When Kristen Kishhis winner Top chef The era 10 and now its host traveled to South Korea in June 2022, was nervous. It was approved in four months by an American family, the chef celebrities had never returned to her country of birth – and was not sure what to find, felt or even realized about a place that was her own and was still not.
“I thought I had to feel this wave of emotions of” Oh my God, I’m home. “I thought I had to look out in the world of Korean people and feel like belonging. BoricA comfortable Korean restaurant in Koreatown, Los Angeles specializing in Banchan. “I felt more like a tourist and a visitor, which I was definitely and I was, but I felt guilty so as not to feel these feelings.”
It took a few days to realize that he could not force a moment of emotional revelation. “I don’t feel anything doesn’t mean I have less respect for where I come from. I need time to find out,” he says. But there was a time when she gave her what she didn’t know she needed. While visiting a handmade stamp shop, she decided to make one with her Korean name. When her store asked what she was, she hesitated, nervous to tell her adoption story.
“I didn’t want to feel like I was judged. But he said,” You belong here “, she ceases, her voice catches.” That was for me it was the Moment of travel. ”
The story did not do it in her debut, Accidentally deliberatelyReleased last month, but speaks in the heart of her unlikely journey – a random and intent, clarity and ambiguity. In the book, Kish shares more to grow up as a Korean adoption in a white Midwestern family, navigate its queer and Korean identities and grow to become one of the most recognized chefs on television.
In the first episode of Fam Style, Kish and I sit down to talk about how her Korean food has helped to connect with her legacy, the idea of belonging and the mattress coming home – throughout the meal that tastes like a memory.
Fam Style Spotlights Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Changemakers throughout entertainment, food, art and culture. Above common meals in AAPI restaurants, we sit with creators, artists and pioneers to talk about identity, ambition, community and the stories that shape us. Through familiar conversations and the language of food, we emphasize the color, joy and durability in Aapi’s experience – a plate at a time.
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