Mai Ly is a young artist from Albuquerque, New Mexico. I had the pleasure of interacting with her at a recent workshop I conducted at USF. Her take-away from Grandma Ro’s Egg Rolls is urgent and important to consider. As more of us move away from home and assimilate into other cultures, we must pause and think about what our lifestyle choices, culture and food says about our origins.

I am a woman of mixed racial backgrounds, and have always loved the fact that I am one quarter Vietnamese. My grandmother is from Vietnam; and named me Mai Ly, which means ‘cherry blossom lion’. I love spending time with my grandmother Ro; she is the sweetest, most generous and caring woman I know. Ro came from a very poor family and lived in a tiny village that had no electricity or running water. She even worked long and hard days on a rubber plantation. During the Vietnam War, Ro met my grandfather, who was serving the United States in the war. She married him so that she could move out of Vietnam and to the States. She was courageous to leave behind her home and family to embark on a journey into a life so foreign to her, the American Dream. How twisted that dream can be though.

Looking Back

My grandmother never cooked with her mother and sister in Vietnam. When she moved to the States every aspect of life – language, food, people, environment, technology – was unfamiliar to her. When it was time to cook for my grandfather, she was completely lost. My grandfather’s family hunted; so my grandmother learned how to gut and butcher animals that were brought home. She cooked rabbits, deer, fish, steaks, chicken, french fries, and any food my grandfather taught her to cook. My grandmother lost connection with the Vietnamese ingredients she was so familiar with tasting.

However, she has been making her famous egg rolls for as long as I can remember. They are the special dish served at every holiday and at family get-togethers, enjoyed by everyone. It will always be the favourite dish served. The egg roll recipe came from my grandmother’s Vietnamese friend who had a Chinese restaurant; so the recipe is somewhat of a fuse between Chinese and Vietnamese rolls. It is a mixture of carrots, bean sprouts, cabbage, celery, green onions, and pork – efficiently rolled in an egg roll wrapper and freshly fried. It is best served with nước chấm, a spicy dipping sauce. Despite years of enjoying the egg rolls, I never knew how much work went into making them until I was about 18 and went to my grandparents house to learn. Since then, I have never taken the egg rolls or my grandmother’s hours of labor for granted.

Looking Ahead

Ro’s egg rolls have taught me about the struggles indigenous people and immigrants (like my grandmother) face; in learning how their ancestors cooked; what techniques they used in order to make food that is nutritious for her body; because there is a loss of connection with their ancestral and traditional cuisine. Indigenous people and immigrants have struggled with the American food system; it has been detrimental to their culture, health, and well-being. We must absorb the knowledge indigenous people and immigrants have to offer because it is essential for our livelihood. I will continue to have conversations with my grandparents and work with them to create ways to decolonize the diet and dismantle the food system.

Written by Mai Ly Torres Baker and edited by  Jashan Sippy.

‘Food, the Feeling of Home’: A series of stories exploring nostalgia, the power of food, our memories and stories of ‘home’.

Want to share your story? Send it to us at info@sugarandspace.in