Kitchen Wisdom of Cecilia Chiang

THE KITCHEN WISDOM OF CECILIA CHIANG is a new six-part cooking mini-series documenting the amazing life story of "the Julia Child of Chinese food in America." In the 1950s, Chinese food in the U.S. was mostly westernized Cantonese food such as chop suey and chow mein. Then, along came restaurateur Cecilia Chiang. Never having cooked professionally, Cecilia launched the legendary Mandarin Restaurant in 1961 and influenced a new generation of chefs and food enthusiasts, including Julia Child, James Beard, and a young Alice Waters (before her Chez Panisse fame). In the process, she introduced Szechuan, Hunan and Beijing cuisine, and revolutionized Chinese cooking in America. In this series, top chefs of the Bay Area-including Corey Lee of Benu, Laurence Jossel of Nopa and Nancy Oakes of Boulevard-invite Cecilia, who is still active and vibrant well into her 90s, into their kitchens to recreate some of the Mandarin's classic dishes (beggars chicken, squab in lettuce cups, the original potsticker, and crispy Szechuan duck). It's a cooking series with an incredible story to tell, and a grande dame to tell it.