About the author

Madeline Nguyen

She is a current student, enrolled in the Master of Gastronomy program focusing on World Food Cultures and Mobility. She was born and raised in the San Francisco-Bay Area. Her past experience includes work as a community organizer, writer, and editor, and her writing interests include intersectionality, decolonizing foodways, Vietnamese diaspora and identity, and emotional labour.

Flavors
Origins

Chả Giò Conversations

What does healing taste like? For one Vietnamese American family, it’s wrapped in rice paper, fried to golden perfection, and sipped with a glass of Hennessy. A story of grief, memory, and love: all rolled into chả giò.

Ethics
Origins

Not ‘The New Ramen’

Red wine in phở? Meet the dish that stirs up beefy French roots, northern pride, and diaspora flavor. Phở sốt vang isn’t “the new ramen”; it’s a rich, complex stew of history, memory, and identity.

If your brain is filled with obscure food facts, historical bites, and culinary debates, welcome home.