Cooking and Community: Updates from Chinatowns

Named “the poet laureate of the wok” by culinary historian Betty Fussell, Grace Young has served as a “wok whisperer” and “stir-fry guru” for students and frustrated cooks in need of guidance. She is the James Beard award-winning author of three cookbooks and videos that have introduced scores of Americans to traditional Chinese cuisine, demystifying ingredients, recipes, and culinary techniques. During the pandemic, Grub Street dubbed Grace the “accidental voice for Chinatown” and her advocacy for the preservation and protection of small businesses and Chinatowns across the country remains unwavering. Join Grace Young as she prepares a dish from one of her cookbooks and discusses the challenges facing America’s Chinatowns with Yao-Fen You of the Smithsonian’s Asian Pacific American Center.

Presenter: Grace Young, award-winning cookbook author and Chinatown activist

Hosts: Jessica Carbone, PhD, Food historian and contributing editor to SAVEUR and Yao-Fen You, PhD, acting director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center

Book signing: Following the presentation, Grace Young will sign copies of her books.

The museum is located on the National Mall at Constitution Avenue, N.W., between 12th and 14th Streets, Washington, D.C.

The museum is accessible via the Smithsonian- National Mall and Federal Triangle Metro stations on the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines.

Museum entrances are located on Constitution Avenue on the first floor and Madison Drive (National Mall) on the second floor. There may be a short wait to enter the building.

For more information about visiting the museum, https://americanhistory.si.edu/visit

Host or Publisher National Museum of American History