Hulu’s ‘Style the Nation’ heads to Lowell

Lowell is the setting of an episode of the second season of Hulu’s “Style the Nation with Padma Lakshmi,” which is premiering on the streaming service in the present day.

The ten-episode sequence as soon as once more finds program Lakshmi, an award-winning cookbook creator and the present’s govt producer, taking viewers on a culinary journey throughout America, exploring the varied communities behind what’s cooking in kitchens across the nation.

A type of communities is the Cambodian immigrants who settled in Lowell, America’s first purposely constructed manufacturing unit city, who’re the main focus of the episode titled “On the Tip of my Kreung.” Kreung is a generic phrase for a variety of herb and spice pastes utilized in many Khmer dishes. 

One of many eating places featured is Merely Khmer Restaurant on Lowell’s Lincoln Road, which is owned by Sambath Eang Lee (head chef), Denise Ban, and their son Xavier Eang Lee. They opened Merely Khmer in 2007 to offer the meals they grew up with in Cambodian to the area people.  

“Firstly, an immigrant cooks to feed the group. It’s a necessity,” stated Xavier, who’s the restaurant’s sous chef and supervisor. “Secondly, it’s a place for locals and guests to expertise Cambodian meals and tradition. However it begins as being meals for us.”

One featured dish is amok trey, a fish dish poached in a coconut milk curry sauce and served in a banana leaf. 

Through the episode, Sambath remembers the ache of rising up beneath the Khmer Rouge genocide within the Seventies. 

“Padma wished to speak to my dad and mom about their expertise,” Xavier stated. “My father is a product of that point. He doesn’t open up a lot. However Padma was tremendous welcoming, and it was actually shifting to see my dad open up. There are some very uncooked moments as he relives sure issues.”

Xavier’s mom escaped along with her dad and mom and 4 siblings. Xavier’s father, who was about 13 and put to work in a rural labor camp, misplaced his father, brother, and grandmother. 

“He remembers quite a lot of the unhealthy stuff,” Xavier stated. “They’re by no means totally away from their trauma, and it will get handed on by way of generations.”

Which is why being seen is essential, in response to Xavier. He feels this program helps to validate his household and the group.

“The very last thing I wished to do was work on this restaurant, “ Xavier stated, referring to his earlier profession in advertising. “However now I perceive meals is a software to share a tradition. It’s not a transaction, it’s an act of affection. Doing the present bolstered my delight within the sense that my folks have a narrative. It reassured me that I do have a future.”

The second season of “Style the Nation with Padma Lakshmi” premieres on Friday, Might 5, on Hulu.