About
(To inquire about possible writing, editing, or other projects, you can also visit my Services page and Published Writings Archive.)
I am a New York-based writer and cooking instructor who is somewhat obsessed with Chinese food around the world. My childhood is partly to blame.
I grew up watching my family run a Latin-flavored Chinese restaurant in Puerto Rico, and later a Polynesian-style take-out and Cantonese bakery in suburban Boston. My parents' tendency to stick to familiar cuisine meant we always ate Chinese on vacation, whether we were in downtown Montreal or the California desert. I realized early on that "Hong Kong-style" food is unfamiliar to many mainland Chinese.
This blog is about the diverse regional foods around China. It is also about the offspring, the Chinese food outside the mainland: Portuguese-accented Macanese, Peruvian chifa, Indian-Chinese, and a myriad of other hyphenated Chinese cuisines. If I can successfully apply my French culinary training to stir-fries, there is no reason traditional and non-traditional forms can't co-exist.
Outside of the blog, I have written on food and travel for The Boston Globe, Food & Wine, Gourmet, US Airways, Time Out New York, Mediabistro, and World Hum, and the book Food Journeys of a Lifetime (National Geographic, 2009). I have also taught Chinese cooking in Beijing. Every once in a while I still fantasize about a wok-fried chicken with a side of plantains.
Where Appetite for China has been featured:
Questions or comments?
Contact me through this website.
