Lidia Celebrates America

Weddings: Something Borrowed, Something New

In the continuing tradition of celebrating culture through food, the second LIDIA CELEBRATES AMERICA special focuses on the traditions surrounding weddings. The first sequence features an African-American wedding in New Orleans complete with marching brass band and traditional regional cuisine that includes jambalaya, crawfish and pralines. Next there's an Asian Indian-American wedding that features actor Mario Cantone, who played a wedding planner in TV's "Sex in the City." Also featured in this portion of the film is Indian actress and food writer Madhur Jaffrey who teaches Lidia about the classic Indian wedding dishes, including tandoori specials, seafood kebabs and a variety of Indian breads. The third wedding features a Korean-American wedding with celebrity fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, who creates a special outfit for Lidia to wear to this wedding. There is also added commentary and perspective on Korean culture from Survivor winner and PBS host of AMERICA REVEALED, Yul Kwon. The final wedding in the program offers the opportunity to examine the marriage of two cultures -- Irish-American and Italian-American. The wedding is a classic mix of Irish and Italian cultures with music and food represented from each.