Chop Suey Nation

by Ann Hui

I grew up on the prairies and fondly remember the seemingly exotic Chinese diners in little towns like Nanton, Vulcan and Drumheller, Alberta. As a kid, Chop Suey and the gooey orange sauce over the Sweet & Sour Chicken were my favourites. It was surprising to learn Chinese diner dishes have little to do with traditional Chinese Cuisine. In fact, the literal translation of Chop Suey is “Assorted scraps. Bits and pieces. This and that.”

In 2016, Globe and Mail reporter Ann Hui (Vancouver born) hit the road to answer two questions: Why is there a Chinese restaurant in every Canadian small town? And who are the families who run them? Driving from sea to sea, Hui discovers the unlikely history behind classics like Ginger Beef, the hard-to-imagine Chinese Perogies of Alberta, and Newfoundland Chow Mein.

Among the many restaurant owners, Hui also finds the re-occurring themes of perseverance, humility, and love for family. There’s the restaurant owner/small-town mayor, the owner of a restaurant in a Thunder Bay curling rink, and the woman in remote Fogo Island who runs a restaurant alone, 365 days a year. While all of them are Chinese, their stories are universal and remind us of the mammoth challenges faced by many immigrants from around the world. Starting new lives in dusty or rocky little Canadian towns is really, really hard, but there’s no looking back.

Every other chapter also reveals intriguing stories and secrets about Hui’s own family. Her father was a baby when left with relatives and his parents immigrated to Canada. By age 10, his school days ended and he cared for pigs. Later, realities force him to work as a low-end cook. As a young man, he immigrates to Canada and reunites with his parents, but the wounds of abandonment never quite heal. That’s all I will say. The details beg to be read.

Hui fully succeeds in showing Chop Suey Cuisine is quintessentially Canadian.

Chop Suey Nation is well worth adding to your summer reading list. The fortune cookie bonus is its availability in Richmond Public Library’s digital collection and there’s no waiting list for this one!

Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good

 by Kathleen Flinn

I don’t usually read a lot of non-fiction, especially memoirs and biographies, but this one was recommended to me so I thought I would give it a try. Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good is the story of the author’s childhood, family and the food they shared, the two often inextricably linked.  The book’s title is itself a memory of Flinn’s grandmother, who raised her own young family during the Depression.  Food wastage was not an option then so you had to eat that burnt toast which fortunately, according to Mom, made you sing good!

Kathleen Flinn grew up in the Midwestern US, and uses family members’ stories and her own memories to recount the life of the Flinns. From the pizza parlor her parents owned and operated, Grandpa Charles’ army recipe chili and Grandma Inez’s fluffy pancakes she ties family anecdotes to family history. 

Food was central to the household as new challenges and cross country adventures took place. Each stage of their lives was represented by the food in the fridge and the pantry. During the busy pizza parlor days, the restaurant menu which included large pizza pies made on metal garbage can lids fed everyone. Later on, life on the farm consisted of whatever they grew, hunted and canned. Finding 100’s of canning jars in the cellar, they set to work filling them with the farm’s bounty. In the later years, Flinn’s parents moved the family to the suburbs and a life of relative luxury away from the hard work of the farm. Being more financially secure, her parents began living a different life than that the kids had been used to, they threw parties, they went out, they stocked the shelves with store bought food! This in itself was an adjustment, having longed for these treats while on the farm, the kids now found themselves wishing for mom’s homemade fried chicken.

Throughout each move, the kids never once doubted that they were loved. Not always the best communicators, the family spoke through food. In the words of Grandma Inez “I don’t have to tell you I love you. I fed you pancakes.” 

Flinn’s tasty memories will pique your interest, and you can make most of them yourself from the recipes included amongst the chapters.

Kitchens of the Great Midwest

Kitchens of the Great Midwest

by J. Ryan Stradal

I had read many positive reviews about this title and I was really excited to read it. The reviews were right - this is an excellent book. However, it is definitely not what I expected.

When I first started to read the book I thought the book would be mainly about Eva Thorvald - a genius with food at a young age. However, the book is, and is not, about Eva. Each chapter is from a different character's point of view. Eva is sometimes central to this character's life, but more often than not, she makes an appearance in a small, but vital way.

When I finished the book I thought to myself - what is this book trying to tell me? And I think I could probably have some pretty interesting discussions about what this book's goal is, but for me it is a subtle reminder about slowing down and enjoying life. Taking each moment, whether good or bad, and understanding its importance. Food is a major theme in this book, and becomes a way to connect people in a variety of ways; for example, a way to meet up with friends and family, to appreciate the simple things in life, to get through tough events, and as a way to show people you care. This book can really be interpreted in several different ways which makes me thing this would be a fabulous book for a book club as there are so many subtle nuances to explore and discuss - all with some yummy food of course.