On Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017 the UCI Libraries hosted a wonderfully delectable book talk with Chef Helene An and Jacqueline An, of House of An and authors of “An: To Eat.”


This special event celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the UCI Libraries’ Southeast Asian Archive featured a delicious four-course fine dining menu from An Catering designed by Chef Helene and Catherine An.


In the book talk, moderated by Dr. Thuy Vo Dang (Curator for the Southeast Asian Archive), a common theme prevailed of valuing family and the An’s unique history. Jacqueline reminisced about working on the cookbook with her mother and how having a family of historians made the process enjoyable and efficient. Additionally, Chef Helene mentioned how  she  intentionally did not include certain recipes in the book so that they could be special heirlooms to pass down to her five daughters.


The Libraries’ Southeast Asian Archive was founded 30 years ago with a similar goal to the An’s book: documenting the social, cultural, religious, political and economic life of Americans of Southeast Asian origin with a special emphasis on those in Orange County and California. And as the archive celebrates this milestone, a driving force into the next decade and beyond is to further engage the community in using our materials, resources, subject-matter experts, special events and spaces.


To view and download photos from the event, please visit the Libraries’ Flickr page.

A video recording of the event will be available in coming weeks on the Libraries’ YouTube page.

For more information on the Southeast Asian Archive visit: https://seaa.lib.uci.edu/ or contact Thuy Vo Dang, Curator for the Southeast Asian Archive at thuy.vodang@uci.edu