Chow: From China to Canada: Memories of Food and Family

A cookbook and a fascinating glimpse into Canadian history. Born a two-pound preemie in 1917, Dennis Wong may have begun his love of food after spending the first months of his life keeping warm in his mother’s cooking oven. Miraculously surviving his tenuous beginning, Dennis went on to pursue an ambitious culinary career, opening two Chinese-Canadian cafés in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, to introduce countless adventurous Canadian diners to Chinese food. In Chow , Dennis’s daughter Janice Wong tells her father’s tale through heart-rending stories and traditional Chinese village recipes. A collection of more than 50 simple family fare dishes, Chow contains early photographs, immigration documents, 1940s restaurant menus, and handwritten recipes that trace the history of some of Canada’s first ethnic restaurants. Written with refreshing sincerity, Chow is both a terrific cookbook and a detailed record of an intriguing chapter in Canadian history. It includes recipes for: Dungeness Crab with Black Bean Sauce Steamed Chicken with Rice, Sausage and Mushrooms Asparagus, Mushrooms and Pork Chinese Barbecue Duck Peking Doilies Wong’s Chocolate Chip Cookies.