Barbara Tropp
Encyclopedia
Barbara Tropp was an American
chef and cookery writer, who helped introduce Americans to Chinese
cuisine
.
. Falling in love with Chinese culture due to an art class in high school, she studied Chinese in college, leading to doctoral
studies at Princeton University
. Two years in Taiwan
and a fortuitous stay with food obsessed host families led to her immersion in the intricacies of Chinese cuisine
. During this time she studied poetry and made many visits to the national art museum. Her burgeoning understanding of Chinese culture reinforced her studies of Chinese cuisine.
described as "...a unique achievement. Her intelligent and thorough explanations are detailed and truly great. The choice of recipes is exciting. This is a magnum opus for any cooking addict." The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking brought Barbara international acclaim as it served as a guide for non-Chinese speakers into the subtle delicacies of an elaborate and highly refined cuisine.
infused with a deep knowledge of another traditional food culture. Frequent visitors to the restaurant during this time included people like Robin Williams
, Christopher Reeve
and Julia Child
who had developed a close friendship with Barbara. The restaurant hummed with precision and flavorful smells and vibrant colors. Chefs who trained with Barbara went on to illustrious careers with chefs like Wolfgang Puck
. Staff alumni from the restaurant include the Vietnamese-American filmmaker Paul Kwan and the opera singer Julie Queen and sous chef and later restaurant owner Richard Katz. Chef Nance Tourigny Chef Nance worked with Tropp in the early 90's and went on to establish her successful personal chef business in Seattle working for prominent clients like Craig McCaw
. Tropp's enthusiasm for wok cooking was almost mystical — chefs were instructed from day one on creating a proper wok hay, a column of smoke summoned from the center of the wok with clanging wok tools, where seared vegetables and meats were tossed about and gained a delicious smokiness that is the true hallmark of wok flavor.
Another quotation from the book reads:
for seven years, first with Chinese herbs
and acupuncture
, later abandoning them for chemotherapy
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/1999/01/20/FD36414.DTL, before her death at the age of 53. Her memorial was hosted by the Mondavi wine family and Barbara requested that mourners not send flowers ("I won't be there to smell them"), instead to make a donation to a scholarship fund to send young female chefs to China.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
chef and cookery writer, who helped introduce Americans to Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
cuisine
Cuisine
Cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions, often associated with a specific culture. Cuisines are often named after the geographic areas or regions that they originate from...
.
Background
Tropp was the daughter of podiatrists in New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. Falling in love with Chinese culture due to an art class in high school, she studied Chinese in college, leading to doctoral
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
studies at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. Two years in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and a fortuitous stay with food obsessed host families led to her immersion in the intricacies of Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...
. During this time she studied poetry and made many visits to the national art museum. Her burgeoning understanding of Chinese culture reinforced her studies of Chinese cuisine.
The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking
When Tropp returned to America, she soon dropped out of Princeton and moved to San Francisco to be closer to a vibrant Chinese community and food markets. She soon had a contract to write the Modern Art of Chinese Cooking, a book which James BeardJames Beard
James Andrew Beard was an American chef and food writer. The central figure in the story of the establishment of a gourmet American food identity, Beard was an eccentric personality who brought French cooking to the American middle and upper classes in the 1950s...
described as "...a unique achievement. Her intelligent and thorough explanations are detailed and truly great. The choice of recipes is exciting. This is a magnum opus for any cooking addict." The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking brought Barbara international acclaim as it served as a guide for non-Chinese speakers into the subtle delicacies of an elaborate and highly refined cuisine.
China Moon Cafe
Between 1986 and 1997, Barbara Tropp ran a very successful Chinese restaurant named China Moon Cafe in a 1930s era coffee shop in San Francisco. Similar to Chez Panisse in Berkeley, China Moon Cafe drew foodies from around the world who came for the unique combination of California cuisineCalifornia Cuisine
California cuisine is a style of cuisine marked by an interest in fusion cuisine and in the use of freshly prepared local ingredients.The food is typically prepared with strong attention to presentation...
infused with a deep knowledge of another traditional food culture. Frequent visitors to the restaurant during this time included people like Robin Williams
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
, Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve
Christopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author and activist...
and Julia Child
Julia Child
Julia Child was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which...
who had developed a close friendship with Barbara. The restaurant hummed with precision and flavorful smells and vibrant colors. Chefs who trained with Barbara went on to illustrious careers with chefs like Wolfgang Puck
Wolfgang Puck
Wolfgang Johannes Puck is an Austrian-American celebrity chef, restaurateur, businessman and occasional actor. Wolfgang Puck restaurants, catering services, cookbooks and licensed products are run by Wolfgang Puck Companies, with three divisions...
. Staff alumni from the restaurant include the Vietnamese-American filmmaker Paul Kwan and the opera singer Julie Queen and sous chef and later restaurant owner Richard Katz. Chef Nance Tourigny Chef Nance worked with Tropp in the early 90's and went on to establish her successful personal chef business in Seattle working for prominent clients like Craig McCaw
Craig McCaw
Craig McCaw is a Seattle-area businessman and entrepreneur who achieved success as a pioneer in the cellular phone industry. He is the founder of McCaw Cellular and Clearwire Corporation.-Early life and cable TV beginnings:Craig is the second of four sons of Marion and John Elroy McCaw...
. Tropp's enthusiasm for wok cooking was almost mystical — chefs were instructed from day one on creating a proper wok hay, a column of smoke summoned from the center of the wok with clanging wok tools, where seared vegetables and meats were tossed about and gained a delicious smokiness that is the true hallmark of wok flavor.
China Moon Cookbook
During this time Tropp wrote China Moon Cookbook, a simpler more informal cookbook of recipes and techniques developed at China Moon Cafe. A representative quote from the book describes the atmosphere and flavor of China Moon Cafe well:China Moon food is, at its best, gutsy and bold. There is a loud stereo of flavor emanating from our dishes-not the equivalent of a rock concert, thank you, but more like the gallop of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" with its big crescendos of tonality followed by moments of quiet resonance.
Another quotation from the book reads:
'Cosmic Chaos' is my favorite pun of all. This is the meaning of won-ton as it appears in the first line of every ancient Chinese cosmology. In the beginning the universe was a won-ton (chaos) inside a thin shell, before the earth separated into the dark and the heaven into the light.
Memorial fund
Tropp fought ovarian cancerOvarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous growth arising from the ovary. Symptoms are frequently very subtle early on and may include: bloating, pelvic pain, difficulty eating and frequent urination, and are easily confused with other illnesses....
for seven years, first with Chinese herbs
Traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage , exercise , and dietary therapy...
and acupuncture
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a type of alternative medicine that treats patients by insertion and manipulation of solid, generally thin needles in the body....
, later abandoning them for chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/1999/01/20/FD36414.DTL, before her death at the age of 53. Her memorial was hosted by the Mondavi wine family and Barbara requested that mourners not send flowers ("I won't be there to smell them"), instead to make a donation to a scholarship fund to send young female chefs to China.
Sources
- "The World of Barbara Tropp In the face of critical illness, this elfin chef continues to follow her `Asian dreams by Janet Fletcher'", San Francisco Chronicle, January 20, 1999, retrieved January 20, 1999