Celebrity Chef Serves up Cooking Demo March 23
March 16, 2010
10-047
Celebrity Chef Serves up Cooking Demo March 23
VALDOSTA -- Celebrity Chef Mai Pham will engage the senses with
her culinary mastery of Thai and Vietnamese cuisine during a public
cooking demonstration from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on March 23 in the
Palms Resident Dining Center. The presentation kicks off a six-week
menu that will feature Pham’s Southeast Asian recipes exclusively
at Hopper Resident Dining Center.
The restaurateur and Food Network host said she hopes the
collaboration with Sodexo -- VSU’s campus dining provider -- will
introduce people to the distinct flavors of lemongrass, ginger and
other mainstays of the region’s culinary tradition. Cooking, Pham
said, is a powerful tool to bring people together. Each of her
dishes tells a story.
“My food is deeply rooted in tradition. Growing up in Vietnam, I
watched my grandmother and mother express themselves through food
and cooking,” said Pham, owner of chef/owner of renowned Lemon
Grass restaurant in Sacramento, Calif., and food columnist for the
San Francisco Chronicle. “Whenever I make Mom’s Catfish in Claypot
-- one of our best selling dishes at Lemon Grass Restaurant -- I
think about the long (family) history behind it. I don’t feel a
need to reinvent or redefine.”
Blazer Dining Operations Director Amanda Peterson said Pham’s
authentic menu options are sure to satisfy college students’
growing desire for culinary adventure. Pham, the host of Food
Network’s “My Country, My Kitchen: Vietnam,” said her dishes offer
students, who may have never traveled, the opportunity to explore
Asia through its smells and tastes.
Pham moved to the United States with her family after the Vietnam
War ended in 1975. After earning a degree in journalism from the
University of Maryland, the outgoing foodie enjoyed a career as a
distinguished on-air correspondent for ABC News affiliates and
later as speechwriter for the governor of California. In 1988, she
traded news reports for a chef hat to open Lemon Grass Restaurant,
which features an extensive menu that includes crispy spring rolls,
grilled shrimp with green papaya, seared beef on rice noodles and
Thai basil stirfry. She has since authored “Pleasures of the
Vietnamese Table,” and “The Best of Vietnamese and Thai Cooking,”
which were featured on NPR’s Fresh Air and Martha Stewart Living
television shows. Her line of sauces, dips and marinades are
available at Corti. Bros., Whole Foods and Nugget Markets.
The Palm’s cooking demonstration is free with the price of lunch,
$7.49, or a meal plan swipe at the university’s all-you-care-to eat
dining facility. For more information, call Sodexo Campus Services
Marketing Director Jenna Gilbert Maroney at 229-333-7146 or e-mail
her at jennifer.gilbert@sodexo.com.
Newsroom
- Office of Communications Powell Hall West, Suite 1120
-
Mailing Address
1500 N. Patterson St.
Valdosta, GA 31698 - General VSU Information
- Phone: 229.333.5800
- Office of Communications
- Phone: 229.333.2163
- Phone: 229.333.5983