Disturbing the Dust: Memories and Recipes of China Alley

by Arianne Wing

Overview

The Wing family of Hanford, California had had a China Alley restaurant in continuous operation from 1883-2006. Their saga began when Ms. Wing's great-grandfather fled China to escape political persecution. Pursued by government henchmen, he jumped into the Pearl River. Rescued, he found himself about a boat headed to California, where he ended up in the Hanford area. After working on farms and for the railroad, he returned to his family roots in the restaurant business and opened a noodle shop. This humble eatery blossomed into a successful Chinese restaurant. In 1958, the family opened the Imperial Dynasty, which served a unique menu dubbed Chinoise by the late Silas Spitzer and best described as a cuisine of classical French dishes reinterpreted though the ancient art of Chinese cooking. But first it was a noodle house.

Disturbing the Dust is a collection of revised issues of Ms. Wing's "Hanford Gourmet," originally published in the Hanford Sentinel. It chronicles the four generations of Wing clan cooks and chef, China Alley developers and preservationists. China Alley is a prime example of a unique and well-preserved California Chinese settlement community. Artfully interwoven, their stories, recipes, and images capture the Chinese American experience in central California from immigration to the present, from a thriving city within a city to contemporary efforts for its preservation, from simple noodle house to four-star restaurant.

Wing family memories will linger in the reader's mind. Their recipes will drive readers who cook to their kitchens and dining room tables. Ms. Wing's prose and presence in her telling these stories focused on home and family, tradition and exploration, the meeting of the past and the present - including her magical experiences on China Alley, of meeting her great-grandfather's ghost, and experiencing the sounds and aromas, the vibrant energy and colors of another time - will enchant those who by reading Disturbing the Dust, step into her reality of disturbing the dust of the past and hoping for a revitalized future for her beloved China Alley.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798218024253
Publisher:	Camerick Productions
Publication date:	11/01/2022
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.55(d)

About the Author

As a member of the fourth generation of Wing chefs, servers, bussers, bartenders, and hostesses, and as the dedicated writer of the group, Ms. Wing has been in a unique position to record and arrange a compelling series of family stories and recipes passed down through the generations. She has spent hours interviewing the generations of Wings and other with China Alley experiences and knowledge, researching her mother's extensive notes and historical references to capture on paper wisps of memory, wisdom, and tribal tales held across time. Disturbing the Dust reflects the dance and vibrant humor, the power of place, the sharing of the art of cooking, and the sacredness of home that are the beating heart of her clan.When not tending to her garden, cooking, writing her columns, or working on her next book, giving presentations on the Chinese American experience in California's Central Valley and her family heritage from China to California, or working with her husband Steve Banister on historical preservation projects for China Alley and downtown Hanford, Arianne Wing walks Hanford California's China Alley, where her family settled four generations ago and where she and Steve own a tearoom, the last iteration of family cookeries from noodle house to four-star restaurant and beyond.Like her Auntie Harriet, Arianne is an avid reader; like her grandmother, she is an ardent gardener; like her mother, she is a devoted preservationist and local historian; like her father, she has a love of Arthurian legends; like her Uncle Richard, one of her mentors, she is an exceptional culinary artist. She is mistress of the kitchen tango - and waltz - as she of her pen and keyboard.