THE RED KETTLE STORY

I’M GER, AND I’M EXCITED TO BRING YOU ASIAN FLAVORS MADE IN MAINE.

Red Kettle is the culmination of my almost decade-long career as a chef in a very specialized industry – working on traditional sailing ships in Europe, the Caribbean, and the east coast of the United States. Aboard these ships, I’d feed a very hungry crew composed of 15-40 professional sailors, educators, and students, who came aboard to learn seamanship, marine science, and history. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight snacks – I’d repeat this every day for as long as the programs lasted, which could be anywhere from a few days to several months.

We could be at sea for weeks at a time, and fresh food was a luxury. I walked a fine line between hoarding fresh ingredients as long as possible and trying to use up everything before it went bad. Food played an outsized role on board, as even the most seasoned sailors would request recipes that reminded them of home.

There weren’t many people of color aboard the ships I worked on, and frequently, I would be the only Asian person. Like everyone else, I missed the flavors of the food I ate at home, and I wanted to recreate those Asian flavors aboard. When I couldn’t provision authentic Asian ingredients in port, I improvised. I made a LOT of Asian comfort food while I was homesick: dumplings, noodles, fried rice. Aboard a ship sailing in the Caribbean, I decided to make kimchi – even though all I had was green cabbage, crushed red pepper, and paprika. To my surprise, my “emergency shipboard kimchi” was not only edible, it fermented beautifully. Although the flavors of this batch of kimchi weren’t the same as the kimchi I made at home, and I was making it for 40 instead of one, I realized that it was possible to feel at home anywhere by bringing those flavors to where I was.

Red Kettle Foods takes inspiration from East Asian (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) cuisine. These three cultures share very similar ingredients, but cook them in such different and delicious ways. The food I make is a reflection of the flavors of my childhood and the natural bounty found in the state of Maine, a celebration of the Asian-American experience.

In our colorful, sunny kitchen, the red tea kettle on top of our stove greets me every morning. It’s not a fancy kettle, but my mom bought it for me, and through the years, it’s remained a constant, comforting presence, reminding me of family and of home. When you taste food from Red Kettle, I hope that you taste all the flavors of its story, and that it brings my home closer to yours.