INFLUENTIAL CHINESE CHEFS
Martin Yan has a mission—to make Chinese food simple for the cook and divine for the guest. He is a second-generation chef. He was the host of Yan Can Cook, a long running show on PBS that brought his style of Cantonese cooking to the public. He’s the author of dozens of books including Martin Yan Quick and Easy.
Cecilia Chiang is credited with introducing America to authentic Mandarin cuisine. Alice Waters learned Chinese cooking from Chiang (so did Julia Child.) Her son is the co-founder of P.F. Chang’s restaurant chain. After early struggles, her San Francisco restaurant The Mandarin took off after C.Y. Lee (who wrote The Flower Drum Song) became a regular and brought his friends to sample the restaurant’s offerings. She has several books to her credit including The Seventh Daughter: My Culinary Journey from Beijing to San Francisco.
