Hi Everyone,

Our Next OnLine Culinary Adventure: A visit to Vietnam with Raymond - March 15th 4pm-5:30pm PST.

This is the email that our Club Members receive a week before our online culinary adventure. I realized today, there is a lot of wonderful information here and I decided to share it with our community at large, because we are all connected through our love of exploring culture through food. If you are interested in joining our Culture & Connection Club or learning more, please reply to this email.

What is in this email:
🧑🏼‍🍳Everything you need to know for our next culinary adventure
🇻🇳 An interview with our Guest Raymond Liens
🎙️Podcast Episode featuring Raymond
🎉Special Event Announcement - A Culinary Adventure with Anna Voloshyna - Ukranian-American culinary story teller, activist and cookbook author.

For those of you in the Club, I hope you are enjoying this month’s gift: “The Best We Could” book by Thi Bui.  

When I finished the book, I recognized the unique experience of reading it before having this culinary adventure with Raymond.

Vietnam is on my bucket list, I have wanted to go since my twenties. I feel very grateful to know Raymond, and have the opportunity to hear his insight and perspective in relation to this book and his own story, all while we make one of his great recipes. I cannot think of a better introduction to a country I plan to travel to, or may never travel to. This really is all about immersive culinary experiences, and I am really grateful that you are joining me on this ride.

Here is what you need to know for March 15th:

What we are making:
Raymond’s Vietnamese Salad Rolls - makes 6
A quick pickle (great to make and use for many dishes)
A Nuoc Mam dipping sauce ( ideal for cooking, marinating and dipping)

I suggest if you plan to have this for dinner you may want to supplement it with some other dishes. We sometimes order Pho or sushi, grill some chicken, fish or steak to serve with it and maybe a little rice on the side or more vegetables. Feel free to reach out in the WhatsApp chat if you want some of my favourite recipes.

Prep:
A little prep, not much I promise.

Please clean and trim your aromatics and fresh vegetables - DO NOT CHOP (JJJ 😂 ).

Please peel your carrot and daikon

Defrost your prawns
You can do this by putting them in your fridge the night before (leave them in their bag). Or you can submerge them (in a sealed bag) under cold water for 15-20 minutes.

Ingredient List:
1 med. Leaf Lettuce (green or red)
1 bunch spearmint or peppermint - this is “mint” in many grocery stores (6-8 stems)
10-12  prawns or large shrimps (size 41-50)
1 carrot
3” piece of daikon thinly julienne
1 pack Rice-paper 22cm
12 stems Chinese chives (or the green part of green onions)

Ingredient List for the Vegetarian Option:
1 pack of *Seitan (250g) cut in 3-4 cm strips
2T Finely minced lemongrass (You can use frozen minced lemongrass)
1tsp  Soy sauce
1tsp Maggi seasoning
1/2 tsp Sesame seed oil
1tsp Rice vinegar
1/2  Thai Chili (Optional)

*Seitan is made from wheat, for wheat alternatives use fried tofu

A Little Bit About Raymond:

Where were you born?

I was born in Bạc Liêu near the Southern tip of Vietnam, where our family lived for many generations. Bac Lieu was a small provincial town where the French built manors with louvre shutters and streets with wide boulevards. In these boulevards food-vendors hustled from morning to night selling everything from morning coffee to late night snacks. Just steps away from our home, there were endless rice paddies where foraged herbs can be bought directly from the farmers working these fields.

Can you tell us a little bit about the history of your family?

We landed in Winnipeg in 1979. At the time there were only two Chinese general grocers. We couldn't find all the products we were accustomed to. Two years later we opened the first South-East Asian grocery in Winnipeg. From that moment on, food became even more of a focus of our family.

At the store, I was the go-to person for English speaking customers. Adventurous locals would want to know our specialty products. The store was open for 40 years, and operated by my family. It only recently closed down.

How do you express your love for cooking and culture?

Like most young immigrants to Canada, I did not appreciate my own culture outside our home. Vietnamese food was not known outside family circles until much later. However, I learned from a young age that countries have borders but flavours will cross cultures.

Now for me, cooking is a way to create moments to gather with friends and family. The food sets the tone and I always try to bring in new flavours, new dishes, new ingredients, making each family gathering a unique experience.

Do you often cook together as a family?

We were a family of foodies before the term “foodies” was coined. Not surprising as our new life in Canada, for many years, evolved around a grocery store.

For me cooking is an essential life skill and I make sure to pass it on to the next generation. Whether it is my young godchild learning to separate egg yolks for our Sunday waffles or my nieces asking questions about our family recipes.

About Vietnamese Cuisine (By Raymond)

A typical Viet meal has at least 50% vegetables, 25% protein, and 25% carbohydrates. We eat at least half of the vegetables raw. Leafy lettuce is often used for wrapping. My favourite dishes are the ones to share like self-assembling salad rolls and noodle bowls.

Visit this link for an interesting read on Vietnamese Cuisine:

https://www.seriouseats.com/2013/01/a-basic-introduction-to-vietnamesefood.html

Podcast Episode with Raymond:
This episode, the book, and the culinary experience - bring it all together for a one-of-a-kind culinary adventure. I can’t wait for our conversation.

Save The Date: April 19th 4pm-5:30pm On-line
A culinary adventure with Anna Voloshyna
Anna and I met when we did a podcast episode together, and I have never met another person like her. I think one of the most fascinating things I learned about Anna was how on more than one occasion she has gone to the front lines in the Ukraine to cook for the women and men fighting for their country. The best part is when she told me that they told her she wasn’t chopping the tomatoes correctly!

I will be sharing more about Anna and our event in the weeks to come - but this is my gift to our Culture & Connection Club members in April - join me as my guest as we cook with Anna, a recipe from her new cookbook that is coming out in the fall: Ukraïne. Our regular club date for April will still go as scheduled.

If you are not yet a member of our Culture & Connection Club and would would like to join in on this culinary adventure, we would LOVE to have you. Two ways you can participate, just simply reply to this email to be put on the waitlist and once I have the ticket page set up I will email you the link. Or join our Culture & Connection Club before April and you will receive this culinary adventure as a gift. Please reply to this email to find out how to become a member.

Culture & Connection Club where Global Flavours meet Meaningful Connection! Just hit reply to this email to say hi or to get in touch!