Janice Wong continues to make the rounds with her book Chow. 

Monday: City Cooks
Tuesday: Vancouver Museum

City Cooks airs on Monday morning at 9:30am and 12 Noon, as Janice tells her stories with Simi Sara.  Janice reports that Simi was great to work with.  There will be a skill testing question to win a copy of the book.  Hint, the question has something to do with Janice's father, Dennis.

I heard Janice's radio interview with Shelagh Rogers on CBC Radio's Sounds Like Canada on Friday.  It was a very warm and friendly interview, with Shelagh asking many questions about Janice's family ancestors and how they came to Canada, and how her parents settled in Prince Albert, Sasketchewan.   I particularly enjoyed hearing about Janice's first ancestor in Canada, Rev. Chan Yu Tan, who arrived in 1896, as a Methodist lay preacher for the Chinese Methodist Church (especially since he is my great-great-grandfather).

Janice also brought some chicken wings, steamed sable fish and beans with dow see (bean curd) and presented the food in a laquerware box, and Shelagh complimented Janice on the presentation, and also upon tasting the food.  Shelagh was also particularly interested in hearing the stories about how Janice's father was born premature, and his mother wrapped him up in blankets and put him in the oven to keep him warm.

Another fascinating story was how Janice had started the book as a gift for her family, after her father died.  A friend encouraged her to turn it into a book, and Whitecap Books appreciated her  creative in the book design, recognizing Janice as an accomplished and professional visual artist- Janice Wong Studio.

Janice also told stories about how her parents met in Nanaimo Chinatown, and seeing her grand-Uncle Luke Chan in Hollywood movies that her father would point out, such as "The Mysterious Mr. Wong," as well he was in movies with Clark Gable, Bela Lugosi and Katherine Hepburn.

Afterwards, Janice sent me this e-mail:
"The interview with Shelagh was fun.  She's such a warm person.  I met Philip (Ditchburn) and he mentioned your geneology connection.  I don't think the producer told Shelagh about you and me as Philip mentioned it after the interview and she was pleasantly surprised."

I join Janice Wong for CHOW book launch at West Vancouver Library Oct 18, 2005

Tuesday
October 18th
7pm - 9pm
West Vancouver Memorial Library

I will be joining Janice Wong as a panelist for the West Vancouver launch of her book, CHOW From China to Canada: Memories of Food + Family.  Jeannie Mah is unable to attend from Regina.

This will be lots of fun.  Janice and I only discovered each other about 2 months ago, when she e-mailed me and identified herself as a relative from the Rev. Chan Family.  We have enjoyed sharing our mutual love for family history, and discoveries about who we know and what stories about relatives we know.

I will be talkign about discovering Chinese restaurants on my travels throughout North America, stories about Chinese restaurants, and how I have integrated Chinese food into my Robbie Burns Chinese New Year dinner, aptly named.... "Gung Haggis Fat Choy!"

Earlier on Tuesday she will be taping a tv segment for CityTV's CityCooks with host Simi Sara.  I have appeared two times on the show with restauranteur/chef Joseph Lee to prepare haggis wun-tun, and lettuce wrap.

CHOW: Janice Wong has successful book launch at Sylvia Hotel

Janice Wong wrote some stories about her father and his Chinese restaurant a few years ago as a gift for her family, and  paired them with his recipes that she had found.   Before she knew it, she had created a new genre of cookbooks.

"Janice knows a lot of people," smiled Alicia Schlagg, Marketing coordinator for Whitecap Books. She was very pleased as author Janice Wong signed autographs and posed for pictures with family and friends.  It was a busy crowd at the Sylvia Hotel on Wednesday evening, Oct 12th.  Whitecap Books had taken over the restaurant, wine was served along with mandarin oranges, and many bouquets of unique flowers had been brought by admirers to mark this special occasion.

I walked in and quickly spotted my grandmother Mabel Mar, and her younger brother Dan Lee.   I greeted her cousin Josie (Janice Wong's aunt), and Janice's cousin Rick Lum.  These are all relatives that I had known and grown up with since I was a little boy.  At the same table sat Janice's mother Mary, who had flown in from Saskatoon.  I find it hard to believe that I only met Janice two months ago, when she e-mailed me looking for an e-mail list for the Rev. Chan family descendants.

Who else did I see?  Larry Wong, now president of the Chinese Canadian Historical Association of BC.  Larry has arranged to have Janice present her book, along with Paul Yee at the Vancouver Museum on ???.  Larry will also be part of a panel discussion on growing up with chinese restaurants at the West Vancouver Memorial Library on Oct 18, where Janice Wong will present a slide show.  I will also be part of the presentation sharing my experiences of Chinese Restaurants, and the importance of Chinese food, as I have developed haggis wun-tun and the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinners.

Janice's book, CHOW, really is amazing.  It is filled with pictures and stories about her father, her family, the restaurant where she grew up in Prince Albert Saskatchewan.  Recipes alternate with pictures and stories, giving a context to how and when certain dishes would be created and served, as well as eaten.  The recipes come alive, as you can read the stories and imagine all the family members sitting around you, or her father Dennis Wong in the kitchen.

I opened the book and found stories about Great-grand uncle Luke who went to Hollywood and became an actor, starring and supporting in movies with Clark Gable and Gary Cooper.  A story about Rev. Chan Yu Tan, reveals the name of his wife Wong Chiu Lin, whom nobody in my family could remember except as "Tai-poh" (great-grandmother) or as Mrs. Chan.

Harvey Lowe the Yo-Yo King, is a friend of Dennis Wong, inviting Janice's father to go to England with him, but Dennis's parents forbade him, never imagining that Harvey Lowe will go on to tour the world and perform yo-yo tricks on the Smothers Brothers TV show, for Nat King Cole, and for royalty.

At the end of the evening, Janice is still beaming widely.  She is still signing autographs when I pull her away to take a family picture, because Aunt Josie and my grandmother - both in the 90's have to leave. 

"Have you met Toddish McWong, yet?" Janice asks a friend.  She introduces me to her friends and says, "My friend Robin has wanted to meet you for years."  She adds later, "We will have to get a table and attend the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner this time." 

I think to myself, that there will be ways to feature CHOW at the dinner - maybe as a raffle prize or silent auction prize.  Imagine winning a private Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner in your home with chefs Toddish McWong and Janice Wong, along with a copy of CHOW.

CHOW is an accessible recipe book, that is sure to be a Christmas gift for many people as it will be at home on the coffee table, next to the photo albums, or the kitchen.

pictures from the book launch and book review of chow to come....