“Family Ingredients” Prescreening To Benefit Huoa

Karleen C. Chinen

There is a scene in the film “The Hundred-Foot Journey” that melts my heart. After cooking all his young life in his family’s Indian restaurant and now in a small town in the South of France and training in French cooking at the Michelin-star restaurant just across the street, Hassan Kadam is on his way to a promising future working in a Paris restaurant with more Michelin stars than Madame Mallory’s restaurant. But Hassan finds it hard to be genuinely happy with his new celebrity status, so far away from his colorful and close-knit family and the flavors that had always given him comfort and peace. One night, a kitchen helper from Hassan’s native India, eating alone in the dark, invites Hassan to join him for some naan (leavened bread), which they soak up with an everyday Indian dish that brings Hassan to tears . . . and a life-altering decision.

Food is memories. That is one of the premises of the new PBS series, “Family Ingredients,” hosted by local chef and restaurateur Ed Kenney, which will premiere on PBS Hawaii on June 22, ahead of its national run.

But before even local PBS viewers get to see it in their homes, the Hawaii United Okinawa Association was granted permission to screen two episodes of the six-program series as a fundraiser for the organization. On Sunday, May 15, HUOA will preview “Family Ingredients — Okinawa” and “Family Ingredients — Tokyo” at the Hawaii Okinawa Center. The $20 ticket ($7 for children under 7) also includes a bowl of Okinawa soba and fresh andagi, as well as Okinawan entertainment. The program begins at 5 p.m.