For many of us, the greatest influence on our food and cooking was our mother or equivalent maternal figure. Home-cooked meals were a labour of love and a way to share their legacy with the next generation.
This miniseries, Mother's Table (available on SBS On Demand), is shining a spotlight on three talented chefs who inherited their respective mothers' love of food and turned this passion into their careers.
Episode 1: Mamaku Street Food
Family comes first at Mamaku Street Food, a suburban Brisbane restaurant run by four generations of the Wing Kee family. The restaurant pays tribute to the home-style cooking and authentic techniques that Indonesian immigrant, Mie Mie Wing Kee, inherited from her mother.
Mie Mie's daughter, Angela Carss, says, "Mamaku itself means 'my mother', and street food itself is an honour back to where my mum and grandmother came from, which is Jakarta, and [larger] Indonesia."
Watch the mother-daughter duo prepare caramelised pork belly and reflect on their journey to opening Mamaku Street Food in this episode of Mother's Table.
Episode 2: Taro's Ramen
Ramen-obsessed Taro Akimoto inherited his mother's "crazy, curious" passion for food, and is sharing this love in every bowl of ramen served at Taro's Ramen, which has four locations across Brisbane.
The road to becoming a pioneer of specialty ramen hasn't gone without challenges, and Taro learnt the hard way that it would take more than just passion to build a successful business.
When I'm excited with a new creation or when I find something that's delicious and I can't share it with [my mother], I really feel the physical distance.
After opening several stores, Taro's energy is now focused on refining his craft and being more experimental with his cooking. Although, he misses being able to share this with his mum, who lives in Tokyo, Japan.
"When I'm excited with a new creation or when I find something that's delicious and I can't share it with [my mother], I really feel the physical distance," he says.
Taro invites you into his kitchen to hear how a simple love of tonkotsu ramen and an heirloom recipe from his mother started it all.
Episode 3: Café O-Mai
A bowl of warm chicken soup is the epitome of home for second-generation Vietnamese migrant, Maggie Nguyen. She and her mother, Kim Nguyen, are the proud owners of Brisbane brunch institution, Café O-Mai, which serves "traditional Vietnamese food that's cooked from the heart".
Maggie recalls, "As a child, I used to just follow (my mother) around the kitchen, helping her prep...all the mundane tasks, not many people like it, but I gravitate to those tasks because this is the starting point towards the endpoint."
Sit down for a bowl of bo quanh lua hong (beef surrounded by flames) with the Nguyen family, as Maggie recalls how dreams of opening a quaint, corner cafe transpired into her joining forces with Kim to open their restaurant.
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