Grace Zia Chu

Grace Zia Chu (April 23, 1899 – April 15, 1999) was an author of Chinese cookbooks and a major figure in American Chinese culinary world. Chu introduced generations of Americans to Chinese cooking.[1][2][3]

Grace Zia Chu
A yearbook photograph of a young Chinese woman
Grace Zia, from the 1924 Wellesley College yearbook
BornApril 23, 1899
Shanghai, China
DiedApril 15, 1999 (aged 99)
Columbus, Ohio, US
Occupation(s)Cookbook author, cookery teacher

Personal life

Grace Zia Chu was born in Shanghai on 23 April 1899. Her parents were Zia Hong-lai and Sochen Sze. Grace Anna Zia[4] attended the McTyeire School and later Wellesley College in the United States. Upon graduation in 1924,[5] Zia returned to teach in China at McTyeire and Ginling College.

In 1928, Zia married Chu Shih-ming, who was appointed military attache to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. in 1941, representing the Nationalist government. She returned to China after World War II, only to resettle in the United States by 1950. Five years later, Zia naturalized as an American citizen, and moved to New York City, where she taught cooking at her home, the China Institute, and the Mandarin House restaurant. Zia moved to Columbus, Ohio after Chu died in 1965. Zia died at the age of 99 in Columbus on April 15, 1999.[6]

Notable works

The New York Times called her 1962 cookbook The Pleasures of Chinese Cooking. Chu authored Madame Chu's Chinese Cooking School in 1975, a detailed cookbook for the beginner to advanced cook.

Awards and honours

Grace Zia Chu was named Grande Dame of Les Dames d'Escoffier, New York Chapter in 1984.

See also

References
  1. "Harvard University Library:Chu, Grace Zia, papers of Grace Zia Chu". Archived from the original on 2012-05-15. Retrieved 2011-12-04.
  2. Grace Chu: An Editor's Tribute
  3. New York Times:FOOD: The Lives They Lived: Grace Zia Chu, b. 1900; West Meets East
  4. Keene, Ann T. (2009). "Chu, Grace Zia (1899-1999), cooking authority and writer | American National Biography". doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.2001915. ISBN 978-0-19-860669-7.
  5. Wellesley College, Legenda (1924 yearbook): 121.
  6. "Grace Zia Chu, 99, Guide to Chinese Cooking". New York Times. April 19, 1999. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
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