Room Magazine picks Chow

In this beautiful volume, artist Janice Wong weaves together recipes, family stories, photographs, and found artifacts to create a unique and personal portrait of Chinese Canadian history. Wong writes with care and charm about growing up in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in the 1960s, where her father ran two eateries. She also delves back generations to document how her grandparents (immigrants from China to Vancouver Island in the mid-1800s) and parents built lives in Canada in the face of open anti-Asian racism. By sharing some of his tempting recipes--from chau siu bow to sour cream chocolate cake--Wong pays tribute to a father she clearly admires. Wong deftly blends genres to explore the powerful connection between food and memory in a text that's equally enjoyable as memoir and cookbook.

—from Room Magazine Alissa MacArthur