Latest news with #PeterSom
National Post
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- National Post
Cook This: 3 recipes for sharing from Family Style, including crispy devilled tea eggs
Our cookbook of the week is Family Style by fashion designer Peter Som. Article content Fashion and food may seem a world apart, but for designer and cookbook author Peter Som, they're connected. A great-looking sweater might catch your eye as you scroll, but appearance isn't everything. There's also how it fits and feels. Likewise, we eat with our eyes first, yet a dish has to have substance, following up its looks with flavour and texture. Though the fundamentals and technicalities differ, Som's creative approach to both is similar. Article content 'Whenever I design clothes, I like my clothes to be what they call 'front of closet.' That's a garmento term, but it's those pieces you want to wear every day. That favourite sweater,' says Som, who has dressed many notable figures, including Michelle Obama and Beyoncé. Article content Article content Som extended his elegant way with the everyday to the 100 recipes in his cookbook debut, Family Style (Harvest, 2025). 'I want these to be dishes you'll make over and over. That'll be great when you get home on a Tuesday at seven and you're tired, or perfect for Saturday company.' Article content Writing the book was a period of rediscovery for Som. He dedicated Family Style to his mom, Helen, and maternal grandma, Mary, the family matriarch who died 20 years ago. His aunts, uncles, cousins, sister and mom shared stories, which helped him learn more about Mary through her food as he translated their memories into recipe form. Article content Helen and Mary instilled a love of food in Som from a young age. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, his grandmother's mostly Cantonese cooking and American baking and his mom's love of French food and the local, seasonal cuisine born out of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., shaped him. Article content 'I could never get McDonald's, which, as a kid, is really annoying, but now, I fully appreciate the dedication she put into everything that was put on the plate,' he says of Helen's cooking. 'As a working architect, she didn't have tons of time. But when my sister and I would get our braces tightened, she would make spinach soufflé because it was easy to eat, and we got our vegetables. Food has always been very central to my life, and it's been exciting to delve into it even more.' Article content Article content Som sees his career in food as an 'expanding focus,' not a departure from fashion. 'I still have a few toes in fashion in a few projects. But back when I did my runway collections, I was full-on. I had all toes, all hands and my full body — I was all-in fashion, and cooking was always in the background. I think it was the thing that kept my feet on the ground in a very heady, sometimes crazy industry.' Article content Retreating to his kitchen, whether to cook for himself or his friends, was a way for Som to centre himself. When he closed his runway collection business in 2015, cooking became even more integral. Som's professional foray into food started organically as he tapped into something that he had long loved to do.
South China Morning Post
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Peter Som – whose devotees include Scarlett Johansson and Michelle Obama – is branching out from fashion to food, sharing favourite recipes in his first cookbook, Family Style
Renaissance man Peter Som is in pursuit of happiness. That's why the designer who once took New York Fashion Week by storm with his sleek style and joyful dresses, donned by the likes of Michelle Obama and Scarlett Johansson , has since leapt headfirst into an exciting new chapter of his career, trading in clothing for cooking, and promoting his new recipe book, Family Style – a love letter to food, heritage and, above all, what it means to feel at home. 'I would definitely not call it a pivot,' Som clarifies. 'I haven't left anything behind – I still do clothing with Rent the Runway; I have a few deals and projects coming up.' But cooking, as it turns out, was part of Som's life, long before fashion entered the equation. 'I grew up in the kitchen next to my grandmother and mum,' the designer explains, 'and all through my runway collection years, [I would] come home after a day of fittings and fashion show preparations, close the door, make something from beginning, middle to end within a span of 45 minutes, and enjoy it.' Peter Som acknowledges the audience's appreciation after his spring 2009 collection runway in New York. Photo: AFP Advertisement A 45-minute meal and a 15-minute fashion show might not seem like they have that much in common, but in Som's hands both come to life as a compelling showcase for self-expression and more often than not, a celebration of colour. 'How do you stand out?' the designer asks. 'How does that product differentiate from everybody else? Even when I wrote this cookbook, I wanted my voice to be authentic. … I found that creative approach is how I approach everything. Obviously the fundamentals and technicalities are different, but you eat with your eyes – the same way a great outfit attracts your eye.' Peter Som's first foray into cookery, Family Style, celebrates food and family. Photo: HarperCollins Publishers Many of Som's recipes, such as the potsticker frittata or char siu bacon cheeseburger, are as striking visually as they are strong on flavours, a reflection of the designer's Chinese-American identity and penchant for making things that just work well together, be it fabrics and prints or spices and sauces. They're also irresistibly fun to make, eat and look at. 'Just like that outfit has to feel great when you put it on, so too does that dish have to taste great and be delicious,' says Som. If cooking has always been simmering in the background of Som's life, joy continues to be that all-important thread that ties all his pursuits together. 'I always said I design happy clothes,' he muses. 'I want clothes to make you smile, to be a mood lifter. Every designer has a different view on that – I'm not Rick Owens . So it's similar with the cookbook – I wrote every word myself. I wanted that sense of joy, curiosity; hopefully some humour in there.' Peter Som's mouthwatering char siu bacon burger. Photo: Handout Som's voice, unmistakably his own, shines through many of the book's cheeky recipe titles, with undercurrents of his multifaceted, multicultural identity rising to the surface – think A Plate of Very Nice Oranges, a modern spin on the fruit slices traditionally served after a Chinese meal, or Mom's Five-Spice Chicken (But on a Sheet Pan), another fun twist on a classic of Chinese cuisine. (Personally, I'm partial to the cacio e pepe sticky rice with egg.) Then there are the fashion analogies sprinkled throughout, which allude to Som's stylish past. The designer refers to stir-fries as the 'little black dress of Chinese cooking', meant to be accessorised and embellished, dressed up or down to the maker's desire – a comparison that makes me chuckle inside in knowing agreement.
