Kitchen party Toronto chef celebrates food producers and tells 'consummate Canadian story' with virtual cook-along class By: Jen Zoratti Posted: 3:00 AM CST Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/02/2021 (2012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Trevor Lui grew up in kitchens.

His father, a Chinese immigrant from Hong Kong, opened a family restaurant called Highbell in Toronto when Lui was five. Every day after school, Lui would watch as his grandmother handled the Western items on the menu while his grandfather, who was a master wok chef in Hong Kong, whipped up Chinese staples as he yelled at the hockey game on the TV.

Lui, now 47, is a food entrepreneur, innovator and chef — though he’d call himself an accidental chef — in his own right. And through a vibrant mix of recipes and storytelling, Lui shares his journey as a first-generation Canadian and how his relationship to food shaped who he is today in The Double Happiness Cookbook, which came out in hardcover via Figure 1 Publishing in January.

The book’s 88 recipes — 88 being a Chinese symbol of fortune and good luck— include everything from family classics such as the Fan Keh Lo Dan, or stewed tomatoes with eggs, his mother made, to his own innovations, such as guacamame (an edamame guacamole) and the ramen burger he took to the Canadian National Exhibition. (The book also includes a hip hop playlist so you can set the right Lui vibe in your own kitchen.)

And on Sunday, you’ll have the opportunity to invite Lui himself into your kitchen. Lui is leading a free virtual master-class cook-along hosted by Manitoba Canola Growers in celebration of Canadian Agriculture Day on Feb. 23.

Lui says the time he spent travelling to farms, meeting with growers and producers, was transformative. “It gave me a completely different perspective of what it went into getting that food to a big-city guy like me in Toronto,” he says. “And I think a lot of us take that for granted.”

The pandemic has also put that disconnect between plate and farm into stark relief.

“If the restaurants are suffering, our growers are suffering, because no one’s buying the bounties that they’re growing,” he says. “That’s one thing I learned when I spent my time out there, is what dedication our agricultural sector puts into being able to supply all of us with the bounty of amazing ingredients.”

Lui’s cookbook features a section called Cooking With Friends that features guest recipes from pals who have inspired him. One of those friends is Manitoban Will Bergmann, a.k.a. Will the Farmer, of Bergmann Bros. farm and Bergmann CSA garden. The partner in local restaurant Oxbow contributed a farm-style Tuscan soup recipe.

“Will was the first person to take me out ice fishing on Lake Winnipeg, so I conquered my fear of sitting on frozen ice for 14 hours,” Lui says with a laugh. “I’ve roasted coffee with him, I’ve shot guns with him. I’ve done all the things that a city kid wouldn’t do.”

The Double Happiness Cookbook is more than a collection of recipes. It tells a story. “I call it the consummate Canadian story,” Lui says. Indeed, his experience reconnecting with his Chinese heritage through food will likely be a familiar storyline to other first-generation Canadians.

“A lot of times we’re ashamed of what our roots are, because we just want to be quote-unquote ‘normal’ like everyone else,” he says. “Like, we were afraid to bring our lunches to school, and we just wanted a ham-and-cheese sandwich like everyone else. And now, as an adult, I reflect on these things that I may have been quote-unquote ‘ashamed’ of, but I am extremely proud of because that is the fabric of what our country is all about.”

The spike in anti-Asian racism amid the pandemic has drummed up a lot of memories of being kid growing up in the ‘70s and ‘80s, Lui says.

“It’s a reminder that we have a lot of work to do. But the one thing that I want to impart on, not just my community, but the entire immigrant or new Canadian community is: Canada, the fabric of Canada, the heritage of Canada, is what it is because of the contributions of people that came to this country, whether you’re Irish, Italian, Polish, or the Filipino community in Winnipeg.

“We don’t learn, necessarily, in school growing up, what the Chinese contribution to the Gold Rush was, or the railroad, or what the Exclusion Act is. But I can tell you that almost everyone I know loves ordering Chinese food. So I want people to understand that, even if it was just about food, that we have a connection to the history of this country; we should be proud of it.”

Ellen Pruden, the Eat Well director from Manitoba Canola Growers, is excited to have Lui share his stories with cook-along participants, who will be making the Moo Goo Gai Pan from The Double Happiness Cookbook.

The pandemic got people back into their kitchens in a big way, experimenting with new recipes and new techniques. But, nearly a year in, a lot of people are starting to experience what Pruden calls “meal fatigue.”

“So when you’re able to have an expert come in and re-inspire you, I think that’s pretty cool, too,” she says. “You know it’s going to work, it’s going to taste good, and there’s a story too, compared to just surfing the net and picking off a recipe you think might work or you think might taste good.”

To register for the free cook-along, visit wfp.to/trevorlui.

jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @JenZoratti