Letter of Recommendation: Rice Cookers
By Sandra Cheah & Natalie Daher
There is no kitchen appliance more magical than a rice cooker. Compact, electric and brimming with tasty grains, it holds a special place in our hearts. Here, we pay tribute to the rice cooker.
Process
Our pair piece began with reading New York Times Magazine’s Letters of Recommendation column. Inspired by the creativity and originality of the pieces presented, Natalie and I wrote our pair piece on our appreciation and love of rice cookers. Our individual stories reflect our experiences using this classic home appliance, during the pandemic and for last-minute meals, as well as how we relate to it culturally. In honor of the stories shared, our piece includes a graphic that captures a memory where rice cookers played an important part in our lives. –Sandra
Sandra Cheah
Sandra Cheah is a high school sophomore from Queens, New York. She is a proud first-generation, Asian-American student with a passion for gender equality and women’s empowerment. She runs Dear GlobalGirls, an organization and digital magazine with a mission to empower girls to unlock their potential and break barriers in male-dominated spaces. Her advocacy efforts have been recognized internationally, as featured in Plan International. In her free time, she enjoys coding, drawing, trying new dishes and playing Chinese poker with her family.
Natalie Daher
Natalie Daher is a journalist, writer and editor based in New York with a background in audience development and reporting at broadcast, video and print media companies. She currently works as senior editor at NowThis, focusing on news, politics and culture. Her work ranges from essays and features to breaking news and has been published at The Week, The Daily Beast, Lapham’s Quarterly, Racked, HuffPost, City Lab and more. Wherever possible, she centers women in her work. In the off-hours, she likes to run, do yoga, cook, collect records, book last-minute trips and read.
