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>> Coming up on Lidia Celebrates Am erica, four holidays, and four very different tables and traditions.
Come with me to celebrate culture through food.
An Italian Christmas Eve, and an unforgettable shopping trip with actor Mo Rocca.
>> When you shop around Arthur Avenue with Lidia, it's like going through the Vatican with the Pope.
>> And making a delcious Feast of the Seven Fishes with actor Stanley Tucci.
>> Tell me how far away we are with the pasta.
Ah, good question.
>> Then it's Christmas Day in San Antonio, where we celebrate with four generations of the Cortez family.
Does he pay you good?
You've got to negotiate here.
♪ I want to wish you a merry Christmas ♪ I want to wish you a merry Christas... ♪ In San Francisco, it's a colorful and plentiful Chinese New Year.
>> On Chinese New Year Eve we eat in order to end the old year.
>> And what do you do the day of the new year?
>> We just keep eating.
>> Then we head back to New York, where we celebrate a Passover Seder with foodie and food author Ruth Reichl.
>> As you know, my mother was the world's worst cook.
>> I'm Lidia Bastianich, and I'll be your guide for this cross country journey that embraces America and its rich history through food.
Come taste the past and the future as we celebrate America.
>> It's Christmas Eve in New York.
In Italian we call it La Vigilia, or the Feast of the Seven Fishes.
Tonight I am making the feast, so I'd better do some shopping.
I've been joined by actor and comedian Mo Rocca.
>> My grandmother loved yellow squash.
>> He needs some ingredients for his own Christmas Eve dinner.
Well, now we really have to do the fish.
>> Right.
>> That's all we came here for.
>> The Feast of the Seven Fishes is an Italian Christmas tradition for Christmas Eve, and so Lidia's going to bring me through the seven fishes.
>> It's La Vigilia, Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve was always about fish-- codfish, baccala mantecato, monkfish in brodetto, the fritto misto di centinbocca.
Really small fish.
Calamari, clam sauce, lobster oreganata, octopus and potatoes, mussels and clams and shrimps.
Frutti di mare.
That's about it.
First I took Mo to an Italian market in Manhattan.
>> Can I push the cart?
I love doing it.
I mean, not to be... >> Can I sit in the cart?
Can you push me in the cart?
>> What is puntarella?
>> Ah, puntarella.
>> My grandmother, who came from Alvito in the Lazio region of Italy, made amazing meals for me when I was growing up.
Her ravioli sort of is my childhood.
And Lidia actually taught me how to make my grandmother's own ravioli.
It was an amazing gift that she gave me.
Ooey!
Wow, a face only a mother could love.
>> You know, monkfish, the tail is like a poor man's lobster.
>> Is it called a monkfish because it's never going to get married?
>> Would you like to cook this for Christmas Eve?
>> I don't know what else to do to it.
>> How are you doing?
>> I love all your books, all your cooking.
>> Ah, thank you.
>> This is my home turf-- Arthur Avenue in the Bronx.
>> With all due respect to the more famous Manhattan Little Italy, the Little Italy in the Bronx, Arthur Avenue, is the real thing.
When you shop around Arthur Avenue with Lidia, it's like going through the Vatican with the Pope.
>> I used to collect these when I was small.
The babalucci, the sea snail.
We used to... with a toothpick, you pulled them right out.
And of course the scungilli.
>> Conch shells, right?
>> Yeah, conch.
Some oysters.
Let's see what they have inside.
Of course some shrimps.
The branzino.
The eyes are nice and shiny, and they're out.
When they're sunken in, that's not a good sign.
>> They're depressed, or... >> Yeah, they've had it.
The Vigilia is not only the day of the fishes, but seven fishes, nine fishes, 13 fishes.
Everybody has a different number.
Seven symbolizes the seven sacraments.
13 is the 12 disciples and Jesus Christ.
Hey, how you doing?
Hi.
All right.
Pleasure.
Mo, this is a father and son team.
Now, how many generations you been here, Joe?
>> He's the fourth generation.
>> The fourth generation.
So, Mo, there's no Vigilia without baccalà .
That goes up and down the peninsula.
I think for me a successful Vigilia meal just includes certain things.
>> Do you just eat this as sort of like a baccalà jerky?
>> Certainly baccalà is one of them.
It's always good to have one around the house.
You never know who might come.
But let me tell you, you know what my father used to do?
He used to take like a rubber mallet and pa-pa-pa-pa-pa... Until the meat inside all kind of powdered.
Then we would cook it, and then we would take it off the bone and whip and whip and whip... >> And whip and it becomes like a paste or something?
>> Like a brandade, it's almost like whipped cream.
>> You're kidding.
Like a cod whipped cream?
>> Yes.
>> That sounds delicious.
>> Much more texture.
>> Lidia Bastianich is someone you want in your life anytime, but especially at Christmastime.
I mean, I'm sure Mrs. Claus calls Lidia Bastianich on the phone for advice on how to be more Christmas-y.
>> Now, I think there's no Vigilia without eel.
And you know, the eel has got to be fresh.
Show him a nice size.
>> Ooh, it's slippery.
Oh, wow!
>> Catch it, catch him, Mo!
Catch him, Mo!
Whoa... catch it, get it, Mo!
>> I got it!
>> Fish it, fish it, fish it!
Come on, Mo!
Get it, get it, get it... whoa!
All right!
You're a real pescatore!
A real fisherman.
>> We're going to need a bigger boat.
>> As a child, you know, you don't like touching fish or cleaning fish.
But I was kind of used to it.
I had an uncle who was a fisherman, and I kind of loved going fishing with him.
It's a beautiful recollection, which I share with my grandchildren a lot.
Cosa si mangia per la Vigilia?
What are you going to eat?
>> Baccalà .
>> Traditions are extremely important.
Traditions give you those roots, and if a storm comes, you weather it.
If you don't have any roots, storm comes and you topple, no matter how big of a tree you are.
If you have any questions, you know, you call.
>> Thank you very much, Lidia.
>> Okay.
Ciao.
Buon Natale, Merry Christmas.
>> Merry Christmas to you.
>> And let's get together soon.
>> Absolutely.
Thank you very much.
>> Ciao... ciao-ciao.
>> I don't know how to get home, I just realized.
>> Here I am in my favorite place, in the kitchen, my kitchen.
And now I have just three hours to prepare my Feast of the Seven Fishes.
I'm making octopus salad, linguini in clam sauce, that wonderful creamy whipped baccalà , frutti di mare, mozzarella with peppers, a little broccoli rabe, stuffed lobster and, of course, monkfish.
I've got eight people coming for dinner-- my brother and sister-in-law, my daughter and her husband, my mother, and some special guests: the actor Stanley Tucci and his parents.
Stanley's not just a lover of food, he starred in my favorite movies about food.
>> I love you so much, I'm going to let you take the first bite.
(doorbell rings) Oh, they're here.
Come on, Margaret.
Oh, it's cold out there.
Let's get them in.
Come on in!
Venga.
My sister-in-law Margaret, Mr. and Mrs. Tucci senior, and Stanley, benvenuto.
Come stai?
>> Bene... >> Stanley, I'd like you to meet my mother, Erminia, Erminia Motika.
>> A pleasure... Stanley.
I grew up in an Italian family.
My grandparents, both sets of grandparents, had come from southern Italy, from Calabria, at the turn of the century.
And they settled in Peekskill, New York, about 40 miles north of the city.
That's where both my parents grew up.
They married and carried on the traditions of their families, particularly the culinary traditions.
>> So Stanley... >> Yes, Lidia?
>> This is my kingdom here.
>> I see.
Beautiful.
>> Come on in.
And this is my Ferrari here.
(Tucci laughing) You want a ride?
>> Yeah, is it a classic Ferrari?
I do want a ride, yes, I do.
>> You're going to take it for a ride.
>> Yes, I will.
>> Not with the jacket.
Let me have the jacket, and let's get serious here.
>> I can keep my pants on?
(Bastianich laughing) It is, of course, intimidating to be in the kitchen with Lidia, but luckily we had a little prosecco beforehand, so it took the edge off.
>> This is the... you know... >> Yeah, the baseball bat.
>> There you go.
You remember it?
>> Yes, yes, I do, I do.
Growing up, this was every Christmas, this is what... >> Oh, you had that, too.
>> They didn't even cook it.
They just gave you this.
The idea of taking those recipes that have been around for centuries, and not only just passing on the recipes themselves, but it's also a way of passing on family history.
It's a way of passing on emotions, it's a way of connecting with somebody.
>> Now you're going to be in charge here.
I'm going to be your assistant.
>> Okay, all right, good.
It's a way of expressing love.
It can be a way of expressing anger.
It can be a way of apologizing.
And that's the thing for me that makes food so interesting.
>> Cook it together...
I was kind of really surprised how agile and how prepared and how in tune Stanley is with cooking.
I knew that he loved food, I knew that he related to food, but sometimes you're romantically related to food and, really, when you have to handle it it's another story.
He was great, right on.
He knew the timing of the clams, not overcooking it... >> Tell me how far away we are with the pasta.
>> Uh, good question.
You see?
>> It's all about timing really, isn't it?
>> That's... a real cook.
You're really tuned in.
>> Yes.
My kids make pasta, and my mother teaches them, you know, how to make various sauces and so on and so forth.
>> Right.
>> I've said this to my kids' teachers.
We sit down together and have a meal, a real meal, every night.
And that's as, if not more, important than the homework.
And the teacher says, "We know."
>> Come on in.
>> Come on, everybody.
>> Okay.
>> Did you make enough for everybody?
>> I don't know.
Who are these people?
(laughter) >> You're a pro.
You've done Seven Fishes before?
>> Oh, yes.
>> Well, I think we have more than seven here.
>> We have seven, yes-- there are 700 fishes here.
>> Welcome... >> I'll stand up.
(laughter) I'm so excited.
What happened today, I think there was a real connection, a connection through humor, through food, through past experiences.
>> Lidia, I want to do cheers to you.
I thank you very much for this.
>> Thank you.
Buona Vigilia.
>> To your family.
>> ♪ Alla salute de i nostri padri, ♪ Facciamo un brindisi, fa cciamo un brindisi... ♪ >> Every holiday we have to be together to share our happiness and sorrow-- everything.
And we enjoy, and by the end of the evening, we sing together and we all happy.
(toasting in Italian) (s inging) >> Okay, cheers.
>> Shall we do a little translation?
>> Yes, what was that?
>> The grandfathers drink, yes, the grandfathers drink yes, so we are the sons and daughters.
Let's drink and pay them homage.
>> Cooking and food is about more than sustenance.
The sacredness of family and friends eating together is something that crosses all lines.
It may be the only thing that crosses all lines.
>> It is moments like being all together at the table that really fulfill me, because I communicate emotionally, but I also communicate with food.
When I am putting food on the table and everybody partakes, with that food I feel love, understanding, the meaning of La Vigilia, the meaning of being Italian.
All of that history and everything, everything is enveloped in that delivery in the plate.
>> Monkfish is a great... >> Do you like monkfish?
>> I love monkfish.
Incredible.
And that lobster was incredible.
>> Have another tail.
>> No, no, no.
I'll have a stroke.
People want to define what America is, and it's not definable.
You can't define it.
It's this ever-changing thing that's always in flux.
That is so good.
In the end, we're all Americans.
>> You're invited again.
>> I'm not leaving.
That's the thing.
I'm not invited again, I'm just never leaving.
>> No problem, no problem.
>> Oh, I love him very much.
>> Grandma and everybody.
>> I'm an old lady, but I like the young boys.
What do you want to do?
>> Buon Natale, grazie.
Christmas Eve is a day to bring gifts and go to Midnight Mass, and so as friends drop by, there's that sharing, there's partaking, it's that communion of friendship that happens.
Ciao!
>> Ciao!
>> Ciao-ciao!
>> Ciao-ciao!
>> Arrivederci.
(singing in Spanish) It's Christmas Eve, and I'm here in San Antonio, Texas, at La Gran Posada.
This procession reenacts the story of Christmas and has been a tradition in Mexico for 400 years.
The ritual ends at the San Fernando Cathedral, the oldest standing church in Texas, where we are joined by a 40-piece mariachi band.
♪ We want to wish you a merry Christmas... ♪ Music is culture, and music transcends every aspect of these people's lives, and mariachi is their music, so why not in church?
I am so excited.
I love Mexican music, Mexican food, and I am here at Mi Tierra restaurant to meet the Cortez family.
We are going to celebrate Christmas together.
So come with me.
Well, the decoration-- granted it was Christmas, but I was overwhelmed by color.
I want to celebrate Mexican Christmas.
Can I do it with you?
>> Yes, ma'am, you can, and welcome to Mi Tierra.
>> The current owner of Mi Tierra is Michael Cortez.
Tell me, Michael, you are third generation?
>> I'm third generation.
My grandfather, Pedro, and my grandmother Cruz, started the restaurant in 1941, and it was three tables and a little counter.
He needed to borrow $150 to get started, and so he asked his aunt and uncle, and he knew how to work.
You know, he made sure that the restaurant was open 24 hours a day, because this whole area was a market.
>> Not only were there Mexicans, there were Germans, there were Dutch, there were the French, the Spanish... >> It was like an Ellis Island of San Antonio, because everyone came together here.
>> And from then evolved this great family restaurant that now transcends four generations and a whole city block.
>> My grandfather had the entrepreneurial spirit.
America has a lot to offer to everyone who's willing to work hard.
And he often would say, you know, he was an American by choice, not by chance.
>> You know, I felt and I lived it firsthand, the opportunities that America offers.
And if one is willing to work, to commit, they can achieve anything here.
>> I want to introduce you to our patriarch of the family, my uncle, Jorge Cortez.
>> Ah, let me come on this side.
How you doing?
>> Muy bien, muy bien.
>> So you are the patriarch here.
You rule the roost.
>> In a way, yes, but actually it's my father in heaven and my mother on earth.
>> This is Cristina, my cousin Cristina.
She's part of my generation.
>> Nice to meet you.
Welcome to Mi Tierra.
>> Here's also four generations.
This is my son, Elijah.
>> Hi, Elijah, how are you doing?
>> This is Lidia, son.
>> So, are you working?
>> Yes, Ma'am.
Good-- you learning?
>> Yes, Ma'am.
Is he paying you good?
You got to negotiate here.
It seemed every second person-- "that's my Uncle George, that's my son, that's my nephew..." and at some point I said, "There's more family than customers here."
Good for you!
>> We have approximately 12 to 14 family members working in the business, and it goes from second generation, third generation and fourth generation.
>> I've been working here for three years.
>> At Mi Tierra, I've been working here since last summer.
>> I started working back in 1986.
I was 16 years old.
>> I was about ten, 11.
>> Two summers ago, maybe.
>> My daughter tells me she's ready to take over as manager.
So she's... >> Wow, how old is she?
>> She's nine years old.
(laughter) >> Like, people are kind of, like, "Do they make y'all work here?"
I'm like, "No, it's like we want to do it.
We want to be a part of this, because this is is us.
This is like our legacy."
>> Mmm, the smells are already...
I have some exposure to Mexican food, but I was taken by Michael into the why's of the products and how they treat them, and of course, peppers-- mounds of peppers.
What a nice smell.
Almost smells like jam.
>> A little sweet, a little smoky.
This chile ancho is the dried form of the poblano pepper.
And then this is el chile cascabel.
The traditional jalapeño... Peppers are so important.
It defines the food.
It defines the cuisine.
And this is a serrano pepper.
>> The truth is, it's not just traditional, it's also delicious.
And speaking of delicious, Christmas at Mi Tierra is all about desserts.
>> Lidia, here is a little bit of what we do for the holidays: traditional pecan pralines, peanut patty, the leche quemada, walnut praline, a macadamia praline... >> They even have a candy that is the color of the Mexican flag, a long-held family tradition.
And that sense of tradition is on display in an even more vibrant way in the mural room.
>> This mural is called The American Dream.
It's in honor of my grandfather Pete.
It's a piece that was commissioned by my Uncle George to honor the family.
>> This great mural is the evolution of the Cortez family, the reverence to the grandparents...
So that's your grandfather with the red tie?
>> Yes, and in purple, that is my grandmother Cruz, and you'll get to meet her later.
>> I will?
>> Yes, absolutely.
>> Oh, my goodness.
Mr. Cortez himself, the founder, and then his children, his grandchildren and so on with their wives, and this gets all added.
It's just like a family is growing, the mural is growing.
>> But also to honor the Hispanic community leaders of our area, everyone from different artists, you know, congressmen, Hispanic presidents of universities... >> It's amazing.
>> You know, secretary of our state... >> It says, "Yes, we are of Mexican descent, but yes, we are American."
Tradition is everywhere here.
The name of the restaurant itself speaks to their history.
>> Mi tierra means "my land, my homeland."
>> Mi tierra means "from the heart."
>> From the heart.
De la tierra.
>> My earth.
>> My earth, that's right.
>> It's a great name.
I can just see the connection of Mr. Cortez to his land, to his earth in Mexico, and now he had a new piece of earth here in America.
>> Your family can be, like, united, like, when y'all really try, like y'all could all come together and it can make something, like, really good happen.
It's a blessing to have this.
Just keeps everything going.
>> Now we're going to sing a song.
>> ♪ Feliz Navidad Fe liz Navidad ♪ Feliz Navidad Pr ospero ano y felicidad ♪ I want to wish you a Merry Christmas ♪ I want to wish you a Merry Christmas ♪ I want to wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart.
♪ (cheers and applause) >> I was lucky enough to be invited to the Cortez family for their Christmas gathering.
>> Everybody around the table.
>> The house is buzzing with activity-- preparing the food, making decorations for the Christmas tree, and, at the center of it all, at 91 years old, is the matriarch.
>> This is my grandmother Cruz.
>> Abuelita... >> Muy bien.
>> Cruz Cortez, the wife of the founder and the grandmother to Michael and great-grandmother to his children, was there, and it was evident that she was the matriarch.
I bet you love having all this family, huh?
How many grandchildren do you have, great-grandchildren?
>> 23.
>> 23 great-grandchildren?
Wow.
>> And grandchildren... >> 22.
>> 22 and 23, that's already 45.
>> My name's Giovanna.
>> Giovanna, what a beautiful name.
>> Thank you.
>> You're beautiful, too.
Now we get to make the traditional Mexican Christmas dish, tamales.
I have to spread it around like that?
>> Yes.
>> Tamales seems to be the food that carries this great significance of culture and transcends generations.
I'm doing good?
(laughter) Tamales dates back 6,000, 7,000 years.
Then I take it from here and I fold it like this?
>> Yes.
>> She's the boss.
>> Absolutely, she's in charge.
>> Everybody I talked to, they said, "Whatever Abuela says, that goes."
You're still the boss.
>> Yes, I'll be the boss.
>> That's the respect, the respect that family should have.
>> Now I'm resting, so the children work.
>> You deserve this.
You know it's cooked when it's nice and firm, right?
>> Nice and firm.
>> I was amazed to learn that these little tamales need to cook for a long time, at least two hours.
>> And look at that.
>> Wow, that's beautiful.
And just take a bite like that, no?
>> Just take a bite just like that.
You tell me what you think.
>> Mmm... delicious.
So what did you do?
>> The kids had to make buñuelos today.
>> Show me, show me.
>> Well, we've made some balls here of the masa, and we dip it in the flour.
We roll them out into circles.
Pass them on to the next person.
They fry them up.
>> These buñuelos remind me of my childhood.
In Italy, we called them bugia.
>> Cinnamon sugar and then you shake it off, and they're ready to eat.
>> Mmm... And they eat them as fast as you make them.
>> As fast as you make them, yes.
It really was very reminiscent of my house.
Kids and aunts and uncles together.
And the teaching that went on, and that passing on of the culture to the next generation, right there on that table, celebrating Christmas.
I don't know how to hit a piñata.
So do I hit it like this?
>> No!
>> Oh, okay.
The piñata has been a Christmas tradition in Mexico since the 1500s.
My turn now.
Oi, yoi, yoi.
>> You have to hit it wherever you want it, then you hit it real hard.
(pop) (c heers) All right!
Oh, my!
I kind of like this.
>> Yummy!
>> I am very grateful that you shared your family with me.
You know, I'm Italian, and I have my family and we have our tradition.
But there's not a big difference, you know, when a family is close together, they work together, and I think being an immigrant kind of brings you even closer, because, you know, you need each other.
But then you have continued that for four generations.
>> Yes.
>> Yeah, that's really beautiful, you know?
>> I love Italian food.
>> You love Italian food?
Oh, okay.
Next time I come here, I cook for you.
I cook Italian.
You like that?
>> Yes.
>> All right, okay.
Can I give you a hug?
>> Yes.
>> Okay.
Thank you.
Can I kiss your grandma, guys?
Huh, can I make her mine for a little bit?
>> Okay, say cheese!
>> Formaggio!
Queso.
>> Queso.
>> For Chinese Americans, the most important holiday is New Year, Chinese New Year.
It's a time of gift giving, reunion, and feasting.
I am in San Francisco, in the middle of Chinatown, and it's New Year.
And I came here to get into the culture, to feel it... Can't you feel the energy?
Everybody's moving, everybody's getting ready, together with their families, with food.
And I'm going to meet-- I'm so excited-- Shirley Fong-Torres, who is Mrs. Chinatown.
>> Oh, Lidia!
>> Shirley, how you doing?
Oh, what a pleasure, what a pleasure.
How colorful, beautiful.
>> Thank you, because it's the New Year.
Gong xi fa cai.
Happy Chinese New Year to you!
>> Oh, and what do I respond to that?
>> You say it back to me.
>> Oh, "san ling fie chie... kung fu"?
>> Buongiorno.
>> (laughing) Buongiorno!
That's not Chinese.
>> Lidia and I were on the main street of San Francisco's Chinatown, which is Grant Avenue, and it was just hustle and bustle because of the lunar new year celebration.
Lidia, we celebrate for two weeks.
>> Oi-yoi-yoi.
>> We start by cleaning our houses... >> Good start.
>> And then we come out to Chinatown to buy flowers, blossoms, and then we also then have to buy candies, sweet coconuts and such for the harmony tray, and then oranges and tangerines with the leaves intact.
>> I love that.
>> And then on Chinese New Year Eve, we eat in order to end the old year... >> So you eat?
>> We just keep eating.
>> First, Shirley took me for a cup of tea at the Red Blossom Tea Company.
>> Hi, Peter.
>> It's run by Peter Luong.
>> Peter, I want you to meet Lidia.
>> Welcome, Lidia.
>> Hi, Peter.
So Peter, how many generations is the store here?
>> This is a second generation.
My parents started the business, and my sister and I have now taken over the business.
>> So your parents were immigrants?
>> They were.
I was an immigrant myself.
>> You were?
You seem quite American to me.
>> I pretty much grew up here.
I arrived when I was seven, and now I'm 38.
>> How many teas do you have here?
>> We have about 80 to 100, depending on the season.
>> Peter gave such a wonderful education.
It's one thing to say, "Here, drink this tea, it tastes good."
But he talked about the different kinds of tea... >> There are many different varieties of tea leaves.
There are many different regions where these teas are grown.
And there are many different styles of crafting the tea.
>> How you dry them, how you cure them, how you roast them makes the different teas.
>> Correct.
And what time of the year the leaves are picked also is very important.
>> Almost like a wine tasting... >> Yeah, I'm getting into this.
I couldn't help but relate nuances of tea to wine, what wine is to the Italian table.
>> What I'm going to start with is a white tea.
What you should smell is a slight almost like soy milk.
>> Yes.
>> A bit of floral, a bit of creaminess to it.
>> Mmm, yeah, there is a little creaminess, a little milkiness.
Beautiful.
>> This holds probably about three to four ounces, so not a whole lot of tea.
Take one small sip first.
Wrap your mind around it, and then take a second sip and then you'll taste more.
>> This is so parallel to espresso.
Look, the little cups.
We warm up the little cups.
Not too much espresso, just enough, you know.
And it's so wonderful to see how two different cultures, but not so different after all.
From the tea store we move to the tofu store and the Wo Chong Company.
Hi, John.
>> Hi, Lidia.
>> And Brian.
>> Nice to meet you.
>> My grandfather had it, then I took... me and my brother ran it, and he retire, so now I hand it to my son now.
He's the third generation.
>> John Louie was the first gentleman to introduce tofu to America, and then now all over the country.
>> What is tofu?
You know, I mean, I love it, I eat it... >> Brian will explain it to you.
>> And I learned the process.
It is actually made out of the soya bean, which is soaked.
>> We soak the beans for eight hours, and we grind it up and then run it through a high-steam boiler.
>> And out of that, soya milk is extracted.
>> When we extract the soy milk, we add calcium sulfate.
>> The calcium coagulates the milk, and you have tofu.
>> Would you like to try some soy milk?
>> I would.
I was waiting for something.
(laughter) >> And to be in a store like this...
The Chinese have been eating soy products forever.
Most Chinese are lactose-intolerant, so having the soy component into our lives is good.
>> A lot of people cannot drink milk, so they drink the soy milk.
Yeah.
>> Salute, we say in Italian.
What do you see in Chinese?
>> Gom bui.
>> And then was lunchtime.
So Shirley took me to the Four Seas dim sum restaurant.
>> Thank you, Sarah.
This is a wonderful restaurant.
It's a second-generation operation.
So this is dim sum, huh?
>> In Cantonese, the word "dim" means "point" and "sum" means "the heart."
So you point to the heart and you order the food and you eat it, and it warms your heart.
>> Dim sum?
>> Yes, Melissa.
>> I leave it up to you.
>> I remember Lidia telling me to go ahead and order.
>> That's my favorite.
So I took maybe four items out of six, and then a second tray came.
>> Oh, it keeps on coming here.
>> It was like a dizzying, continual trays full of food.
Sometimes you can get so crazy, because when the nice young lady comes over with all the food, you're hungry, you want to pick it all out.
>> Yeah, that's dangerous.
>> But then they keep coming.
You can really go nuts, and then you go nuts when you see the bill.
So the first thing is... cheers.
>> Okay, thank you.
Happy New Year.
But dealing with the chopsticks was no mean feat.
Let's see if I can... >> You go like this... >> I sometimes can handle them.
>> If you have trouble, you go like this.
>> Ah, that's a good way.
>> You stab.
I don't know if I should be teaching that.
>> I was curious to know the story of how Shirley's family came to America.
>> My father is an immigrant from Canton, China.
This is a picture of my mother and my father on their wedding day.
>> Handsome.
Shirley told me that when her parents came here, life wasn't easy for the Chinese in America.
>> We have a long, long history of being discriminated against.
>> The first Chinese immigrants came over in the 1850s with the California Gold Rush.
When there was no gold, they couldn't go home.
>> There's a term called "lose face."
They would be so dishonored and embarrassed, so they decided they had to stay here and do what they had to do to survive.
>> They built the railroad, did laundry, whatever jobs they could find.
But they were resented, and new immigrants were eventually banned from entering the country.
>> The Exclusion Act of 1882 meant that the Chinese were not welcome here.
>> From 1910 to 1940, China's immigrants, like Shirley's mother, were detained at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, where they were held for months, sometimes even years, until they could prove they had relatives here.
>> So my father was very clever.
He said if I came into America as a non-Chinese... >> They wouldn't notice me.
>> Yes.
So he went to the Philippines and he actually bought a document after a few years that said his name was Ricardo Torres.
So my mother and father were Mr. and Mrs. Ricardo Torres until after the Exclusion... >> Ricardo.
I really connected with Shirley and her family.
It almost kind of relived my trip as an immigrant.
My family was from Istria in the north of Italy.
After World War II, the region was ceded to communist Yugoslavia.
My parents refused to bring us up under those conditions, so we escaped back to Italy.
We lived in a political refugee camp for two years, until we were at last allowed to come to America.
>> Come on in my kitchen.
>> After sharing stories over dim sum, we went back to Shirley's house to prepare the New Year's feast.
What are we doing?
What's this?
>> One of the things we enjoy making so much are dumplings for the New Year.
And my granddaughters and I love to make potstickers together.
>> Well, you know, I cook with my grandchildren all the time, and it's so important.
One of the most important things in really handing down tradition is the food.
>> Yeah.
>> The food transcends, you know, generation after generation, so now if you cook with your grandchildren now, they will carry on in their adulthood and with their children.
>> My granddaughters are four and seven years old, and they love dumplings.
And dumplings are very significant in the New Year.
It's like enveloping the feelings and enveloping love.
>> Maggie, what's the next step?
>> Um, put filling on it.
>> I put some filling on it?
Okay, so I guess I go with this like this here, and I take a little bit like that?
Is this how much filling?
>> That's... >> Okay, I'm going to the expert, Shirley.
Don't interfere here.
The children, even though they were bashful at the beginning, once the food came and they were working, we were communicating with food.
And next?
>> Wrap it.
>> I fold it over like that.
Do I make a pleat like that?
>> As you're pleating, girls, what do we do?
We press down, don't we?
>> And I press it down, and my filling is coming out.
I'm going to push it back in.
Okay.
I almost... it's not too bad.
What do you think?
Not too bad?
Shirley, this looks like pasta, but it's not pasta.
What is it?
>> This is called tofu skin.
I'm so excited to show it to you, how it's made.
This is Hodo soy milk, and what it is is milk that's been just heated up for quite a while until a skin forms, you see?
>> So this is... the skin... this is what we see up there.
>> Exactly.
>> She taught me how to make the tofu skin, you know?
Just soya milk and how you collect the tofu, and how resilient it is, almost like pasta.
I felt, okay, I'm... we're making pasta.
>> And then you're going to hang it right here.
Oh, beautiful!
>> Beautiful!
>> I'm so excited.
>> Wow!
So it drains like that... >> And then it becomes this.
What I love to do is make it into foo chuk, which means... here, you take one.
You got to roll it tight, see?
And then we just kind of press it down.
>> And then what are you going to do with it?
>> I'm going to put this in our vegetarian stew that you and I are going to make.
Lidia and I made a Loh Hon Chye, and that is a Buddha stew that is always served during the New Year.
>> There's a lot of vegetables in here.
>> The minimum amount is eight, because eight is a lucky, lucky number.
>> Ah... >> And then I like to put about 12 items, because I can't decide what to leave out.
>> That happens.
There isn't just an abundance of vegetables.
It seems like there are dozens of dishes for our New Year's feast.
Wow, what a table.
I know what these are, the potstickers.
>> This is the vegetable stew that you and I made together.
For the New Year, we have a dish called ho xi, which is oysters, and the idea is ho xi in Chinese, which is "oysters," also sounds like "good news."
So we always want to have good news.
This is a dish called West Lake Duck, shrimp dumpling, whole chicken... >> I thought I made a lot of food for Christmas Eve!
>> And then I just decided just to have another dish that I happen to like, the Singapore noodles.
Chinese New Year means family, friends, food.
My three Fs, isn't that great?
>> This looks like a feast.
Then we sit down to a wonderful feast with Shirley's family and friends.
Which one is yours?
>> There's nothing like hanging out with family and friends, eating.
(laughter) >> You have to understand, I just met these people today, and it seemed like I've known them for years.
I feel like I've been here a hundred times.
So this is a big bite.
I can't talk anymore.
It's two weeks later, and I'm back in San Francisco for the Chinese New Year parade.
I have come at the invitation of Shirley's brother, Ben Fong-Torres.
He's a former editor of Rolling Stone magazine and the co-host of the local broadcast of the parade.
>> Stand by.
Everyone is gathering right now at the staging area, around Second and Market.
A lot of the streets in the area are shut down, as the action is about to begin.
>> Chinese New Year is parallel with the... it is spring festival, the beginning of a new season.
A hope for a better new year.
A lot of the symbolism has to do with prosperity, wishing one health and prosperity in the new year, and rebirth.
>> What I really wanted to know from Ben is to what degree children of immigrants should combine the traditions of the old country with the modern ways of America.
>> I think just knowledge and respect is enough, to know about your culture, to have a certain amount of respect for it.
But I don't think you need to be imprisoned by the teachings of the elders, you know.
You can learn wisdom from all cultures, too.
It's not just your own, certainly.
>> This is what America's all about, right?
>> Yes, exactly.
>> Exchange of culture, because, you know, I'm Italian, and I can't help but understand ever more that I get involved in discovering new cultures how close the cultures are.
>> Exactly.
>> There's different little symbolism, but they're all about the family staying together, being good to each other... >> Aspiring to do well.
>> Exactly.
>> And not just for yourself, but for your family and for the community.
>> The Lower East Side of New York City.
Back in the early 1900s, this was the first American home of immigrants from all over the world.
Many of those immigrants were Jews fleeing persecution in Eastern Europe.
It is almost Passover, and I have been invited to a Seder.
And you know me.
I want to know all about the food, so I'm going to find out.
I've come to visit Russ & Daughters.
I'm going to meet the fourth-generation owners, cousins Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper.
Congratulations.
>> Thank you.
>> Another generation.
>> Generation five.
And it's going to be a daughter for Russ & Daughters.
>> Oh-- well, how appropriate.
>> It had to be.
>> Usually the Italians and everybody, it's always "and Sons, "and Brothers," "and whatever."
>> As far as we know, it's the first business in this country that has that name, "and Daughters."
My great-grandfather, Joel Russ, came to America in 1908.
>> His older sister was a herringmonger.
>> She helped to set him up with a barrel of herring that he sold on the Lower East Side.
>> Then he opened a store.
He was a good businessman, and he wasn't necessarily a people person, so he brought his daughters in to help him out, to put a pretty face on the business.
>> Although I'd like to think of him as a feminist, he really just had to find cheap help.
It's been passed down in our family now for four generations, with maybe five.
>> We are most famous for our smoked salmon.
>> Belly lox, the original lox, is a salt-cured salmon.
It's not smoked.
>> We love our smoked salmon from Norway, from Scotland, but it was interesting to taste the just simply sea-salted salmon.
>> When you eat this, you're communing with the ancestors.
>> Hand-slicing salmon is a very important part of our business.
The thinner it is, the more they like it.
>> This is beautiful, it's like silk.
>> And then the true test is if you could read a newspaper through that.
>> It's like playing the violin here.
>> It is a real art.
There's an angle in the fish already, so I try to match that angle with the knife.
>> And you press down a little bit.
>> A little bit.
>> Okay, you see, I'm already missing part.
This is no good, so I'm going to eat it.
>> Okay.
It can get a little expensive to train someone to slice salmon.
>> I'm spending this Passover with the Russ family.
The meal is called a Seder, and it's charged with symbolism.
>> Through the Seder, you'll see there's a very specific order in which you eat things.
These are a lot of the Passover items we'll be enjoying at the Seder.
>> Charoset, or "sharoset."
>> You have to get the guttural.
>> Charoset.
>> Perfect.
And it represents the mortar that the Jews in slavery, in Egypt, would use to build the pyramids or... >> And I'm told horseradish symbolizes the bitterness of slavery.
>> Horseradish that doesn't bring a tear to the eye is not God's horseradish.
>> Exactly.
>> So you have to suffer a little.
>> You got to cry through it.
>> That's right.
>> And of course, there are foods that aren't symbolic that have been eaten for so long, they have become tradition.
>> Chicken soup with matzo balls.
That's always a central part of any Seder, and we also sell it all year round.
>> You're going to show me how to make them, right?
I want to get... >> Yeah, we'll get the technique.
>> Good.
>> When I walk into Russ & Daughters in the morning, I always look up at my great-grandfather in his gold-framed portrait, and he looks down at me, and I feel connected to a history.
And there's a reminder there that what I'm doing is more than just running a business.
>> So this is the Lower East Side.
This is where it all started for you, did it not?
>> That's true, and specifically here on Orchard Street.
After Ellis Island, this is where most of them came and ended up in these crowded tenement buildings.
If you can imagine, this was teeming with pushcarts, horse-drawn wagons... >> So the pictures that you see, you know, of streets being full of people, the clothes hanging up... >> Crowds and crowds.
This is the neighborhood.
>> And your grandfather was in the midst of it.
>> Exactly.
>> Also in the midst of it was the Streit family, who opened a matzo factory right around the corner in 1925.
Matzo is not just the cracker; it's the key ingredient in Passover.
So, I'm eager to see how it's made.
So this is it, eh?
>> This is it.
>> Aaron Yagoda, the great-grandson of the original owner, gives me the tour.
>> We got to start in the beginning... >> But I am curious to know why there is a rabbi present in the factory.
>> We take about 80 pounds of flour per mixture... >> The rabbis are the most important aspect of making the Passover matzos.
We have six rabbis working here during Passover to make sure that everything is done according to Jewish law.
The key with Passover matzo is once the water hits the flour, you have 18 minutes to mix it, to let it get through the cutting machine into the oven and baked.
>> Why 18 minutes?
>> That's the time that the rabbis determined that once flour hits water, after 18 minutes you actually see some type of chemical reaction of a leavening process.
>> The matzo comes out of the oven with seconds to spare.
Some of the machinery that they use, and they swear by it, is over 70 years old.
It's touching that the fifth generation still is respecting the traditions.
I feel very honored to be invited to Seder at the home of Niki's parents, Mark and Maria Russ.
It is easy to see they're proud of the history their family has created.
>> So Lidia, welcome.
This is the kitchen that I grew up in.
>> Wow.
Oh, I could cook in this kitchen.
This is a beautiful kitchen.
>> You're about to cook in this kitchen.
>> All right, I'm ready.
So what do are we doing?
Matzo is the underlying element of the whole meal.
So we made matzo balls.
>> Matzo meal, eggs, oil, salt, pepper and... >> So all of this goes... >> Secret ingredient, not so secret.
But we make a fluffy matzo ball, and it needs seltzer.
>> Ah, so the seltzer gives it a little bit of air in there and fluff.
>> Exactly.
>> You know, everybody loves matzo balls.
You don't have to be Jewish to love this.
>> I know, I know, that's popular.
>> It's universal.
>> Yeah, it's a popular item.
>> And all year round, too, it's really one of those great comfort foods.
(knock at door) >> I'm so excited that Ruth Reichl is paying a visit.
My dear friend Ruth Reichl claimed she had a different brisket recipe.
She was willing to come over and show us.
Ruth is a friend, editor and author of many books on food.
>> So she's a very important person in food, but she's a friend and a longtime customer.
>> When my parents were courting, my mother went down to Russ & Daughters and bought my father herring, which my father adored herring.
And she fed him herring until they were married, and then she admitted that she really didn't like herring, and my father said, "We never had another piece of herring in the house once we were married."
So Dad and I, we'd go to Russ & Daughters, where he would indulge in herring.
As you know, my mother was the world's worst cook.
So this is maybe the only recipe of hers that I would ever dare to share.
>> Ruth always talks about how her mother was somewhat of a terrible cook, so I found it so endearing that actually this recipe is an homage to her mother.
>> She loved showing up at Seder with her brisket, and everybody would go, "Oh, I've never seen anything like that before."
It really meant a lot to me to share this brisket with Lidia.
>> The unusual thing is that she pickles the brisket and then simply adds bay leaves and onions.
Then she simmers it for three hours until it is very tender.
>> And through the magic of television... She studded it with cloves and then she made a mixture of brown sugar and mustard and slathered it all over.
Then she basted it with spiced peach juice, and then she baked it very slowly.
So what you ended up with is this meltingly soft piece of meat in this sweet and savory crust.
>> I can tell that, just like the matzo balls, this is going to be a real comfort food.
>> I mean, when people talk about comfort food, they're longing for a taste of the past, and you don't want to throw that out.
>> That's right.
>> It gives you security, it gives you strength.
This is what your flavors are.
This is who you are.
>> And that's what holidays are.
That's why these holiday meals are so important.
Because when you sit down at Seder or at Easter or at Christmas dinner, everybody that has ever sat around that table with you is joining you, and so it's where we reconnect with not only our childhood but our parents, our grandparents.
And that's what's so precious about this.
>> Ruth, it was so great to have you.
>> Ruth had to run off and, I guess, finish the Seder at her family.
But with her guidance, the brisket came out delicious.
With the meal prepared, we sit down with members of the Russ family and my own two grandchildren, Lorenzo and Julia, to feast on a traditional Passover dinner.
(chanting in Hebrew) Niki's father, Mark Russ, recites the prayer over the wine.
>> Amen.
>> L'chaim.
>> L'chaim.
>> And then a family friend, Rabbi Bachman, takes over.
>> The obligation of the leader is to pass the tradition on to the younger generation that's at the table.
The Passover meal tells the story about the Jewish people's exodus from Egypt.
One could argue that children are the center of the Seder itself.
I want to draw your attention to this plate in the middle of the table, and look at all the different things that are on it.
You see a bone that represents a lamb that was once sacrificed.
You see eggs roasted, as a symbol of life.
>> All the symbolism was quite interesting.
>> Why do we have matzo at Passover?
>> The Jews had to flee so quickly that they didn't have time to allow their bread to rise.
>> Eating the maror, the horseradish, to remember the bitterness of our enslavement.
Eating the charoset-- the sweet, chopped apples-- to remember the bricks and the mortar that the Israelites were forced to make.
>> The symbolism was recalling the difficulties the Jewish people had along the way until finally being free.
And that's something not to be forgotten.
(all singing "Dayenu") >> After a fascinating Seder service, it's time to try the matzo balls.
It's nice and soft and airy.
Lorenzo, what does this remind you of?
>> This reminds me of the soup that Nonna Erminia makes, the... >> Every Jewish grandmother, my grandmother, comes across and brings recipes and memories and then just does them.
Nothing is written down.
>> I can't wait to try Ruth's mother's brisket.
Lorenzo seems to like it.
But Julia, not so much.
>> I like it.
>> I mean, the thing about Passover is, it's food.
We come to the table together, and it's like you don't have to go to temple.
It's a way of worshipping together with the people that you most care about over food.
And anybody can relate to that.
>> So, Rabbi, is there a closing thought at the end of the dinner?
>> So all Haggadahs end with the dream that we'll have unity and we'll have peace for ourselves and for everyone in the world.
And really our job at this point is to continue drinking and celebrating and singing and remembering.
>> Oh, that's fine with me.
So, l'chaim!
>> L'chaim!
>> In this journey of being a participant of the different celebration, of the different ethnic celebration, of the different religious celebration, has made me realize that there's a common denominator that ties us all as human beings.
America is a place that allows for that to happen, that each one of us is free to practice our beliefs, and yet each one of us is a contributor in making America what it is today.