“A great opportunity for me to tell my story” - The Great American Recipe star Suwanee talks about her food journey

As a contestant on Season 4 of The Great American Recipe on PBS, Spokane native Suwanee Lennon introduces her bold Thai Isaan cuisine and poignant cultural stories to a national audience for the first time.

“I realized this is a great opportunity for me to tell my story and the stories of the people that I grew up with,” Lennon said.

Lennon's roots are firmly rooted in her culinary expertise; she was raised in a leper town in northern Thailand and moved to the United States at the age of 13. She preserves Isaan cuisines and customs while adapting them for regular home cooks thanks to her blog, Simply Suwanee.

Speaking about her PBS cooking competition, Lennon aims to showcase not just the food inspired by her heritage but also her background as a chef. Suwanee also actively participates on missions to raise money for her community through her Feed the Village fundraising campaign.

The Great American Recipe's Suwanee Lennon’s culinary journey bridges culture and art

Thai-born Spokane-based food blogger Suwanee Lennon contributes her rich Isaan roots and poignant personal story to Season 4 of The Great American Recipe. Her involvement symbolizes more than just cooking; it's about upholding customs, strengthening her community, and using food and stories to respect the folks she grew up with.

A journey fueled by memory and flavor

Suwanee's passion for cooking was sparked by her longing for home, not in a kitchen. Everything changed when she left Thailand at the age of 13 to begin a new life in the United States. The Great American Recipe star missed the familiar tastes of her childhood dinners despite being surrounded by strange delicacies.

When she moved from Thailand to the United States, Lennon remembers:

"I left my country, my village, my people, by myself." She continued, “I did not know how to cook at that age, and I missed my Thai food so much.”

The desire to learn to cook was sparked by such cravings. Suwanee eventually learned traditional Thai recipes, based on the cuisine of her native Isaan. Her lifelong desire to convey her culture via food started as a means of overcoming her homesickness.

Cooking as a creative canvas

Suwanee walks into her kitchen today like a painter walks into a blank canvas. She boldly tries new things, combining unexpected ingredients and fresh American ingredients with the strong, spicy flavors of Thailand. Tradition and innovation collide in each meal, which turns into a dialogue between her history and present.

The Great American Recipe star opened up:

“I play around with different recipes and ingredients. It’s like almost creating art with my food.”

This is the creative approach that her site, Simply Suwanee, takes to Thai cooking and emphasizes anything but a home cook who encourages other home cooks to explore made-from-scratch, delicious Thai food. To her, cooking is not just about cooking a meal; it's about telling stories on a plate through flavor, color, and texture to bridge cultures and bring people together.

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Catch Suwanee from The Great American Recipe on PBS.

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