| Vendor | |
|---|---|
|
Liepman Literary Agency
Marc Koralnik |
| Original language | |
| English | |
| Weblink | |
| http://www.janwong.ca | |
APRON STRINGS
Navigating Food and Family in france, Italy and China
Apron Strings is not a cookbook, but a memoir about family and the globalization of food cultures. It is also a meditation on the complicated relationship between mothers and sons. By cooking together, Jan and Sam navigated a relationship that grew and deepened until they ultimately separated in China at the end of the trip when Sam decided to stay behind.
When Jan Wong set out to write a book about home cooking in France, Italy and China, she wondered if she could entice her son Sam to join her. She told him she wanted a companion, a fellow foodie, but the real reason was that she felt it might be her last chance to hang out with him before he found a career, a partner, and a life of his own. Sam, 22, had just graduated with a BA in philosophy, and his only prospect was a minimum-wage job. While he wasn't particularly keen on spending excessive time with his mom, he had worked in seven restaurants and dreamed of becoming a chef, so he ultimately signed on.
In southeast France, they embedded with the Jeanselme family in Allex (pop. 2,413). Marie-Catherine and François lived in a farmhouse with their two handicapped children, an aging Mamie, and a constantly changing cast of illegal migrants. Public opinion in the EU was turning against migrants, but the Jeanselmes were unwavering humanitarians who also loved to eat.
In the village of Repergo (pop. 201) in the heart of Italy's Slow Food country, their mentor was Maria Rosa Beccaris, a nurse who enlisted the culinary help of her family and friends. Jan, with her crash-course Italian, and Sam, improvising from his high-school Spanish, learned the proper way to make risotto and polenta for five-hour Sunday lunches. They also learned about daily life, from why Italians eschewed cutting boards, to why Maria Rosa opposed her daughter studying medicine.
In Shanghai (pop. 25 million), they embedded with three rich families, expecting to work with the maids, but each time the tai-tai insisted she would demonstrate how to cook because the help was inept. The conflict bared the ongoing tensions in China between city dwellers and the migrant workers who comprise one of the biggest demographic shifts in world history. It also provided a rare glimpse of reallife crazy rich Asians, and the brittle bond between tycoon husbands and trophy wives.
JAN WONG is the author of five non-fiction bestsellers. She was the first Canadian to study in China during the Cultural Revolution and was later a foreign correspondent during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Her first book, Red China Blues, was named one of Time magazine's top ten non-fiction books of 1996. She has won numerous journalism awards. She divides her time between Toronto and Fredericton, where she is a tenured professor of journalism at St. Thomas University.
In southeast France, they embedded with the Jeanselme family in Allex (pop. 2,413). Marie-Catherine and François lived in a farmhouse with their two handicapped children, an aging Mamie, and a constantly changing cast of illegal migrants. Public opinion in the EU was turning against migrants, but the Jeanselmes were unwavering humanitarians who also loved to eat.
In the village of Repergo (pop. 201) in the heart of Italy's Slow Food country, their mentor was Maria Rosa Beccaris, a nurse who enlisted the culinary help of her family and friends. Jan, with her crash-course Italian, and Sam, improvising from his high-school Spanish, learned the proper way to make risotto and polenta for five-hour Sunday lunches. They also learned about daily life, from why Italians eschewed cutting boards, to why Maria Rosa opposed her daughter studying medicine.
In Shanghai (pop. 25 million), they embedded with three rich families, expecting to work with the maids, but each time the tai-tai insisted she would demonstrate how to cook because the help was inept. The conflict bared the ongoing tensions in China between city dwellers and the migrant workers who comprise one of the biggest demographic shifts in world history. It also provided a rare glimpse of reallife crazy rich Asians, and the brittle bond between tycoon husbands and trophy wives.
JAN WONG is the author of five non-fiction bestsellers. She was the first Canadian to study in China during the Cultural Revolution and was later a foreign correspondent during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Her first book, Red China Blues, was named one of Time magazine's top ten non-fiction books of 1996. She has won numerous journalism awards. She divides her time between Toronto and Fredericton, where she is a tenured professor of journalism at St. Thomas University.
| Available products |
|---|
|
Book
Published by Goose Lane |