No Passport Required, with Marcus Samuelsson

Chef Marcus Samuelsson was born in Ethiopia, raised in Sweden, and is currently employed in New York City. He is acutely aware of the perils and promise of living between several worlds and wondering where to fit in, while also exploring the role of food as a path to culture, history, and identity. This PBS-aired miniseries takes Samuelsson on a journey to immigrant and refugee American communities to see how food slowly integrates people into local culture. The first stops are the large Muslim communities of Detroit and Dearborn, MI, where Samuelsson meets restaurant owners and pastry chefs, learning how bread is made, and how flavorful dishes using chicken, eggplant, lamb, and spices are prepared. Vietnamese Americans have found a home in the rich gumbo of New Orleans’s "NOLA east" community. While contending with the aftermath of war, refugee boatlifts, Hurricane Katrina, and a massive Gulf oil spill that deprived Vietnamese fisherman of their living, these resilient people have hung on, thanks to hard work and close family ties. Samuelsson celebrates their "light and bright" cuisine of fresh herbs, shrimp, steamed fish, and pho, foods heavily influenced by the former French colonizers of Indochina. Small producers here take advantage of NOLA's tropical climate with backyard farming, selling produce to restaurants and food markets. Mexican Americans have moved north to Chicago, initially lured by work in the stockyards, steel plants, and meat packing industry. Gangs, gun violence, and the immigration crackdown that deprives restaurants of needed staff workforces have all taken a toll in the Windy City, but a new generation of entrepreneurs are determined to show that Mexican food is much more than cheap, spicy junk food. Also including segments on the Indo-Guyanese community in Queens, NY, No Passport Required features insights from immigrants, food lovers, chefs and their customers, and should appeal to fans of the late Anthony Bourdain's series Parts Unknown. Highly recommended. Aud: P. (S. Rees)