMAH) The story of the horse and its position in the broader history of American immigration is an example of the cultural narrative of the Smithsonian Institution's American Food History Project. In recent years, immigration has always been a special concern of the project, especially in the revision of the current exhibition "Food: Changing the American Table", which examines the cultural and technological changes that have affected the American diet since 1950.

The project tries to understand American history from the perspective of food. Food is a powerful window for us to understand the past, because we have to interact with it many times every day. What we eat and what we eat express our identity as individuals and as members of society. However, food goes far beyond personal experience, and it is related to broader themes related to capitalism, industrialization, technology, environment and immigration in American history.

Later this month, a new exhibition "The Table of Immigrants" made its debut in the exhibition. The American story is defined by the experience of immigrant food entrepreneurs. Food-related enterprises and services, such as grocery stores, food trucks, restaurants and farms, are the economic foothold of many new immigrants and have proved to be a road to enterprise ownership. According to the National Migration Forum (NIF), immigrants are more likely to start a business than those born in the United States. In 20 15 years, the enterprises owned by immigrants accounted for 16% of the enterprises with paid employees in the United States, creating new income of 65.5 billion dollars.

Some participants waited four years to complete the master's program. This booklet is a way for him to get in touch with these audiences. A guest book with a hand-painted cover is used as a register for class participants. (Paul Mapapers, Archives Center of National Highway Administration) Paul Ma (pictured above, with daughters Pauline and Eileen) held a "Eat and Learn" course near the specialty grocery store of China product suppliers in Yorktown Heights, new york. (Archives Center of National Highway Administration, Paul Ma's paper) The Immigration Table focuses on the personal experience of coming to the United States after the landmark 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act (also known as Hart-Sailor Act), which largely eliminated the immigration policy of non-western countries that discriminated against European working-class countries.

According to the data of the Electric Power Research Center, after 1965, the immigrant population living in the United States quadrupled, resulting in millions of people relocating from areas with much fewer immigrants to the United States because of de facto discrimination. For a long time, the number of immigrants from East Asia, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa and the Middle East is very small. Like other immigrants and refugees, they brought food, tastes and ideas about what to eat and how to eat, which diversified the tastes of people living all over the United States in the exhibition.

Seven immigrants from China, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Iraq, Pakistan, Morocco and Spain found a new life as community leaders and entrepreneurs. They told stories about sharing food traditions with other immigrants and shared them with a wider and more diverse American public. The exhibition also shows the stories of three second-generation Chinese Americans.

When Smithsonian researchers get to know these people on a more personal level, two themes emerge. Cooking at home, in restaurants, in markets, or with ingredients from home or community gardens is one of the most important ways for immigrant families to maintain their hometown flavor and traditions. Dining is also an important way for immigrants to establish contact and community with new American neighbors.

In the new exhibition "Migrant Dining Table", individuals from all over the world tell stories about sharing food traditions (above: click to learn more). The researchers also found that food entrepreneurs see their work not only as a way to keep in touch with their own traditions, but also as an opportunity to share their food culture and educate others. Not surprisingly, Ma Yun is a grocery store owner and a restaurant owner.

Ma Yun has always wanted to open a grocery store. However, when he first came to North America at 1964, he was studying for a degree that could support his career as a medical statistician.

However, during his time as a statistician, he began to offer Putonghua courses and cooking courses. He found that he really liked teaching, not only through language, but also through discussing culture to establish meaningful connections with students. His cooking class became more and more popular, and soon it was crowded with students. He is willing to create a secular dining table with cultural exchange and education.

Ma opened a popular course near his specialty grocery store. Later, he opened a restaurant downstairs to meet the growing customer demand. This store and restaurant is located in Yorktown Heights, new york, about an hour's drive north of Manhattan, close to the prosperous middle class and upper class whites who want to live near new york, but don't want to live in new york.

This is a family matter. His wife and business partner Linda Ma are in charge of financial management and help run shops and restaurants. Two daughters, Pauline Ma Hoffman and Irene Ma, grew up in this store and that restaurant. They both own the same building. Like many children who grew up in the family business, Ma Hoffman's childhood was arranged by his parents every day. "Once a month, we will take a big station wagon, my sister, my parents, and go to Chinatown. She recalled: "We will bring back buckets of watercress, and then we will go to several restaurants, such as Shandong Hotel and Shanghai Plaza, to create another business trip to China for American tourists. According to Ma Hoffman, immediate family members and extended family members sometimes come to work in Ma's restaurant, which has become the "center of the family". In Ma's family business,

Because of its concern for history, "catering class" has become an independent and unique course, culture and community construction. When the guests for dinner and study arrived, some people who had been on the waiting list for four years signed a guest handbook with a hand-painted cover, which read "Paul Ma's China Kitchen. A place to browse, share, learn and cook, adding a little Chinese flavor to your life! " For * * *, this education is not a one-way street. As a brochure promoting the course says, "China cooking is United."

While in life in south, USA, the cookbook author Sandra Gutierrez (the author is at the top right) learned about southern food traditions from her neighbors, and in turn taught them all kinds of Latin food. (NMAH) Cook and the writer Sandra Gutierrez are both cooking educators in their hearts. Gutierrez was born in Philadelphia, but grew up in Guatemala. She attended an American school that blended Guatemalan and American cultural customs.

Gutierrez's life is not defined by two different cultures, but by a single culture that enjoys Guatemalan and American traditions. "The food at home also reflects the reality that I am integrated into: we eat steamed corn meal on special occasions. She explained in her cookbook "The New South Latino Table": "As long as there is an opportunity, there will be hot dogs in Carolina. As adults, Gutierrez and her husband Luis Gutierrez moved to the United States, and finally settled in Durham, North Carolina. In the southern United States, Gutierrez learned southern food traditions from his neighbors, and in turn taught them all kinds of Latin food. When she lived in the south, she began to notice that the cooking movement combined southern and Latin American cooking, which was the center of her cooking career. In her cookbook, she pointed out that Latin American and southern American cuisines have many ingredients and cooking skills on Monday: such as tomatoes, corn, pork, beans, sugar, potatoes and other ingredients and key technologies, such as barbecue, stew, barbecue and frying.

Cooking words are one of Gutierrez's many ways to establish interpersonal relationships. Inviting people to her home's internal shelter, she also holds cooking classes at home. In her kitchen, Guatemalan ceramics and antique jelly molds found in southern antique shops share a counter space, and Gutierrez shared her immigration story and passion for food culture.

Restaurant owner Sileshi Arifom noted that the overall role of Ethiopian and Eritrean catering establishments throughout Washington, D.C. is to bring together Ethiopian immigrant communities. (NMAH) Most nights, in the DAS Ethiopian restaurant near Georgetown, Washington, D.C., Sileshi Arifom can be found talking with customers and relying on his strong interpersonal skills to establish meaningful contacts.

Alifom and his wife Elizabeth Watson bought an existing Ethiopian restaurant in the same place on 20 1 1 and changed its name, then opened it in DAS Ethiopian.

The look and feel of this restaurant is quite different from other Ethiopian restaurants in the city, which are usually decorated with vibrant tapestries, woven baskets and other arts from Ethiopia. Alifom used his 30-year working experience in Marriott Hotel to create a striking interior decoration style with international appearance: white tablecloths, beige walls, white plates and napkins, and black-and-white photos. Alifom designed an international jazz playlist for his clients to satisfy the relaxing atmosphere.

Alifom and Wossen attach importance to their role as cultural liaison and consider themselves "cultural ambassadors". For some customers in their restaurant, their spicy injera and rich and fragrant chicken doro wat, the national dish of Ethiopia, may be the first course. Alifom and Wossen hope that this experience will highlight the unique spices, ingredients and flavor combination of Ethiopian cuisine.

Alifom and Wossen were both born in Ethiopia. Alifom immigrants 17 years old, Watson immigrants 3 years old. In the end, the two settled in Washington, D.C., and worked in the hotel industry and the diplomatic community respectively. A few years after Alifom immigrated, civil war broke out in Ethiopia, and thousands of Ethiopians came to Washington, D.C.. 1970 The immigrants during the war led to the largest Ethiopian municipal facilities in the United States around the city. As of 20 17, according to the data of the US Census Bureau, there are about 5,000 Ethiopians living in this area. Other sources, such as the Ethiopian Community Development Center, indicate that as many as 654.38 million people may live in the greater SAR.

Alifom pointed out that Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurants played an inseparable role in bringing Ethiopian immigrant communities together. These places are "places where people get together, not necessarily for food, but food is a place to attract people to E." These early restaurants are all near Washington, such as Adams Morgan and Shaw. However, with the soaring rents in the past few decades, many Ethiopian restaurants and specialty grocery stores have moved to the suburbs, including Silver Spring in Maryland and Alexandria in Virginia. Arifom suggested that because caffeine can awaken people's thinking and encourage people to open their hearts, therefore,

Talking is easier than drinking coffee. His coffee machine is now in the Smithsonian collection. Inspired by those enthusiastic restaurants, Alifom tried to create a secular experience among his diners. In late spring and early autumn, when the temperature was around 80 degrees, Alifom invited some customers back to the restaurant the next day to attend a special Ethiopian coffee ceremony, which was deeply rooted in Ethiopian culture.

"Coffee is where I think the conversation begins. Any kind of dialogue. It can be social or political, but coffee is an environment that allows this kind of conversation.

Alifom suggested that it is easier to talk because caffeine can wake up the brain and encourage people to open their hearts to each other and talk in a more fragile and meaningful way. He said that the coffee ceremony is a catalyst for some people to "express their thoughts, feelings and inner feelings in some cases".

For Alifom, Malik and Gutierrez, food and drink are not only the means to maintain the body, but also the means to maintain the inner self and society. One of the main gains of this study is that the process of feeding our neighbors can also be the process of feeding our souls.

The exhibition "Food: Changing the American Table" opened on 19 10 at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The fifth food history weekend was held on 10/65438 from 7 to 9 October. The contents of the exhibition include immigration and food, the history of American winemaking, the history of diet and dieting, and the emergence of Mexican-American wine merchants. 165438+1On October 8th and 9th, immigrant food entrepreneurs, community activists and chefs will tell their work and life experiences in programs such as Deep Dialogue and Cooking History. Participants can taste several dishes prepared on the stage in the coffee shop of the museum and eat in American tabloids.