An Evening with Lisa Kyung Gross for THE LEAGUE OF KITCHENS COOKBOOK – Washington, DC

Join Bold Fork Books for the a celebration of the release of THE LEAGUE OF KITCHENS COOKBOOK with author Lisa Kyung Gross and Cooking Instructir Yamini Joshi in conversation with author Olga Massov.

ABOUT THE LEAGUE OF KITCHENS COOKBOOK

The League of Kitchens Cookbook stands apart from more conventional cookbooks in its commitment to cultural context, culinary detail, and to listening to the wisdom that comes from experience. Each recipe goes beyond mere ingredients and instruction; it’s enriched with personal stories, cultural and family traditions, and the secret tips, tricks, and tiny details that elevate a dish from good to extraordinary—those little nuances that make something uniquely amazing and delicious.

The book is infused with the philosophy shared by all of the instructors: that cooking with love is the secret to incredible food. Cooking with love means cooking with care, intention, and attention to detail—qualities that define the meals prepared by the women of the League of Kitchens.

This cookbook is designed to be an invaluable resource for everyday cooking.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

AUTHOR

Lisa Kyung Gross is the founder/CEO of League of Kitchens, a unique culturally immersive cooking experience in New York City and online where immigrant women, who are exceptional home cooks, teach their family recipes. LoK has been featured in Food and Wine Magazine, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Oprah Magazine, and on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, among others. Saveur called it “The multicultural cooking school you’ve been waiting for.”

As the daughter of a Korean immigrant and a Jewish New Yorker, Lisa was raised on one grandmother’s denjang-guk and the other’s matzoh ball soup. League of Kitchens is born out of her love of cooking, her connection to the immigrant experience, and her desire to connect people across differences. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two daughters.

COOKING INSTRUCTOR

Whether she’s teaching you the proper way to handle spices or how to roll a perfectly circular roti, Yamini Joshi is committed to making everything from scratch using the freshest ingredients. She was born and raised in Mumbai, but her family was originally from Rajasthan. She grew up in a multi-family apartment building that she shared with around fifty family members. Yamini was interested in cooking from a young age and learned to cook from her mother, grandmothers, and aunts, taking on some of the family cooking responsibility starting at age ten.

Yamini’s father was a lawyer who was friends with people from many different cultural backgrounds, and he took her to eat in their homes, introducing her to many different cuisines. Her father was also a good cook, and she would watch him cook for large community religious festivals. At home, her family cooked mostly Rajasthani food, but she had a lot of neighbors and friends who were from other regions, and she learned to cook food from all of them. After Yamini married, she learned how to cook the cuisines of southern India, too. She soon became known as one of the best cooks in her entire extended family.

Yamini moved to New York City with her husband and three daughters in 1999. After years of bringing lunch to share with her coworkers at a jewelry company in Manhattan, she started a small catering business in 2009. She now has four grandchildren and lives in Queens.Yamini and her cooking have been featured by Saveur, Food & Wine, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Travel + Leisure, MSNBC “Your Business”, WNYC, and more.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR
Olga Massov is a cookbook author, editor, and recipe developer. She is currently an assistant recipes editor with The Washington Post’s Food section. Her latest cookbook, HOT SHEET, celebrates the versatility of sheet pan cooking, and includes breakfasts, dinners, and desserts. Among her other collaborations are popular food blogger and television personality Jocelyn Delk Adams, Brooklyn-based chain Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, and many others. Olga lives with her husband, son, cat, and Labrador retriever in Maryland.