To celebrate Asian history, students spent the afternoon eating up cultural tradition.
World-class gourmet chef Rhoda Yee told stories and cooked Asian dishes for about 25 students Saturday during an event sponsored by the Chinese Student Association. The show was part of the group’s Asian American Heritage Month programming.
Yee, who teaches full-time at California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, entertained the audience for about two hours in Fisk Hall. This visit was her second to Northwestern.
Yee prepared five dishes, among them Kung pao and hot-and-sour soup. She told stories from her 13 years of experience in the culinary arts while also talking about the history of the food she cooked.
Yee was born in China and came to the United States in 1947 at the age of 13. Yee said she has been cooking all her life, and now teaches other people to enjoy it.
“Having to taste all my students’ work is hard on the stomach, but they’re usually pretty good,” Yee said. “I don’t just grade their work for taste but also appearance and how fast they prepare it. Also, creativity counts a great deal.”
Organizers hoped to expose students to Chinese culture by letting them taste authentic Asian food and seeing how it was prepared, said Douglas Li, external chair for the Chinese Student Association.
“We were trying to attract a good range of people, not just Chinese people, and educate them about Chinese culture through something that is enjoyable like food,” Li said.
Although most of the students were of Asian descent, Li said he was pleased with the diverse audience.
“There were a good number of people of other ethnicities,” Li said. “I’m glad that the word got out to more people than just members on the listserv.”
Jacob Kramer, a Music and Weinberg junior, said that he had liked learning about the food from Yee and added that he was interested in attending other Asian American Heritage Month events.
“The food was great, and I learned a fair amount about Chinese culture (and) the different traditions,” Kramer said. “Besides, I love food.”
