LO, Eileen Yin-Fei 1937-

PERSONAL:

Born May 4, 1937, in Sun Tak, Canton, China; immigrated to the United States, 1959; naturalized U.S. citizen; married Fred Ferretti (a writer), June 18, 1959; children: Christopher, Elena, Stephen. Ethnicity: "Chinese."

ADDRESSES:

Home—Montclair, NJ. Agent—Carla Glasser, Nolan Lehr Group, 224 W. 29th St., New York, NY 10001.

CAREER:

Chef, teacher, and cookbook writer. China Institute, New York, NY, member of cooking and nutrition staff for more than twenty years, beginning 1976, now consultant chef. New School University, teacher of Chinese cookery; guest on media programs, including Martha Stewart Living, The Early Show, and Good Morning America, as well as presentations of the Food Network; guest speaker in the United States and Canada, Europe, Asia, and New Zealand; celebrity chef at various culinary events; food and cooking consultant to hotels and restaurants; volunteer chef for charity events.

MEMBER:

Les Dames d'Escoffier.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Award from International Association of Culinary Professionals, c. 1985, for The Chinese Banquet Cookbook: Authentic Feasts fromChina's Regions; Lifetime Achievement Awards, New World Festival of Food and Wine and La Celebration Culinaire, both 1998.

WRITINGS:

The Dim Sum Book: Classic Recipes from the Chinese Teahouse, Crown (New York, NY), 1982.

The Chinese Banquet Cookbook: Authentic Feasts from China's Regions, Crown (New York, NY), 1985.

Eileen Yin-Fei Lo's New Cantonese Cooking, Viking (New York, NY), 1988.

(Coauthor) China's Food, Friendly Press (New York, NY), 1990.

From the Earth: Chinese Vegetarian Cooking, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1995.

The Dim Sum Dumpling Book, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1995.

The Chinese Way: Healthy Low-Fat Cooking from China's Regions, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1997.

The Chinese Kitchen, William Morrow (New York, NY), 1999.

The Chinese Chicken Cookbook: 100 Easy-to-Prepare, Authentic Recipes for the American Table, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor to magazines and newspapers, including Food Arts, Gourmet, Food and Wine, Travel and Leisure, and New York Times.

SIDELIGHTS:

Eileen Yin-Fei Lo told CA: "I was born in a suburb of Canton, China, called Sun Tak. I began to cook at the age of five, encouraged by both my parents—a mother who believed that children should know how to do everything and a father who had traveled widely and was familiar with foreign cuisines, even those as far away as South America. In 1950, with revolution in China, I was sent by my parents to live with relatives in Hong Kong. While there I learned English and further enhanced my knowledge of cooking by researching cuisines from all regions of China and taking lessons from an aunt who was herself an accomplished cook. Hong Kong was and is an ideal place in which to learn about food. It is a cosmopolitan city, home to some of the world's great restaurants and chefs.

"In 1959 I married and moved to the United States. Increasingly I was urged by friends to teach Chinese cookery, which I began to do in the early 1970s. For many years I taught in my home, from beginners to master classes, including recipes for the festive Chinese dishes such as Peking Duck, Beggars Chicken, and Dim Sum. In 1976 I was invited to join the cooking and nutrition staff of the China Institute in New York City, and I taught there for more than twenty years."

[Sketch reviewed by husband, Fred Ferretti.]