Calling All Asian Grandmothers (and Aunties)

Last April in Chicago I had the pleasure of meeting fellow writer and blogger Pat Tanumihardja. Over a tasty Yunnanese lunch, Pat told me about a book proposal she'd been working on. The idea was to gather, from Asian grandmothers and aunties and their families around the world, recipes and memories, and stories about recipes and food, and wrap all that literal and figurative goodness up between the covers of a book. What a wonderful idea! I thought. (I have to admit that I also thought, Now why didn't I think of that?)

Well, Pat finished up her proposal, got a book contract, and now she's collecting, writing, and testing recipes for The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook. If you're an Asian grandmother or Aunty, or if you have one or know one, and would like to contribute a family recipe, go here or drop Pat an email (contributors will be credited, of course). And if you're keen to try recipes that Pat's collected so far, hop on over here.

Good luck Pat! We look forward to publication in 2009.

Comments

[Marvin]

Wow, I wish I would have thought of that too! My filipino grandmother would make a good contributor for this. Thanks for those links.

[Robyn]

Marvin - do drop Pat a line. I'm sure she'd love to have your grandmother's contributions.

[mary shaposhnik]

We'll have to see if she can use posthumous submissions. I mean, not recipes spelled out on a Ouija board, but descendents saying, "this is how she said she always cooked x..."? Though that's tricky, because I am sure some grandmas took their secret ingredient to the graves.

In which Yunnanese restaurant was this lovely idea hatched?

[Robyn]

Mary - I'm sure posthumous would work. You know, 'Grandma Bee Yin's Special Nyonya Chicken Curry' or something like that.
The idea had been hatched long before we met ... but was discussed at Chicago's Spring World restaurant, which has been lauded on the Chowhound Chicago board (frequent commenter RST arranged a group dinner for us there a couple years ago - heavy on dried Yunnan wild mushroom - pretty unforgettable!).