In The Seventh Daughter: My Culinary Journey from Beijing to San Francisco, Chiang presents a classic collection of recipes framed by her gripping life's story. Beginning with her account of a privileged childhood in 1920s and 1930s Beijing, Chiang chronicles a 1,000-mile trek on foot in the wake of the Japanese occupation, her arrival in San Francisco, and her transformation from accidental restaurateur to culinary pioneer. The book's recipes feature cherished childhood dishes and definitive Mandarin classics, while showcasing Cecilia's purist approach to authentic Chinese home cooking.
Cecilia Chiang, the San Francisco-based chef who made refined, regional Chinese food part of America's restaurant scene, is to receive the 2013 James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. Chiang, 93, is to Chinese cuisine what Julia Child was to French food.
Born and raised in China, Chiang never planned to become a restaurateur. But during a visit to San Francisco, she happened to get stuck with a restaurant lease that some friends had reneged on.
Chiang decided to plunge into the business and offer "real Chinese food" rather than the chop-suey and egg-foo-yung fare typical of Chinese eateries then. In 1961, she opened the Mandarin, an upscale restaurant serving cuisine from Shanghai, Sichuan and Beijing, all places where she'd lived. James Beard, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Wolfgang Puck were among the regulars. Food luminaries like Beard, Julia Child, Alice Waters and Marion Cunningham took cooking classes that Chiang taught.
Chiang sold the Mandarin in 1991, and it closed in 2006. Her son, Philip, is a co-founder of the restaurant chain P.F. Chang's.
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