Watching No Passport Required

I just wrapped up listening to the audiobook of Chef Samuelsson’s memoir yesterday, where he talks so much of his third culture kid/adult life. When you’ve been raised in multiple cultures like him and I have, you can’t help but chase food stories and geography/world history because of the will to learn about people.

That being said, along with the chef’s memoir, I cannot recommend the docu-series, “No Passport Required” enough (PBS subscription required if you don’t have cable like I do, or Amazong or iTunes have it). It’s just as touching as Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown”, instead led by his friend, chef Marcus Samuelsson. It’s touching, it beautiful representation of immigrant communities in the United States. The DC/Ethiopia episode taught me so much about Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Miami episode made me miss days of finding food in Little Haiti. The New Orleans episode is making me crave cooking for others. It’s beautiful.

Get some takeout you've never gotten before, or try to cook something new, and watch this whole series. Chef Marcus Samuelsson has done an amazing job of documenting the richness of immigration communities in the United States. You can’t help but feel humbled and inspired by the vast stories that foods have. These food stories are stories of resilience.