A-Gong’s Table

Description

A rendering of food through the memories of family and of home: over ninety plant-based recipes from George Lee, the creator of Chez Jorge, with Laurent Hsia’s images of Taiwan.

George Lee grew up with his A-Gong (grandfather) in the quiet refuge of Tamsui, Taiwan. He took part in the myriad Taiwanese food traditions his A-Gong nurtured, until he was seventeen, when his A-Gong passed. In observation of the death, he and his family undertook a set of Buddhist funeral customs and abstained from eating meat. For a hundred days, they ate at the monastery and the nuns there taught him to cook.
 
Years later, he revisited the lessons and pieced them into the story of his family’s cooking. Some recipes he shares here are directly from childhood: Han-tsî-bê, an everyday breakfast congee floating with fist-size chunks of golden sweet potatoes, and the quintessential preserve Tshài-póo, crunchy strips of sun-dried daikon radish that salt in the air for a few days in January. Others tread the boundaries between old and new, such as Sòo-lóo-pn̄g, a meatless rendition of the hand-cut pork bits his mom braised in soy sauce and ladled over rice.
 
While writing this book, George wandered all over Taiwan with his friend Laurent Hsia, who took photos along the way. Together, they sought out the foods and places tied to their memories growing up. Like the grandpa who slung a bag of apples along the zebra crossing to exit the morning market, or the old couple on the bus in black and white, sitting side by side and peering forward, the two found themselves . . . always afoot, traveling. A-Gong’s Table follows the rhythm of their footsteps: a pulse that takes you quietly through the book and through Taiwan, from morning to night.“For a young author, this enticing story—centered on his stern yet beloved grandfather—is an astonishingly accomplished exploration of flavors, ingredients, and traditions.”—Katy Hui-wen Hung (洪惠文), co-author of A Culinary History of Taipei: Beyond Pork and Ponlai
 
“Never before has a cookbook made me cry with the tender poetry of its pages, where each recipe is a miracle of shadow and light, salt and sunbath, essence and depth. With profound grace and attunement, A-Gong’s Table alchemizes memory, history, language, and the body in order to unearth the abundant offering of nourishment and beauty in every detail, invoking our longing for ‘the gentle sweet aftertaste that lingers at the back of the tongue’ and bringing us home.”—Jennifer S. Cheng, author of House A
 
“George Lee’s book, A-Gong’s Table, is written with incredible heart, knowledge, and generosity. He invites you into his family’s Taiwanese kitchen and soon, you, too, are dreaming about sweet fermented rice, salt-preserved vegetables, and flaky toon pancakes.”—Amanda Hesser, Founder and Executive Chair of Food52, Schoolhouse, and Dansk

“Beyond the thoughtful canon of recipes, A-Gong’s Table captures the story of a place, revealing snapshots that feel fleeting and timeless all at once. This is a beautiful love letter to Taiwan and a quietly uncompromising work of documentation.”—Hannah Che, author of The Vegan Chinese KitchenGeorge Lee is a cook and writer based in Taipei and raised in Tamsui, Taiwan. He shares his food and stories on his blog Chez Jorge.MY

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