Mum’s Kitchen

The Story of Mum- Mrs. He

We think the best taste comes from the rich life. The reason for us to start this special cooking program is that Mrs. He can not only teach you how to cook but more importantly she can also share with you her rich life experiences from living in different ages of China and deep understanding about cooking accumulated from past decades. 

 Mrs. He and her "apprentice"

1950-60
Hungry childhood gains understanding of things can be cooked.
Mrs. He was born in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in 1950s. Her father died when she was a nursing child. That is the age when this country was suffering from waves after waves of political movements and hunger due to natural disaster and anthropogenic. She was grown up with her uncle who was very diligent and good at getting everything possible to cook to feed the hungry children. This is her very first impression about cooking and things can be cooked.

1960-70 
Dream of good food in her difficult youth.
Mrs. He got married in late 60's. From that time on, she started working for her small family. By that time, the conditions got slightly better and people no longer suffer from extreme hunger. They could get something to eat, though by no means can be called good food by modern standard. Occasionally, beside the traditional Tibetan food they eat every day, they would cook some new Han-Chinese dishes to enrich their lives. And banquet after a village event or celebration started to appear. Mr. He became a main cook for this kind of occasions where he learned some cooking skills. For some big days, he would cook something special for the family by using the skills he had learned from those occasions and events and Mrs.He always worked as assistant. After long working hours in the village production team, she would tried her best to use the stuff she could get and cook something different for the children. However the busy working schedule and shortage of materials to cook good food in 1970's and early 1980s made her dream of having good food still a rare treat.
 

1980-90
The rich life in late 1980's and 1990's made her devoted to creation of delicious food.     
Great changes has happened to this country since 1980's after China decided to adopt opening up policy in the cities and new agriculture policy in the countryside. Never in history has the Chinese peasants got so much food resources. The diligence of Mr. He and Mrs He soon brought them more options in their cooking pursuit. And the banquet in their village also showed much more varieties. He had to spend much more time studying the culinary art with his wife. They ‘invented’ food with the new vegetables that grown in their land and new methods they had learned to meet different occasion. They use both Tibetan cooking style and Han-Chinese cooking style to cook something different and delicious.

After 00’

Share her rich understanding about cooking in Mum’s aged lives.
Unfortunately in 1996, Mr. He died from a mine accident. She lost her best teacher and cooking companion. After staying alone for a number of years, she came to Chengdu to stay with her son in 2000. Here she even has learned how to play organ and piano, though from beginning, now she could play beautiful music pieces alone. She often goes to local parks, dancing and singing with aged folks. She chats with her aged friend about cooking and learns some special cooking from them. She cooked wonderful food for her son’s family. Now she is ready to share her deep understanding of cooking and food accumulated from her experiences living in different times of China.

What can you learn from Mum?

1. Formal Sichuan Banquet Cuisine
2. Chengdu Dim Sums, Dandan Noodle, Dumplings, Pastries
3. Sichuan Pickles
4. Home-made Rice Wine
5. Tibetan Food (including Yak Butter Tea)
6. Sichuan Hotpot
7. Medicinal Cuisine
8. Healthy Soups
9. Ingredients Preparation
10. Cutting

How do you learn?
1. Visit to the local food market, a guided market visit to obtain a better understanding about the cooking ingredients, vegetables and meat.
2. Lecture on history of Sichuan Cuisine while enjoying Tibetan Yak Butter Tea, and explaining on the courses we are going to cook.
3. Next we will spend some time on cutting vegetables and meat and learn how to prepare before cooking.
4. Cooking--we cook the popular dishes you have chosen.
5. Enjoy it--after we cook all the dishes, you can enjoy a meal with the dishes you have cooked.

Mum’s Kitchen is great because..
1. Fully customized. Whether you are family group, couple, or students, the program can be customized for your interests and aim different focus.
2. Full of knowledge. We will introduce Chinese food by starting the lecture first, and of course mum is expert in teaching you how to cook.
3. Hospitality and warm welcome in the family. In the tradition of Tibetan culture, Yak Butter Tea is served to guests. Mum will welcome you with hot yak butter tea. She wants you to enjoy the cooking, having fun and leave with a big smile on the face.


Types of Class
In our more than ten years of providing top-satisfactory lessons, we have been told by our clients how much they enjoyed it and lots of our participants got very good impression about the delicious food. In order to meet the needs of different people, we make our cooking lessons in different lengths so that you have more options.

Different Options of Cooking Classes

•  Half day: 3-5 Main courses 

•  Whole day: 3-5 Main courses noodles and 2 kinds of dumplings

•  Two days: 6-8 main courses; noodles; soups; hot pot

•  Three days: 9-12 main courses(steaming, boiling); dumplings; soups; hot pot; Medicinal Cuisine,Sichuan Pickles 

•  A Week: (about 30) main courses, dumplings, soups, hot pot, Medicinal Cuisine,Sichuan Pickles(Rice Wine)

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