#ChineseFoodiesofIG: Tao Leigh Goffe

 

This is part of an ongoing series of interviews I’m doing with my favourite Chinese foodies that I follow on Instagram. Come and follow the #ChineseFoodiesofIG hashtag on Instagram and leave a comment showing your support for these talented folk!

Where are you from? Where are you really from?

Mannahatta, New York, New Jersey. Actually, I was born and raised for the first part of my life in London.

What does home taste like?

Shrimp fried rice and dim sum!

Favourite Chinese vegetable:

Bok choy! I made a ceramic dish with a bok choy centrepiece design.

Share a food memory:

My grandfather would bring me, my sister, and mother sweet buns milk cream, sometimes coconut, pillowy from Chinatown. Also seeing him codeswitch from Jamaican patwa to Cantonese at dim sum restaurants was everything!

Who's your Chinese food legend?

My friend Felicia Chang who lives in Trinidad. I love learning from other home cooks, from dear friends who have their tips and tricks in the kitchen. Being her sous chef in Trinidad gave me a lot of confidence in the kitchen.

What’s a Chinese recipe everyone should learn?

番茄炒鸡蛋 Tomato and egg stir fry. I had this often when I was living in Shanghai in 2017 as part of a fellowship. Being pescatarian and not speaking Mandarin, it was one of the few dishes I could be sure did not contain meat. So comforting!

Dream dinner party guests:

Hua Hsu, H.T. Tsiang, Lucas Sin, Sari Kamin, Albert Chong, Andrea Chung, Edward Said, Toni Morrison, and Audre Lorde. I like deep collaboration and would love to dine with the people who have inspired my latest culinary adventures, both living and dead, if I am allowed to dream.

The most important Chinese ingredient is…

Shaoxing wine.

What does Chinese food mean to you?

Jamaican Hakka Chinese food is simple and elegant, it does not taste like anything you would get at a Chinese takeaway or an Indian Hakka restaurant. To me Chinese food is a resource; it tells a story of gastropoetics, of scarcity and invention from jook to foo gah to chop suey.

 
#ChineseFoodiesofIGJenny Lauchinese identity1 Comment