Tracy Matsue Loeffelholz
I grew up in the food culture of Hawaii’s Japanese community, where food traditions connect generation after generation — nissei, sansei, yonsei — to our issei, who brought their southern Japanese farm recipes with them to Hawaii at the end of the Meiji Era.
A lifelong student of Japanese home cooking, I began a serious study of washoku traditions through chef Elizabeth Andoh’s Tsudoi Project. I use 15 washoku principles and practices as a unique frame for whatever class I'm teaching. I travel to Japan as much as possible, continuing my own education and deepening my understanding of washoku food culture.
My washoku cooking classes are held several times a month at the Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network, as well as at The Pantry in Seattle. I am a recipe developer for Providence Heart Institute. My love of the food world has led me to a variety of delicious work over the years: from food styling and cookbook design, to running the Cuiline Test Kitchen, where I helped international chefs create recipes for American home cooks.
I have certificates from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and the CHEF coaching program at Harvard’s Institute of Lifestyle Medicine.