Immigrant Chefs Bring New Flavors to America
Immigrants have always been a huge part of American restaurant culture, bringing new foods and flavors to the country. Now, they are winning top-tier awards in the industry too.
Take Chef “Nok” Chutatip Suntaranon for example. She opened her restaurant Kalaya four years ago in Philadelphia and was unsure how Americans would react to the heat of her southern Thai cooking. However, Kalaya was a huge success, and has been nominated three times for an award from the James Beard Foundation, a famous organization whose recognition is widely regarded as the “Oscars of the food world.”
Suntaranon explains that “Once we present it with authenticity — just like being true to yourself and the flavors, I think people would feel the honesty about it.” Instead of changing her food to meet the expectations of America, she serves her dishes the original way.
Never before have immigrants been so well represented in the James Beard Foundation awards, which can be attributed to the high diversity in the committee and the judges, with over 45% of them being BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). The Vice President of Awards at the James Beard Foundation, Dawn Padmore, explained that “We’ve refocused on what is the purpose of these awards.” Padmore says that goal of the foundation is to support and recognize “good food for good.”
The foundation has changed its voting process by making judges public and now includes a more diverse mix of voters. Additionally, the awards have an added focus on racial and gender equality along with sustainability in addition to the normal food standards.
Another reason for the success of immigrant chefs is the wide variety of foods they serve. “There’s an appetite, I think, in terms of consumers to try these different kinds of cuisine,” Padmore says. “I also think a lot of chefs, maybe the younger generation, feel like they can just express their culture, their background in a more direct manner.” There are always customers willing to try out foreign foods in America.
A variety of places, not just huge cities and popular food-related locations, have thriving immigrant chefs. Other James Beard nominees include a Laotian restaurant in Oklahoma, a Lebanese chef, in Salt Lake City, and a Peruvian restaurant in West Hartford, Connecticut. Together, immigrant chefs are changing the food in America.
Sources:
https://www.jamesbeard.org/awards/2021-audit
https://eb18600f7bb2916037f5ee8e636ce199.cdn.bubble.io/f1686440631924x133958338613594960/Immigrant%20chefs%20dominate%20James%20Beards%20culinary%20awards%2C%20change%20how%20America%20eats%20_%20NPR.pdf
Immigrants have always been a huge part of American restaurant culture, bringing new foods and flavors to the country. Now, they are winning top-tier awards in the industry too.
Take Chef “Nok” Chutatip Suntaranon for example. She opened her restaurant Kalaya four years ago in Philadelphia and was unsure how Americans would react to the heat of her southern Thai cooking. However, Kalaya was a huge success, and has been nominated three times for an award from the James Beard Foundation, a famous organization whose recognition is widely regarded as the “Oscars of the food world.”
Suntaranon explains that “Once we present it with authenticity — just like being true to yourself and the flavors, I think people would feel the honesty about it.” Instead of changing her food to meet the expectations of America, she serves her dishes the original way.
Never before have immigrants been so well represented in the James Beard Foundation awards, which can be attributed to the high diversity in the committee and the judges, with over 45% of them being BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). The Vice President of Awards at the James Beard Foundation, Dawn Padmore, explained that “We’ve refocused on what is the purpose of these awards.” Padmore says that goal of the foundation is to support and recognize “good food for good.”
The foundation has changed its voting process by making judges public and now includes a more diverse mix of voters. Additionally, the awards have an added focus on racial and gender equality along with sustainability in addition to the normal food standards.
Another reason for the success of immigrant chefs is the wide variety of foods they serve. “There’s an appetite, I think, in terms of consumers to try these different kinds of cuisine,” Padmore says. “I also think a lot of chefs, maybe the younger generation, feel like they can just express their culture, their background in a more direct manner.” There are always customers willing to try out foreign foods in America.
A variety of places, not just huge cities and popular food-related locations, have thriving immigrant chefs. Other James Beard nominees include a Laotian restaurant in Oklahoma, a Lebanese chef, in Salt Lake City, and a Peruvian restaurant in West Hartford, Connecticut. Together, immigrant chefs are changing the food in America.
Sources:
https://www.jamesbeard.org/awards/2021-audit
https://eb18600f7bb2916037f5ee8e636ce199.cdn.bubble.io/f1686440631924x133958338613594960/Immigrant%20chefs%20dominate%20James%20Beards%20culinary%20awards%2C%20change%20how%20America%20eats%20_%20NPR.pdf
