Preface of my Award Winning Cookbook

PREFACE

A simple countrywoman who runs a little suburb restaurant wrote a cookbook.

That’s it.

The story couldn’t be simpler.?

That was my first version of preface for this cookbook.

I mean it.

I literally wrote that because I didn’t know how and what to write.

To someone who uses her cleaver more than her pen, nothing could be more challenging than writing this preface.?Even more so was the difficulty I found in fully expressing my heartfelt gratitude in mere words.

For many times the production team has asked me to rewrite this preface, but I just kept dragging on.

Eventually, on my birthday today, I mustered all my strength to complete this preface with whatever limited writing skills I have.

****

My father died when I was five.?My siblings and I were brought up by mother who made a living selling mahjong tiles.

Apparently we didn’t grow up in a rich family.?My mother and sister sent me off to attend secretary course in the UK on their savings, hoping that I could lead a smooth life in future.

After studies, I became a clerk as they envisioned.?Nevertheless, it was not all smooth sailing as my mind often wandered off to the kitchen back home.?Not surprisingly, I had been given notice for as many as three times during my career as a clerk.

Eventually I turned my focus to the kitchen.?I felt uneasy at first because I thought I had failed my family by turning into a chef.?As time went by, I finally understood that they wished for my happiness rather than a quiet and peaceful life.

Today, I am so glad I had become a chef!

The kitchen is where I can completely focus my body and mind.?And I think that wherever you can focus your body and mind, it is heaven.?I can be so focused in the kitchen that even time seems to stand still.

Eight years has passed by unnoticed since I had become a fulltime chef.?I’d think I was living in a dream if not for the wake-up call that is the conditions of my hand.

It was for this exact reason that I have promised my family to quit my job as a fulltime chef.?I was so unwilling to let go that I had lost sleep for many nights.

Finally, I have decided to write this cookbook with my ailing hands, so that the delicious dishes from ChoyChoy Kitchen could be enjoyed in every household even though I was no longer at the helm of the kitchen.

In preparing for the publication, I took a bold move in raising fund on Kickstarter.

Many of my friends tried to talk sense into me saying it would be a waste of time. They said crowdfunding platforms were for hi-tech projects only, old fashioned products like this one were doomed to fail.

Turns out they were quite right. Most of my Facebook connections did not have the faintest idea what crowdfunding was.

To my surprise, however, many of my dear friends took the time to sign up for a Kickstarter account just for this cookbook.?More surprisingly still, it has eventually become the top cookbook project on Kickstarter.

I am deeply grateful for everyone’s trust and confidence.

It is your trust and confidence that has transcended this countrywoman, and her humble little restaurant and cookbook, from a simple story…?

into a small miracle.

29 December 2017

Su’ao, Yilan, Taiwan