Fathers Who Cook; Food Trucks Roll Across America

07 August 2011Kimchi fried rice

FRITZI BODENHEIMER: Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I’m Fritzi Bodenheimer.

MARIO RITTER: And I’m Mario Ritter. This week on our program, we hear about fathers who cook for their families. Then, we look at the spread of food trucks in American cities.

(MUSIC)

FRITZI BODENHEIMER: John Donohue is an editor and cartoonist for the New Yorker magazine. He discovered a new job for himself when he became a father for the first time.

JOHN DONOHUE: “I started cooking a lot for my wife and the baby. It was a lot of fun.”

FRITZI BODENHEIMER: Now Mr. Donohue has published a book called “Man With a Pan: Culinary Adventures of Fathers Who Cook For Their Families.” He asked other men to share their stories. He collected thirty-four essays written by writers and chefs

Two dozen fathers, writers and chefs contribute to 'Man With a Pan: Culinary Adventures of Fathers Who Cook for Their Families.' by John Donohue.

One of them was Mark Bittman , a food writer for the New York Times. Mr. Donohue explained how Mr. Bittman became a food writer.

JOHN DONOHUE: “He was married, he had a new baby. He was driving a taxi. He was kind of working odd jobs and so he started to cook. That led to his first book, which actually put him on the map as a writer.”