Renowned Chinese chef Martin Yan, recognized for his cooking accomplishments worldwide, is establishing an archive of thousands of cookbooks, photos, and other artifacts at the University of California, Davis.
Originally from Guangzhou in Southern China, Yan was trained as a chef in Hong Kong before moving to Calgary, Canada, according to his website. He quickly became an overnight cooking show sensation.
The Yan Can Cook Show has since won the James Beard Award for Best Food Documentary Show on more than one occasion.
"For over 45 to 50 years, I traveled around the world and I collect cookbooks from all over the place," he told KCBS Radio's Holly Quan last week. He and other chefs, including Brandon Jew, of Mister Jiu's in San Francisco’s Chinatown, frequently share their cookbooks with each other as well.
These books will be the main attraction of the new archive, along with other personal items, like Yan's first wok.
It's through these books that Yan has drawn inspiration from in the past, and they serve as a reference for the places he's visited. His collection has grown to around 4,500 to 5,000 books, he said. He'll be donating 3,000 to the library.
The an archive will be established in his name as the Chef Martin Yan Legacy Archive in the UC Davis Library Archives and Special Collections. Both Yan and his wife are UC Davis graduates.
Yan hopes that the donation to UC Davis' library, which will be digitized, will be a way to share the cuisines he's dedicated his life to with others.
"Maybe food lovers and scholars around the world can learn more about Chinese food and Asian food, Asian cuisine from this collection," he said.
The recipes Yan loves most and has spent his career developing are the kind that anyone can make themselves, at home, he said, which stems from his slogan, "Yan can cook, so can you."
"If I can do it, you can do it," he said. "It's a meal, rather than a show piece."
And his style of cooking has been in even more demand during the pandemic, as more people sought to learn how to cook their favorites at home. "People have never cooked before, all of a sudden they start cooking," he said.
"Now everybody is a master chef at home," said Yan. "And that is so wonderful because you know, family cooks together, stays together, historically, this is what family is all about."
Looking ahead to the Lunar New Year celebrations starting Tuesday, Yan is likely to whip up some fish dishes, long noodles, and some vegetarian dishes as well.
The archive will be ready for public access in a few months after the digitization process is done. The celebration for the library is planned for May, where Yan and his wife will speak. The chef will also sign books and conduct a cooking demonstration.
Related
