Yet for as long as Della Adams can remember, the combination of porridge and pickle had been her father's favorite breakfast, along with fermented tofu and fried peanuts. For her, someone who has adhered to the same menu to date, a love of Chinese food can be acquired, especially when you are married to a Chinese. Liu Linfeng, her mother, married her father on Dec 20, 1957. (Liu is known by her family and friends as Lin and referred in the book as such.)

By that time, Adams had completed his courses in Beijing and was studying Chinese literature at Wuhan University. Through some mutual friends, Liu, who taught Russian at a college in the mountainous central Chinese city, met Adams, the first black man she had ever met.

The attraction was instant. "My mother later told me that she had always wanted someone stronger and darker, although 'darker' had never meant 'black' until she met my father," Adams said.

"They shared not only a political outlook－both were leftish thinking－but also a fun-loving spirit. My mother was so free-thinking, very much a feminist and a great business person," Adams said, referring to the fact that for the three decades her parents operated restaurants in Memphis, Liu had looked after the business side of things. "My father was equally liberal about gender roles."