'Seconds, please!': Edmonton filmmaker explores food, family and culture in video series
CBC News | Posted: July 7, 2018 12:23 AM | Last Updated: July 7, 2018
'Food is a great way to capture people's interest'
For Shawn Tse, sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves is more than a delicious snack.
The traditional Chinese dish, called zhong, signifies how food connects him to his family's heritage.
"It's a big part of what I know of my traditional culture. It's the most accessible thing I can think of when I think of being Chinese-Canadian. (There's) dim sum...and making zhong, which is a rice dumpling, with my grandma and my dad."
Growing up in Toronto, the Edmonton-based filmmaker knew his friends had similar connections. Maybe it was the buddy whose Ukrainian grandmother made perogies from scratch. Or a neighbour whose Filipino father assembled kare-kare, a thick stew with peanut sauce, for dinner.
Tse has brought the themes of immigration, family, and food together in a six-part video series called, "Seconds, Please!" In each episode, he visits a family from a different cultural background. He watches — and learns — while the older generation teaches the younger generation how to make a traditional dish from their homeland.
The teachers provide a recipe for everyone at home, too.
"Food is a great way to capture people's interest," Tse said on CBC's Radio Active on Thursday.
"I think food is kind of a way to start the conversation, but then hopefully with this, we can dive a little deeper into how diverse and awesome (we are) and how we should maybe celebrate how different we are as Canadians — different, but also similar."
Tse has two episodes currently online. He visits a family that originally hails from the Philippines and another family that came to Canada from South Sudan. The episodes can be viewed at secondspleasetv.ca.
Along with chats about food, and cooking, and ingredients, Tse asks families about their migration stories.
"Understanding my roots made me appreciate everyone's story. And it's important to understand that story, it grounds you and gives you a better sense of how you fit in, in Canada."