♪ ♪ >> LIDIA: As the number of refugees and immigrants arriving in America has grown exponentially, I've been reflecting on my own journey.

>> It's a pleasure to have you here, Lidia.

>> LIDIA: Whether coming for safety, opportunity, or a better quality of life, immigrants like me have added to America's rich and diverse tapestry of culture, religion, and foods.

I feel lucky that my family was welcomed in the United States, a place where I have been able to become an American and share my Italian heritage.

>> To the left, that's one of my uncle's farms.

>> LIDIA: This year, I set out to meet some of our nation's more recent arrivals.

Salute!

What motivated their journey here?

>> What I want?

Safe surrounding for my son.

>> LIDIA: What challenges have they faced?

>> Around the same time I started loving to cook was the time that I started losing my vision.

>> I can turn this pain and, and, and, you know, make something meaningful out of it.

>> LIDIA: And what does being an American mean to them?

>> I'm grateful, thankful for this country for giving me a second chance.

>> LIDIA: Please join me for an unforgettable journey.

It's all coming up next on "Lidia Celebrates America: Flavors that Define Us."

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> LIDIA: My journey this year begins in Hartsville, South Carolina, a small town that has opened its door to Ukrainian refugees.

This city's quite beautiful.

>> Yeah, it's cozy.

>> LIDIA: You like it?

>> I like it very much.

>> LIDIA: Yeah, yeah?

Is there a lot of entertainment, too?

Do you have a good time?

(voiceover): I meet Polina Frishko, who recently arrived here with her son Damir.

How did you adjust here in America?

>> Hartsville is the perfect place to adjust here.

We feel safe.

What I want?

Really, safe surrounding for my son.

I would like to-- I'm happy when he's happy.

When he smiles, when he's not in danger, this is my happiness.

(bombs buzzing, exploding) ♪ ♪ >> LIDIA: Polina's journey to Hartsville began when Russia attacked Kyiv in February of 2022.

(glass shattering) >> The Russians are coming.

>> Kyiv has come under heavy fire overnight, although it has not fallen.

(siren blaring) >> LIDIA: They spent 12 days in a makeshift bomb shelter before making the perilous drive to the train station.

(air raid sirens sound) >> That was like in a movie.

That was just empty, gray city without people.

You see cars, which is just shot and all family is killed.

The distance from the bomb shelter to the railway station is 15 minutes.

That can be your last journey.

♪ ♪ (people shouting and screaming) >> You had to run to these platforms and jump, uh, because there are lots of people who wants to go there.

>> The stream of refugees coming across into Poland from Ukraine is constant.

>> LIDIA: When they reached the border of Poland, Damir was interviewed by a local news crew.

>> LIDIA: Polina soon began to receive anonymous threats because of her son's criticism of Vladimir Putin.

>> I cannot just take that risk with my child.

I went to Facebook and placed my story.

♪ ♪ >> LIDIA: A couple in Hartsville, South Carolina, saw her post.

>> We were watching the people packing up their bags, just looking for safety, and it was just so emotionally overwhelming.

We wanted to help.

Once we saw her, I sent a Facebook message.

She wrote back.

I was like, yeah, we're taking them.

(laughs) We'll do whatever we have to do.

>> We'll get the kids in school.

We'll feed you, we'll house you, we'll clothe you.

What-whatever it takes.

And we're gonna make you safe.

After clearing background checks, Polina and Damir flew to the United States.

>> Kathy and Dennis just, uh, opened their hands to host us, yeah, and we... and we became a family.

>> Welcome to our lake house.

>> LIDIA: Oh, wow, look at this.

And, so, this is the house that you invite the refugees?

>> Yes.

We have this property.

What better way to use it than to welcome people?

>> LIDIA: Goodness, look at out there.

>> Yeah.

>> LIDIA: This is beautiful.

>> This is beautiful.

The sunsets are gorgeous.

The skies are peaceful.

>> LIDIA: What an extraordinary place this is.

>> What better place for somebody coming from war and so much upheaval, than to peaceful skies over their heads?

>> LIDIA: It's, it's a sanctuary.

>> It's a sanctuary.

It's a place for them to... recover from the traumas that they've experienced.

>> LIDIA: Absolutely.

Going into nature, with nature, with water, and, of course, knowing that they're so welcome.

(voiceover): When I visited the lake house, which Polina stayed in a while, it reminded me of our first house when we came as immigrants in New Jersey.

I looked around, and I said, okay, this is our house.

I couldn't wait for everybody to leave, so I can close the door, so we can be together as a family.

♪ ♪ >> Private sponsorship is when communities, Americans, do the work of helping to welcome and resettle newcomers.

>> LIDIA: Like I had when I was an immigrant.

>> That's right.

>> LIDIA: Okay.

The people who showed up with dishes and ta... and chairs and silverware for you, this is exactly the work of welcoming.

It's... >> LIDIA (voiceover): I sat down with Nazanin Ash, the executive director of Welcome.US, a non-profit that connects refugees from a growing number of countries and private sponsors.

>> Multiple national security agencies are involved in conducting the security and background checks for the newcomers who come here.

So, this map here represents our federal government refugee resettlement system.

These dots are what happened when we went to Americans and asked them if they wanted to be part of welcoming.

That's what this map is.

>> LIDIA: Well.

>> It's everyone who said yes.

♪ ♪ >> LIDIA: I'm invited to a dinner to honor the Ukrainians and the community that has helped them.

In typical South Carolina fashion, it's a low-country boil.

>> Uh, thank you so much for coming.

Everyone here is either a Ukrainian newcomer to our community, or you are people that have played a critical part in welcoming everyone here.

This is our good Southern Hartsville welcome to Lidia.

(applause) Would you like to start us off?

>> LIDIA: Would I!

(laughter) So I take a little bit of everything.

>> A little bit of everything.

>> Whatever makes you happy.

>> Whatever you want.

>> LIDIA (voiceover): After meeting all these people, I had this kind of warm sensation, how the whole community has opened its door.

It's really willing to accept these immigrants.

>> It's a population of 8,000 in Hartsville, South Carolina.

But suddenly this community has now sponsored four other families.

It's amazing.

(Polina speaking Ukrainian) >> LIDIA: I remember vividly from my mother and father, we would go to bed, they would whisper.

And sometimes my mother would even cry.

Did we make the right choice?

Are we going to be okay?

Are the kids going to be fine?

Can they make their life into this new world?

>> He doesn't want to go back to Ukraine.

But just for the future, maybe, after a while, we just get home.

(children playing) The goal is, is not really certain.

(children playing, whistle blows) Now I just want him safe, peaceful, healthy life.

(children talking and laughing) (whistle tweets) ♪ ♪ >> LIDIA: I travel next to Reynoldsburg, Ohio, where I meet Bhuwan Pyakurel.

(chanting in Nepali) >> (speaking Nepali) Every day we have to bow down before the Mother Earth to thank her for giving this opportunity to live and grow.

And, "I'm just putting my feet on you, please forgive me."

That's the beginning of every single day in our faith system.

I was born in Bhutan and grew up there until I was in the third grade.

(bell jingling) My parents were forced out of our country.

One of the reasons they're forced out of our country was our faith.

(Bhuwan chanting) >> LIDIA: Bhuwan was nine years old when his family fled Bhutan.

He spent the next 18 years in refugee camps in Nepal.

(Bhuwan chanting) >> Namaste, Lidia.

Please come in.

>> LIDIA: Namaste.

Thank you.

Thank you for inviting me in your home.

>> Oh, not a problem.

Thank you.

Thank you for coming in.

>> LIDIA: How wonderful.

(voiceover): Bhuwan and his wife Dil have invited me for dinner.

Hi.

How you doing?

>> Good.

>> LIDIA: Hi.

>> So, here's my wife, Dil.

>> LIDIA: Hi, Dil.

>> Hi.

>> LIDIA: Pleasure meeting you.

>> Neha is my brother's wife.

>> LIDIA: Namaste.

>> Namaste.

>> LIDIA: Pleasure.

Both Bhuwan and Dil grew up as refugees.

>> Bhutan is a Buddhist country.

We were Hindus.

Before the politics of the king came, Hindus and Buddhists are very similar, even now it's very, very similar.

But, at that time, we were discriminated against our faith.

(pan sizzling) >> So, this cumin seed, we add it to every, like, curry, soup, everything.

>> LIDIA (voiceover): They went to school, got married, and even had their first child all while living in refugee camps.

>> Add this, uh, turmeric.

>> LIDIA: Turmeric.

(voiceover): A refugee is that uncertainty, is a sense of losing everything that you were, that you had, and waiting for a future, looking forward, hoping that it will happen.

But to spend 18 years in camp, that's a long time.

You don't put any water or anything in there?

>> I'll add a little bit.

Not that much.

>> LIDIA: Oh, okay.

Now, I heard you met your husband in camp.

>> He talked with his parents, like, "I saw this girl.

Is it time for her to marry?"

>> LIDIA: So it was, he knew what he wanted, eh?

He knew what he wanted.

>> (laughing): Yeah.

>> LIDIA: By your smile, I can tell you're still in love.

>> Yeah.

>> LIDIA: Yeah?

That's nice.

That's nice.

♪ ♪ >> Pretty much everything that happened in the refugee camp with the hope that one day we'll go back to our country of origin, to Bhutan.

That was the hope every single day for every single refugees in the camp, they would like to go back to Bhutan.

>> LIDIA: But they've never been allowed to return.

And when the United Nations began resettling Bhutanese refugees in 2009, Dil and Bhuwan were sent to Colorado.

>> When you apply to the UNHCR to be resettled, we don't have choice, we don't know which country will be chosen.

They gave us a map, United States map.

And, in the middle of the U.S., there's a square.

And we are shown a arrow, pointing to the square.

So, when we are leaving, what we are thinking, we are going to a square.

That's all the knowledge I had.

>> LIDIA: They arrived in the United States with nine dollars, and Bhuwan went to work immediately.

>> We were there on a Thursday night.

Saturday morning, I was working in a 7-Eleven.

I used to work for 18 hours a day in the beginning.

And... (laughs) now, I realize that I was not paid properly.

I was not given a dime of overtime.

>> LIDIA: Bhuwan eventually got a job helping new refugees.

>> I loved that job.

One of the biggest thing was providing transportation to the newly arrived refugees in the school system.

Now, I'm so happy to tell you that, even now, the transportation we... which we initiated has still been there, and those parents are, uh, enjoying the benefit.

>> LIDIA: It is common in immigrants to want to be accepted, build their future, but also the responsibility of giving back.

♪ ♪ The ability to affect change reinforced Bhuwan's desire to become a citizen of the United States.

(Bhuwan chanting) Bhuwan and Dil moved to Ohio to be closer to family and began the process of applying for citizenship.

>> Being a citizen is the highest honor that anybody has.

>> LIDIA: That's a lot.

Thank you.

>> There's nothing which is more important than being a citizen of this country.

>> LIDIA: At a ceremony in September of 2015, Bhuwan became a United States citizen.

>> This is my neighbor.

This is my... For me, the moment I entered in that courtroom, I do remember, I was... (takes deep breath) because that's the beginning of my life.

I was born that day.

We were told that, as a citizen of this newest country, you have two important duties and responsibilities.

I told myself that, "Yes, I will do these two things."

One is to vote, another was run for office.

♪ ♪ >> LIDIA: Four years later, Bhuwan ran for city council in Reynoldsburg.

>> I became the first Bhutanese immigrant to be elected in public office in the United States.

And today I'm serving this country as a council member in the city of Reynoldsburg.

>> LIDIA: Wow.

This is an achievement.

This is beautiful.

From a young immigrant, from a country that ousted you.

And now you are member of... >> The city council.

>> LIDIA: The city council.

And this is the chambers of the city council?

How impressive is that?

How does that make you feel?

>> I'm thankful for this nation.

Whenever I think this, I become so emotional.

But, at the same time, I'm grateful, thankful for this country for giving me a second chance.

I was a refugee, considered as a worthless person, and this country chose me to give me a place in this nation.

Not only a physical place, but also the right that I can exercise and make this country better every day.

That's an opportunity given to me by this nation.

>> LIDIA: All right.

Turn a little bit towards me.

I want this one.

Let's see.

Let me get your name.

There we are.

Oh, how handsome we look.

All right.

(camera clicks) ♪ ♪ >> LIDIA: Next, I travel to Louisville, Kentucky, home to one of the largest populations of Cuban immigrants in America.

I stop in Havana Rumba, the first Cuban restaurant to open here.

Wow.

Look at this.

This is like in Cuba, in Havana.

>> Yeah.

Welcome to Havana, to Havana Rumba.

It's a pleasure to have you here, Lidia.

>> LIDIA (voiceover): I meet owner Marcos Lorenzo and a business partner, Carlos Wehby.

I'm so excited.

I'm excited-- you know, I've been to Cuba, and I've been to Havana, but I'm so excited to get to know more about the culture, the food, the flavors, how to make it, and you, as a successful immigrant.

You have a lot of decoration here, a lot of art here.

>> Yes.

I mean, all the painting, it was, uh, it was brought from, from Cuba.

So, every time I went to see my mom back to Cuba, I was, little by little, bringing some art, decoration, uh, little statues and drums... >> LIDIA: Ah.

>> I can bring that feeling to a restaurant.

>> LIDIA: So, opening the restaurant, I know, as in my case, is extending, is extending that welcome to the people that have, in a sense, adopted you, who had welcomed-- in this case, the American public.

And I felt that with Marcos.

♪ ♪ Marcos, I'm in the kitchen with you.

(voiceover): He offers to show me how to make ropa vieja, a traditional Cuban dish.

So how is the beginning?

I'm gonna-- I'm gonna steal this recipe from you.

How's that?

>> Of course, yeah.

You can have it.

It's very easy.

I mean, you just break it apart like... Like this.

>> LIDIA: Mm-hmm.

>> And if you see, you see?

I mean, and this-- this is what you do.

We gonna make, what we call in Cuba, sofrito... >> LIDIA: That looks almost Italian.

>> Yes, it is Italian.

It's a, it's a wine and tomatoes with onion, peppers, garlic, oregano.

>> LIDIA (voiceover): Marcos had been a civil engineer in Cuba.

So, now, what is the first step?

>> So, let's just start with this.

I came to United States when I was 29 years old.

Escaping communism, looking for opportunities.

In a communist country, it doesn't matter if you work more or less, you are more productive or not, there's no difference.

You're going to get the same pay that your coworkers.

Olives goes next.

>> LIDIA: Okay.

The aromatics, the garlic.

(voiceover): When he came to Louisville, he had to start over.

You can't think about going back to college and study again and re-validate your degree.

No, I mean, you have to work.

>> LIDIA: The cumin.

>> Yes.

Cumin... >> LIDIA: And then... (in unison): Oregano.

>> LIDIA: And then the... >> And the seasoning.

>> LIDIA: The Cuban magic.

>> Cuban magic here.

>> LIDIA (voiceover): Many a time in the restaurant business, immigrants would come, and I couldn't help myself, I said, "But you're overqualified for that job."

And I remember those looks that said, "Just give me a chance.

I want to work.

I want to start someplace."

>> Next thing we do goes the beef right now.

>> LIDIA: The beef.

>> (voiceover): When I start working in the restaurant, I promised myself that I'm gonna be the best at whatever I do.

I start as a server, and it was good money, quick money.

And in less than a year, I was already an assistant manager.

And I end up being like a general manager.

♪ ♪ (indistinct chatter) I saw that if I work really hard, I get to advance, I get to move forward, I get to grow.

>> LIDIA: Did you say pepper?

>> Perfect pepper.

>> LIDIA: Where did you learn to cook?

>> Um, first, my mom is a cook, a professional cook.

That's what she did.

She taught me a lot.

And when I came to United States, when I get into the restaurant business, I mean, I have no other choices than, uh, grow my kitchens, and, uh... >> LIDIA: Get in... >> But it is fun.

It is fun.

I love it.

>> LIDIA: After working his way up, he decided to take a chance on opening his own restaurant.

>> Every single credit card, every saving, everything we had we putting into the restaurant business.

Next goes the tomato, the sofrito.

>> LIDIA: The sofrito.

Okay.

>> (voiceover): The bank didn't want to lend us any money, because when they look at our credit history, everything was to the max.

They're like, "Wait a minute, this is too risky."

>> LIDIA (voiceover): Being accepted as an immigrant, it's not always roses.

As long as you get a chance to put your foot in the door, hopefully show how good you are and ultimately maybe, uh, earn that position.

The being an immigrant, yes, you're given an opportunity.

But, let me tell you, you had to work at it.

And you worked the 18 hours.

>> Yes.

Restaurant is hard work.

Sometime I have friends that they're saying, "I'm gonna retire and open a restaurant."

I'm like, "No!

Don't do that, please."

>> LIDIA: Don't do that.

♪ ♪ >> LIDIA: Havana Rumba opened in 2004.

Marcos has opened three more restaurants since.

For Cubans, going out, doing anything is always gonna be related also to music.

We have live music every day at all the locations.

(man singing) I'm bringing a little bit of my country to the people's table.

>> LIDIA (voiceover): In a way, it's like inviting somebody in your home.

You're sharing who you are, uh, with them, and you want them to become part of that.

Marcos and I joined his family and the family of another Cuban immigrant, Jorge Castellanos, for dinner.

When Jorge tells me that he plays traditional Cuban music, I can't resist asking him to play for me.

Salute!

(everyone cheers) To really get into a culture, of course, is to eat their food, but also the songs.

So, to really understand a culture, I'll eat their food and listen to their music.

>> My favorite music in Cuba is, uh, bolero.

My dad loved bolero, the music... >> LIDIA: Boleros.

I love boleros.

Can I hear one?

>> Okay.

Absolutely.

♪ ♪ >> ♪ No te asombres si te digo lo que fuiste ♪ >> LIDIA (voiceover): Bolero is considered one of the most important expressions of Cuba's cultural identity.

>> ♪ Y por estas cosas raras de la vida ♪ >> LIDIA: The folk songs of a culture will tell you about what was important.

Stories of hardship and sometimes of pleasure.

Music, for me, is an integral part of my culture.

In the kitchen, if there's a nice song, uh, on the radio or whatever, or I put the Italian music on, I join in.

He ends with perhaps Cuba's most famous folk song.

>> BOTH: ♪ Guajira Guantanamera ♪ >> Very good.

>> LIDIA: Bravo.

Thank you.

♪ ♪ Next, I travel west to California's Central Valley.

Thousands of immigrants from the Punjab region of India have moved here.

Many have settled into traditional Punjab occupations of farming and trucking.

>> Lidia.

Namaste.

Welcome.

>> LIDIA: Oh, namaste.

>> Welcome, welcome.

>> LIDIA: Thank you for having me.

Thank you.

>> You're welcome.

You're welcome.

>> LIDIA: So this is it?

>> This is it.

Punjabi Dhaba.

That's our menu.

>> LIDIA: That's the menu.

>> Yes, please.

Punjabi means North Indian, people from Punjab, and dhaba is a roadside food in India, like on the highway side.

>> LIDIA: Hi.

How you doing?

>> A small setup with the food for the truckers.

>> LIDIA: Looking forward.

And the trucks just pull in there.

>> Yes.

>> LIDIA: But also the local people now found out about you, huh?

>> Yes.

Local people come.

>> LIDIA: Okay.

>> People from Bay Area, LA comes, San Diego all over, all over America come.

>> LIDIA: Once a trucker himself, Balvinder tells me that trucking is a common profession in the Punjab region.

>> Truck driving is a lot of hard work.

>> The truck driving job is hard, but they have a freedom.

>> LIDIA: Mm-hmm.

>> North Indians need freedom.

>> LIDIA: But it's a good beginning into your own little business.

>> Yes.

>> LIDIA: Okay.

>> This is my kitchen.

>> LIDIA: Wow.

So, tell me, who are these women?

She is Beant Kaur, she works for us... from Punjab.

The long one is from Hariana, Mukesh Bala.

>> LIDIA: Hi.

>> She works for us.

The tiny one is our funny manager.

>> LIDIA: The funny manager.

>> Yeah, very funny.

>> LIDIA: Tough, huh?

>> Tough and funny.

>> LIDIA: Okay.

Good, good.

>> She's our Mata.

We call it Mother.

>> LIDIA: Mata.

Mother.

Good.

>> Mata.

Yeah.

>> LIDIA: Good, good.

>> She's my mother, all the way sitting inside.

>> LIDIA: Hi, Mom.

And that's the boss.

>> Yeah, that... >> LIDIA: The wife is the boss.

Hi.

How you doing?

>> The wife is taking orders.

(laughs) >> LIDIA: Okay, okay.

>> When I was driving truck, the biggest problem was the food.

Food is not good.

I have my food for six, seven days.

I take it from home.

>> LIDIA: He quit and decided to open his roadside stand to help other truckers eat better.

>> LIDIA: So, what are you making?

>> I'm making the paneer stuffing for the paratha.

>> LIDIA: The paratha.

What's the paratha?

>> Paratha is a stuffed bread of North India.

This is the onions.

>> LIDIA: Ooh, a lot of onions.

>> Yeah.

Onion is the main source of North Indians.

>> LIDIA: And what are you putting in there now?

>> Green chili.

>> LIDIA: Green chili?

>> Yeah.

>> LIDIA: Black pepper?

>> Yeah.

>> LIDIA (voiceover): He learned to cook from the women around him.

You measure like I do, like this.

>> Yeah.

We have a traditional village-style making system.

There's the black salt.

>> LIDIA: Mm-hmm.

>> In restaurant, you go, you get naans, and all these things are fast, but the stuffed bread, or the stuff we do, is a slow cooking.

This is garam masala.

>> LIDIA: There's 40 spices in here.

>> Yeah.

Many.

Each paratha will take four to five minutes.

We don't do shortcuts.

>> LIDIA: And now you're going to put in?

>> Paneer.

Cottage cheese.

>> LIDIA: Paneer.

Cottage cheese.

>> Yeah.

Shredded.

>> LIDIA: It's a fresh cheese, A young cheese.

>> Yeah.

Yes.

>> Looks good, right?

(laughs) It's a wonderful place to eat Punjabi food.

We have traveled from Bay Area to have it.

(laughs) >> LIDIA (voiceover): Cultures find their niche and go back to their culture, what they were, and reenact, redevelop, restart a setting like they remember at home.

>> LIDIA: Thank you.

Thank you.

Looks very good.

(voiceover): He wants me to try a bit of everything.

All right, good.

So, where do we start?

Aloo paratha, paneer paratha, Malai kofta.

This has nuts in it.

>> LIDIA: Okay.

>> It's a nutty, nutty gravy.

With nuts.

>> LIDIA: I don't know where to go first.

>> Put rice on the lentil.

>> LIDIA: Put the rice on the lentil?

>> Yeah.

>> LIDIA: Okay.

Can I break it?

>> Yeah, you can break it.

>> LIDIA: Like that?

>> Yes.

>> LIDIA: I'm following you.

>> Welcome.

We are-- we eat mostly with hands.

>> LIDIA: With hands.

Good.

>> Yeah.

I... we eat like this.

>> LIDIA: And the yogurt you put here?

>> Whatever way you like it.

Yeah.

>> LIDIA: Like this.

Mm.

This is good.

>> Bread, roti, paratha, or rice.

Whatever way you like it.

>> LIDIA: Okay.

You are a relentless entrepreneur.

But, you know, that's the quality of a lot of immigrants that come to the United States.

Because the United States, if you are willing to do it, to make it happen, gives you the opportunity.

>> I have been to all over the world.

People who lives here don't know the value of the freedom in America.

Once you go all over the world, and then you sit, and then you will realize America is the best place.

♪ ♪ >> LIDIA: After lunch, I head out with Pawan Gill, whose father and uncles settled here to farm.

>> Punjab in India, it is the breadbasket of India.

For Punjabis, farming, agriculture, it is a part of our DNA.

So, the Central Valley becomes a complete extension of that.

To the left, that's actually one of my uncle's farms.

This is Nuvjug Farms.

>> LIDIA: We stop in the small community of Delano, where Pawan's cousin Sukhpal is getting the almond trees ready for winter.

(machine whirs) >> This is one of the critical times of the year where we got to get all the old material off the trees.

Because they have worms in 'em.

It's called navel orangeworm.

See, there's the worm in there that we're trying to get.

>> LIDIA: Ah!

That's the worm.

>> Yep.

That's what we're doing the winter sanitation for.

>> LIDIA: This is all almonds, huh?

>> Correct.

>> LIDIA: So, how many acres do you have?

>> 700 acres.

>> LIDIA: 700 acres, Mamma mia.

(laughter) That's a lot of almonds, huh?

Sukhpal's father, Surinderpal, moved here in 1975.

>> Up in the old country, where we don't have m-- We were eight brothers.

So the land was, like, 40 acres of land.

We'll get with, like, five acre each.

So, that wasn't enough.

>> LIDIA: His oldest brother came to California in 1954 to attend an agricultural college.

Surinderpal and five of his brothers followed.

>> When I got here, my brothers helped me, and then after that was just work, work, work.

>> LIDIA: A lot of work, huh?

>> (laughing): Yeah.

>> A lot of work and risk-taking.

>> LIDIA: A lot of... >> A lot of work, a little bit of risk taking.

>> LIDIA: Okay.

>> You got to take those risks once in a while.

>> They had a limited land holding in India, and, so, America offered a lot of opportunity.

When you come here, you look around, and it looks like Punjab.

It feels like Punjab.

It's a very agricultural-based economy and culture.

And so that is something that really felt like a slice of home for everyone.

>> LIDIA: How far back did the Punjab community begin to set roots here, to stay here?

>> Oh, I'll say 100 years.

>> LIDIA: 100 years?

So, this still exists here, this community... >> Yes.

Yes, still exists.

>> LIDIA: And you welcome new immigrants actually you encourage.

>> Yeah, we get call from a friend or from a family, "Hey, somebody coming.

You know, help him, receive him, find him a job."

>> LIDIA: I couldn't help but relating that to the Italian immigrants when they first came.

One pulls the other and grows as a community, as an ethnic community.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ So what happens here?

>> So in here, uh, we size, sort and clean up almonds.

>> LIDIA: Pawan introduces me to the Toor family, who own a nearby processing and packaging plant called Custom Almonds.

>> This is the sorting machine.

>> LIDIA: And what does it do, and how does it do it?

>> So, it consists a bunch of cameras.

So, it looks at good and bad almonds.

And it can spit out all the bad almonds or any foreign material.

>> As the almonds are falling down, as quickly as they're falling, the, the camera will tell the computer there's a bad almond falling right there.

The computer will calculate, okay, the almond is falling this fast.

We're gonna shoot out a burst of air to catch it and knock it out into the bad pile.

>> LIDIA: You're kidding.

The computer reacts.

(voiceover): After 100 years of farming in the Central Valley, Punjab families have made a remarkable progression from laborers to owners and, for some, distributors.

>> So my dad, when he was about eight years old, uh, he came over to America, he would have to go work in the fields before and after school as a laborer.

They grew up very poor.

So, the computer does a pretty good job, but to finally put our stamp on it, we have to have our people.

>> LIDIA: The human stamp on it.

>> Yeah, yeah.

>> LIDIA: Good.

Great.

What was amazing about the Punjab community and the amount of almonds that they grow is that they have the different steps of the chain to the finished product.

The whole process of developing the raw product is where the profit lays.

So this is a lot of almonds.

>> Yeah.

Yeah, this is where we hold 'em until we get our orders from our buyers, who will come... >> LIDIA: The Toor family now packages 13 million pounds of almonds per year.

As the Punjab-American community has grown more visible, the newer generations feel free to be both American and Indian.

>> I don't really feel like we've left Punjab behind, as far away as it might be.

>> We get to live the best of both worlds.

We fully celebrate our Punjabi heritage, and we're fully American as well.

So, it's just a beautiful thing.

>> LIDIA: Yeah.

It's richness.

I always say, I said, I have the two best-- now you're going to have your own-- I have the two best cultures in the world: Italian and American.

How can you go wrong?

Okay, so you have Punjabi and American.

It's okay.

I'll... >> Well, the best thing is, here in America, we can celebrate everyone's culture.

>> LIDIA: Exactly.

Exactly.

So proud.

So wonderful to see the success of both of you, And welcome.

Welcome to the family.

I'm going to welcome you.

(laughter) >> Thank you.

>> LIDIA: And keep on growing.

♪ ♪ I head to Houston to visit Christine Hà, a self-taught chef who was a contestant on "MasterChef" season three.

>> And Christine, a 32-year-old creative writing student from Houston, Texas.

>> LIDIA: Christine wowed America as she served up intricate dishes, all while cooking blind.

>> ...authentic Asian flavors and techniques.

>> LIDIA: For the final dish, she made a Vietnamese meal her mother often cooked... and won.

Today she's taking me to see the progress of an expansion of her first restaurant.

So, it's exciting, huh, Christine?

>> It is, uh, finally to have a new build-out, so everything will be new inside here.

This was an office space before... (voiceover): I'm best known for being the blind cook that won "MasterChef" season three.

I am a chef and owner of two restaurants in Houston, The Blind Goat and Xin Chao, which are both modern Vietnamese restaurants.

Stepping in, so please be careful.

>> LIDIA: This looks like a pretty big place here.

>> It is.

It's 3,300 square feet.

So, much bigger than the original 400 square feet that The Blind Goat is in.

And it was... >> LIDIA (voiceover): Christine's parents fled Vietnam in 1975.

(helicopter blades whirring) >> They escaped Saigon the day before it fell to the North.

I remember hearing stories about how they ran to the naval ship port because they knew the U.S. naval ships were pulling out.

And so they were able to get onto a ship, and then went out to sea.

>> LIDIA: They started over in America, where Christine was born a few years later.

>> Growing up, I was the kid that would go to school sometimes with the egg rolls or meat braised in fish sauce.

And so it was very smelly, nothing cool.

At home, I was never Vietnamese enough.

And, at school, I was never American enough.

So, it was a constant struggle.

When people eat here, I want them to feel like they're eating in Vietnam.

So, over here, there's a big bar that will seat plenty of people I know they're putting in here.

And we're moving this front door over to, that will be now the front door.

And then the kitchen space will be in the back.

>> LIDIA: Okay.

You have a good sense of orientation.

I guess you need it.

>> Somewhat.

Yes.

(laughter) Christine invited me to her house to cook.

>> Welcome to my home kitchen, Lidia.

>> LIDIA: Christine, thank you very much for inviting me.

I'm so excited.

I really am.

What are we cooking?

What are you going to teach me?

>> I'm going to make thit kho, a braised pork belly dish.

So we've got the ingredients here.

It was probably the dish that I felt my mom cooked the most because it used not a lot of ingredients, very inexpensive ingredients.

>> LIDIA: This is... has a lot of, a lot of heartfelt memories for you.

>> It does.

It's a very much a comfort dish.

>> LIDIA: Because you did lose your mother when you were young.

>> Yes.

I lost my mom at 14, and she never taught me how to cook.

>> LIDIA: Uh!

>> And this was probably one of the first dishes that I was able to recreate that reminded me of her.

And, and so it keeps the memory of my mom alive in the kitchen.

(voiceover): After my mom died, I really did miss the foods that I grew up eating and so it's been kind of my lifelong mission since then to preserve her memory and her food through the dishes that I cook.

So, grabbing the pot... ♪ ♪ we're going to traditionally braise this dish the way my mom did it.

Lidia, if you could put the pork in that pot.

>> LIDIA: Put the pork in... (voiceover): As a child, you know, getting up in the morning and smelling the aromas coming into your room from Mom or Grandma cooking downstairs, she recaptured all of that sensibility and security and belonging by cooking the food of her mother.

>> I will chop some shallot.

>> LIDIA: How amazing.

You, you feel exactly where you're going?

>> Knife safety I think is the same regardless of if you have vision or not, so you... but, um, it would be kind of funny if, uh, because I'm nervous that you're in my kitchen today and about to taste my food, that this is the one day I, like, cut my finger off.

(voiceover): Around the same time I started loving to cook and trying to learn everything I could about cooking was the time that I started losing vision first in one of my eyes.

>> LIDIA: She lost her vision in a slow progression due to a rare autoimmune disease.

Every time I would lose more and more vision, I would have to teach myself again, starting from the very basics, how to cook.

Coming here, Vietnamese people didn't have access to fresh coconut, or they couldn't afford it, so we would use coconut soda.

>> LIDIA: So that's what your mother did.

>> My mom used coconut soda.

>> LIDIA: All of it?

Should I put... >> All of it.

Yes.

>> LIDIA: Yeah.

Okay.

>> I had to depend less and less on my sight and more on my remaining senses.

My hearing, my smell, my taste, all of these senses became much more important.

Oh, I can hear it boiling now.

If you hear, if you're silent... >> LIDIA: Yeah.

It's foaming... >> Yeah.

>> LIDIA: It's foaming all around.

Yeah.

I think you could use a mix.

>>Yeah.

I'm gonna give it a quick stir, but I'm trying to be careful not to break the eggs and stuff.

>> LIDIA: Sure.

>> And then I will, uh, cover-- we'll turn the heat down, 'cause I definitely know it's boiling now.

>> LIDIA: Okay.

>> And then we'll... turn it down to a simmer.

Let it braise for a couple hours.

>> LIDIA: She would listen at the crackle, at the boil in the pot and she would know at which point that food, that dish is.

If you're missing one, then you supplement with another sense.

So how would you begin?

Rice and egg or... >> Just dig in like any-- I think try to get a little bit of everything in, in your bite.

>> LIDIA: Okay.

>> So, definitely, because the pork is salty and rich, like, you want rice to kind of help mellow it out.

The egg will add a little bit of-- more of that fat texture.

>> LIDIA: Okay.

Okay.

Mm.

Really good.

Christine, thank you very much for having me in your kitchen, for teaching me this great dish.

And, uh, we should cook some more together.

>> Thank you, Lidia.

It was my honor to have you in my kitchen.

>> LIDIA: Next time... >> Yep?

>> LIDIA: You come to my kitchen and I teach some Italian dish?

>> Sure.

It'll be my honor.

>> My pleasure, thank you.

>> Thank you.

♪ ♪ >> LIDIA: Christine's second restaurant, Xin Chao, embraces both her Vietnamese and Texas roots.

>> I feel happy when people come to me and said, "You know, I'd never tried Vietnamese food before, and then I saw you make it on television.

It looked good so I had to try for myself."

This dish we're adding onto the menu.

So this is the Vietnamese yogurt.

So have a taste on that.

And ask me any questions if you have questions on that.

Can you, uh, feed me?

Just feed me.

>> This is a big bite.

>> All right.

Mm!

It's nice.

I approve.

(voiceover): I wanted to take the foods and the flavors I loved of Vietnamese food growing up and putting in my own sensibility as a Vietnamese American having grown up in Texas, putting all of these parts of my identity into the menu.

Taking a lot of traditional dishes of Vietnam and adding Texas barbecue elements or Tex-Mex to it.

For me, being able to take these dishes that were once uncool and unpopular and the things that I would take to school and get laughed at or teased about, and now being able to introduce it onto the menu at my restaurants and having people excited to try it is the ultimate accomplishment.

♪ ♪ >> LIDIA: After visiting with Christine, I head across town to pick up a traditional Afghan meal.

(sizzling) One of America's most diverse cities, Houston has become home to more than 20,000 Afghans and has led the nation in resettling Afghan refugees since the fall of Kabul.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

(voiceover): Khalil Arab wanted to cook for me, but when I learned he had a newborn at home, I offered to bring some of the food.

My grandmother would make pots of chicken soup and then homemade pasta, and that was what we took when we went visiting a new mother with a new child.

So food is always the connecting communicator.

>> Hi.

>> LIDIA: Hey.

Hello.

>> Hi, this is Darya.

>> LIDIA: Oh, Darya, how are you doing?

>> This is Lidia.

>> LIDIA: Got food!

>> Oh, thank you.

Come on in.

>> LIDIA: Dinner!

All right.

>> It's going to be daddy's girl.

(Darya babbling) (voiceover): If I would tell my late mom that I'm having guests coming to my house and bringing food, she will frown.

>> LIDIA: This is the... >> So it's an Afghan flatbread.

(voiceover): Afghan hospitality would not allow that to happen.

It's a very extraordinary circumstance.

I hope that this will be the closest representation of a homemade meal.

>> LIDIA: Khalil tells me that in Afghanistan, it is customary to invite travelers into your home for tea or a meal.

>> The crown jewel of the table.

It's a Afghan, very typical Afghan/Herati salad.

Ferra, my wife made it.

>> LIDIA: Ah, Ferra.

>> Yes.

>> LIDIA: That's wonderful.

>> So you can start with, uh, bolani.

>> LIDIA: Can I take some vegetables?

>> Absolutely.

You can take some of the sabse.

(speaking Dari) literally means "buon appetito."

>> LIDIA: All right.

>> In our culture, food is everything.

You put a plate of food on a table, and you put three people together, and then you realize there's so much similarities than there are differences.

>> LIDIA: In Italian we do a salute.

Is there such thing in Afghan?

>> Nooshe.

>> LIDIA: Nooshe.

Okay, Nooshe.

Thank you for having me in your home.

>> Thanks for h... thanks for being here.

We're very happy to have you.

♪ ♪ >> LIDIA: Khalil's life changed dramatically when the Taliban came into power when he was a teenager.

>> They start ruling with this very conservative interpretation of Islam, where people basically were stripped of their basic human rights.

>> LIDIA: When the American military intervened to help overthrow the Taliban a few years later, he signed up to help.

>> I signed a contract as an interpreter because it was the only time I was able to contribute in building the Afghanistan that I was actually wishing to have.

And I decided to take that chance because I wanted to be part of that moment.

It was a dangerous job from the day one, but I did not know that it will cost me and my family down the road.

>> LIDIA: Taliban fighters left him a threatening letter at his parents' house.

>> There was a price tag on my head.

They would definitely get me.

Um, the letter was just an excuse like, "We told you so."

He reached out to a Polish tourist he'd invited into his home years before for help.

>> I had a friend in Poland who I befriended back in 2004.

He was a backpacker.

I just did what every Afghan would do.

I offered him a cup of tea in our house.

That was the start of a friendship that really saved my life.

>> LIDIA: His friend helped Khalil escape to Europe, where he lived until relocating to the United States.

(horns honking) (people cheering) When Kabul fell to the Taliban in 2021, Khalil watched from here in Houston.

>> Right after the fall of Kabul, I just started getting calls from all over Afghanistan.

People asking for help to get out of Afghanistan.

Millions of family just like mine were just being torn apart.

(airplane engine whirring) >> LIDIA: A few days later, he received devastating news.

>> My own mother had a heart attack and a stroke two days after the Taliban took over Kabul.

(catches his breath) And then she passed away six weeks after that.

We never actually even had a chance to mourn for her properly, because we couldn't go back to Afghanistan.

And I realize I can sit down and moan and, and... cry and, and do whatever I, I want.

Or...

I can turn this pain and, and, you know, make something... meaningful out of it.

♪ ♪ >> LIDIA: Since the death of his mother, Khalil has turned his attention to helping the thousands of Afghans fleeing the Taliban to rebuild their lives.

In four months after fall of Kabul, Houston received almost 5,200 people evacuated by the U.S. government.

All the resettlement agencies were overwhelmed.

>> LIDIA: Many of the evacuees had worked for the U.S. military and have received special immigrant visas, or S.I.V.s, just like Khalil.

At Combined Arms, a veteran's service organization, Khalil helps them through the resettlement process.

Today he's taking a computer to a newly arrived S.I.V.

family.

>> Sorry, my truck is old, so I got to unlock it from inside.

>> LIDIA: Okay.

>> Welcome.

>> LIDIA: Thank you!

This is Texas style, eh?

>> Oh, yeah.

>> LIDIA: Khalil has put thousands of miles on his truck crisscrossing Houston.

He welcomes these newcomers with open arms, offering them a friend to call and a community to rely on.

>> So, today we're going to go to a family who just arrived to the United States probably three weeks ago.

>> LIDIA: Wow.

>> It's a family of seven, and they reached out and say, "Hey, we are just new.

Can you help us?"

And so, I'm going to take a computer for them.

It's just a, it's a gift, but I'm going to sit down with them and talk to them and see what is they need, and how I and my program can help them.

>> LIDIA: That's wonderful.

>> Salaam alaikum.

(speaking Dari) >> LIDIA: Salaam alaikum.

>> (speaking Dari) (voiceover): You need a roof on your head.

You need food on your table.

And you need a community.

If it wasn't for that networking, I wouldn't be even sitting here today.

And if I can do that to make their integration process easier, I think my mission is accomplished.

>> LIDIA: And how do you say "good luck" in Afghan?

>> (speaking Dari) >> (speaking Dari) >> LIDIA: (repeating phrase in Dari) >> Yeah.

>> LIDIA: Okay.

>> You nailed it!

(laughter) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> LIDIA: On my journey this year, I've met immigrants all around the country.

>> Looks good, right?

>> LIDIA: Tasted the flavors of the culinary patchwork of this nation and learned about the many ways to be an American.

The ability to meld together all these parts of our identities is inspiring to me, and I wanted to experience more.

So I traveled to our nation's capital, home to more than one- and-a-half million immigrants, to sample even more cuisines with a potluck-style dinner at a restaurant called Immigrant Food.

New friends offer to share the dishes that are meaningful to them.

Flavors from Africa.

>> My name is Eric Adjepong, and I brought chichinga.

It is the national dish from Ghana.

>> My name is Toyin Alli, and I brought chicken and beef sausage gumbo, which blends my heritage: Nigerian and Southern roots.

>> LIDIA: The Middle East.

>> My name is Kazi Mannan.

I brought this wonderful dish of lentil called daal tarka in India and Pakistan.

>> I'm Nazanin Ash, and I've made Persian baklava.

>> LIDIA: South America.

>> My name is Mile Montezuma, and I brought Venezuelan ceviche.

>> LIDIA: Asia.

>> My name is Kevin Tien.

I brought scallion biscuits because it's a true representation of South Louisiana and South Vietnam.

>> LIDIA: And the Caribbean.

>> My name is Jeanine Prime.

I'm from Trinidad and Tobago.

I brought paratha bread with curries.

>> LIDIA: I, of course, brought an Italian dish, escarole fagioli soup.

Bean soup.

It's our family favorite, and I know everybody will love it at today's table.

Buongiorno.

Welcome.

Welcome to this wonderful table of the world.

♪ ♪ (voiceover): Thinking about the cultures that I visited and then the cultures at the table, it just gave me this wide view, shall I say, of, of America.

And thank to each one of you for bringing your culture, your food, your flavors, and your story to this table.

And it was so colorful.

So wonderful.

So many different aromas.

>> So that is a combination of, uh, potato, curry potato, and, uh, chickpeas.

>> LIDIA: All right.

And then you just kind of go in there.

>> You're eating it exactly the way you should.

>> LIDIA: Just like that.

>> We call here yellow lentil.

>> LIDIA: It has a nice spice to it.

>> So I brought my mom's recipe.

>> And we stew it down, almost like our version of a marinara sauce.

The sauce that this kebab is used with, um, is kind of like the mother sauce for us as well.

>> It's usually a street food thing that you can find at the beach.

So everyone get these and share it when they are there.

>> There's okra in there.

There's, um... >> LIDIA: They were all so excited in trying to explain to me what was in their dish.

Because the dishes that they brought, they were sentimental to them, to their story, to who they are culturally.

>> Yeah, I like to say, I'm like the Cajun Asian or Casian.

(laughter) >> LIDIA: And sharing that with all of us was quite moving.

I think I'll go for the pistachio.

(voiceover): Tasting all these things, it was like a lot of syncopation.

Bang, bang, bang, all different flavors jumping in your mouth.

It was great.

At this table, we do have the world represented.

And that's what America is all about.

It's about different cultures coming together and making this great country.

So thank you very much all for being here.

And, as we say in Italian, salute!

Cheers!

(glasses clinking) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ANNOUNCER: For recipes, video, behind-the-scenes photos and more, go to pbs.org/lidia.

"Lidia Celebrates America: Flavors That Define Us" is available on Amazon Prime Video.

♪ ♪