Joe Feed Yourself is BACK, baby! Season two kicks off with a review of Lunar New Year traditions and foods with Aubrey Tang, Billy Chen and Kim Nguyen from The Chinatown Project. In this episode we break down where the holiday comes from, how it is celebrated in Chinese and Vietnamese households and what you might find on some folks' tables to celebrate.
Aubrey and Billy make their triumphant return to the Joe Feed Yourself studio and fellow member of The Chinatown Project, Kim Nguyen joins as well to provide a multi-cultural look at Lunar New Year. The show begins with Joe's personal history learning about the holiday "Chinese New Year" in elementary school, and from there the guests flesh out this holiday to be one of family gatherings, special foods, gifts and community togetherness. Kim describes how her family celebrates Tết, the Vietnamese version of the holiday. All three guests discuss how the core focus of the holiday is a time to bring family together and wish well upon each other. The guests discuss red envelopes (Joe says envelope 4 times in 5 seconds), and Billy and Kim share their favorite home cooked meals for Lunar New Year. The conversation shifts towards the similarities between Lunar New Year and Christmas - the themes of family, tradition, food, gift-giving - and then Joe attempts to say "Happy New Year" in Vietnamese, Cantonese and Mandarin.