Chinese Food

Talking Through Food

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By: Jacqueline Pomeroy-Tso

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In terms of my culture, I am mostly blind, deaf, and mute. I can’t read the language, speak the language, or understand it. I grew up in a house where Chinese traditions were never used prominently. And yet I still see the evidence of my past in my everyday life.

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Not only do I look in the mirror and see features that make the world view me as asian, but whenever I write my name I find more clues. My middle name, Eng, was the name of my great-grandfather who fought in World War II to keep my family out of Japanese concentration camps (this is besides the fact that they were all Chinese-American, since officers could not tell the difference).

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I’ve grown up with my grandmother’s herbal remedies and smaller traditions like taking off your shoes at the door and celebrating Chinese New Year. In addition I have inherited my mother’s (and grandmother’s and great-grandmother’s and on and on) Buddhist practices. However, when I would go to school I would find people who were “ten times as Chinese” as me. They could speak the language, sometimes multiple dialects, write fluently, and translate for their peers and parents.

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In comparison to these people, I was inferior, a poor imitation of their rich culture. I longed to feel connected to all aspects of my heritage like the other kids I knew. But how do you connect with a culture where you are blind, deaf, and mute? The only means of communication I had left was taste.

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To me, food is a universal language between people. When I ate Chinese food with my family and friends, I knew we were all tasting the same thing regardless of our abilities in language. Even if I couldn’t look or act “Chinese enough”, I could learn to cook good food.

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Chinese food and Chinese medicine are all things I grew up with. While I only know their names in English, I know their tastes and smells by heart. My hands learned to fold dumplings and my grandmother gave me her recipes for medicinal teas and broths.

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But it isn’t all fun and games in the world of Jackie’s adventures in Chinese food. Since I am allergic to eggs, there is a great deal of cuisine that is off limits to me. My grandmother has decided to lower her sodium intake, so cooking with soy sauce (which is nearly essential) is not possible. 

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Despite the factors working against me, I still continue to cook with my family and enjoy the food we make. While myself and others may never be convinced of my validity in my heritage, I've learned that all that matters is what I feel. I will continue to work towards that connection I long for through the tastiest means.

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