Anne Schamberg

Special to the Journal Sentinel

A soon-to-be-published cookbook showcases an immigrant’s story through food. Jay Hajj of Boston talks about “the taste of the American dream.”

The chef-owner of Mike’s City Diner in Boston’s South End is the author of “Beirut to Boston: A Cookbook” (Page Street Publishing, May 2017).

“This is America,” he said in a recent phone interview. “It’s different people from different cultures. And food opens a window on cultures we don’t know much about.”

Creating cultural connections in the kitchen

Hajj’s own bite of the American dream is a “rags to restaurants story” that began in 1978 when he fled war-torn Lebanon with his family, arriving in Boston at the age of 8.

By the time he was 12 he was working as a dishwasher and salad boy in an Italian restaurant. And right from the start, he says, he fell in love with food from around the world.

“I’ve been here most of my life and I still speak with an accent,” he laughs. “And that accent is Lebanese, Greek, Italian, Puerto Rican and Boston because those were the people in our neighborhood back then.”

Today, when he meets an immigrant, his first impulse is to ask questions about the food from their homeland.

“The food people bring comes with stories,” he said. “You might go to a Greek or Italian’s person home for the holidays and you learn. You can watch as many food videos as you want, but it’s the old-timers and the people who are fresh off the boat who really know the tricks,” he said.

Immigrant food fascinates him, but he gives top honors to American cuisine.

“I don’t like cheap shots about American food,” he said. “It’s really insulting to me when people say U.S food is just cheeseburgers and French fries. We’ve got the best cuisine and the best chefs in the world and it’s because we are so open to different flavors and different spices.”

“Beirut to Boston,” with recipes that range from Mike’s Classic Bacon Fat Home Fries to Moroccan Meatballs in Saffron and Lemon Sauce, can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com.