7 MINUTE READ Author Across Cultures, Yang-May Ooi, visits Melton Mowbray, the home of the eponymous pork pies on a special pilgrimage to the original shop where this British specialty was born. Read on for some social history and culinary innovation packed into a crunchy, yummy foodie delight... Belonging and Maverick Thinking in Melton Mowbray... Continue Reading →
Hannukah – Resilience and Human Connection after Bondi
11 MIN READ As a companion piece to her story about the Christian tradition of preparing food for Christmas, cross-cultural author Yang-May Ooi was going to write a light piece about Jewish traditional food during Hanukkah, which is also celebrated during December. Then the Bondi Beach shooting happened, an attack on unarmed and peaceful Jewish... Continue Reading →
Reconnecting with Food Heritage – Bod Griffiths | Podcast Episode #002
Bod Griffiths, founder of Vale House Kitchen, joins cross-cultural advocate and author Yang-May Ooi to talk about leaving his big city job to teach traditional ways of preparing and cooking food. Going fishing as a boy with his grandfather gave him a respect for the old ways of seeking out and tracking the food we... Continue Reading →
Celebrating British Culture: Mince Pies & Mulled Wine
7 MINUTE READ Cross-cultural author, Yang-May Ooi, celebrates the things that perhaps most British people take for granted in this new occasional series on Belonging Across Cultures. When we are born into and live in a particular culture, what we see, say and do every day is unremarkable to us. But when we have come... Continue Reading →
The British Tradition of Starting Your Christmas Cake Early
How early should we start our Christmas preparations? In this story, we look at the British tradition of getting things ready for the festive winter season - especially making the Christmas pudding. What does all this hard work and preparation tell us about what the British value? Cross-cultural advocate and author, Yang-May Ooi, finds out. ... Continue Reading →
Cultural Recipes: Chinese Soy Sauce Chicken cooked Western-style
Friends gather for dinner at Moya, an Eastern European restaurant in Oxford, all British but from an international background. Stories flow and talk turns to favourite foods from home. Cross-cultural advocate and author, Yang-May Ooi, invites you to listen in on the conversation round that table as her friends ask her what is her favourite... Continue Reading →
The Journey of East German Dumplings: A Personal Story
Yang-May Ooi, cross-cultural advocate and author, shares another vignette from her dinner with an international mix of friends the other evening about their favourite foods from home. A menu item evokes the history of East Germany, Unification and an individual story of migration and connection to one’s roots. A Taste of East Germany -- Eight... Continue Reading →
It’s Easy to Stereotype
Cross-cultural advocate and author, Yang-May Ooi, introduces her new project Belonging Across Cultures with a story of her own mistaken assumption that led her to stereotyping a friend. How can we learn more about ourselves - and about other people in a way that connects us beyond obvious and unhelpful assumptions? Join her on this... Continue Reading →