Grace Young is an American cookbook author, activist, and food historian specializing in

Chinese cuisine Chinese cuisine encompasses the numerous cuisines originating from China, as well as overseas cuisines created by the Chinese diaspora. Because of the Chinese diaspora and historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine has influenced many ot ...

and

wok A wok (; Pinyin: ; Cantonese ) is a deep round-bottomed cooking pan from China. It is believed to be derived from the South Asian karahi. It is common in China and similar pans are found in parts of East, South and Southeast Asia, as well as ...

cookery. She received the

Julia Child Award The Julia Child Award is an annual award given out by the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts to an individual or team that made a "profound and significant difference in how America cooks, eats, and drinks." It was establis ...

from

The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

and James Beard Humanitarian of the Year award from the James Beard Foundation, both in 2022, for her culinary achievements. Young has authored cookbooks focused on

American Chinese cuisine American Chinese cuisine is a cuisine derived from Chinese cuisine that was developed by Chinese Americans. The dishes served in many North American Chinese restaurants are adapted to American tastes and often differ significantly from those ...

with her books ''The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen'' and ''The Breath of a Wok'' being influential in highlighting the use of the Chinese

to a new generation of cooks. Both books have won the Best International Cookbook Award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

Early life and career

Young grew up in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. She credits Julia Child as one of her inspirations saying, "I wanted to do for Chinese cooking what Julia Child had done for French cooking." After college, she worked for Time Life Books as their test kitchen director and director of food photography for more than 40 cookbooks.

Activism

During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Young advocated for the preservation of historic

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

s throughout the United States as well as bringing awareness to violence against

Asian Americans Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

. In 2020, when

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Mayor

Bill De Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...

was considering a city-wide lockdown, she worked with filmmaker Dan Ahn documenting the effect on

in New York City's Manhattan in a project called "Coronavirus: Chinatown Stories." In 2021, she launched the Grace Young Support Chinatown Fund with the New York non-profit Welcome to Chinatown, raising $40,000. The funds went to established Chinatown restaurants Hop Lee, Hop Kee, Wo Hop Upstairs, and

Wo Hop Wo Hop is a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, Manhattan, Manhattan’s that was named an List of James Beard America's Classics, American Classic in 2022 by the James Beard Foundation Award. It is the second oldest restaurant in Chinatown, Manhat ...

Downstairs to provide meals for those suffering from food insecurity. She said she is donating the $50,000 Julia Child Award prize to non-profit organizations that support Chinatowns across the United States.

Publications

* ''The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen: Classic Family Recipes for Celebration and Healing'', Simon and Schuster (, 1999) * ''The Breath of a Wok'', Simon Schuster (, 2004) * ''Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Mastery, with Authentic Recipes and Stories'' (, 2010)

References

External links

Yang Chow Fried Rice recipe from The Today Show

Coronavirus: Chinatown Stories
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Grace Living people American cookbook writers American food writers American women food writers James Beard Foundation Award winners American chefs American people of Asian descent Year of birth missing (living people)