What we eat -- and where -- has changed for many of us over the past year. Some people are getting more takeout, while others are spending a lot more time at home, cooking both elaborate and simple meals. The New York Times reported that cookbook sales increased by 127% from 2019 to 2020.
“I have just loved seeing how many people are really engaging with cooking in a new way because they’re working from home,” said Irene Li, who is co-owner of Mei Mei in Boston, a restaurant pre-pandemic that has since turned into a packaged dumpling company.
During the pandemic, so much is out of everyone’s control, Li said. But people regain some of that when they try a new recipe and plan their meals.
“I think that’s one way that people have found some comfort in this time,” Li told NEXT.
Li co-authored a cookbook with her siblings in 2019 called “Double Awesome Chinese Food: Irresistible and Totally Achievable Recipes from Our Chinese-American Kitchen.”
This interview was featured on NEXT from the New England News Collaborative. Listen to the entire episode here.
