The founder/CEO (Chief Eating Officer) of Global Hearth, a multi-faceted business that breaks down cultural barriers through food, has launched her first cookbook. Natalie Keng’s Egg Rolls & Sweet Tea is a cookbook full of tasty Asian American and Southern fusion dishes, sauces, and drinks that home cooks will enjoy preparing and sharing. More than just recipes, it is also chock-full of entertaining tales of Natalie's childhood in the deep South and her food journey to becoming "The Sauce Maven" that make it a wonderful gift or coffee table conversation piece.
The best authentic stir-fry sauce requires a slew of fresh aromatics, but most home cooks don’t always have all the ingredients, nor time to make sauce from scratch. Natalie scoured grocery store aisles and tested dozens of sauces and dressings, but nothing satisfied her taste buds. So she created her own award-winning, premium line of Asian-inspired sauces, earning her the nickname, The Sauce Maven.
A native Atlantan, Natalie holds a Master of Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School. She is a pioneer in the area of innovative leadership development. Her Cooking Up a Better World™ platform is a unique diversity and inclusion program that promotes team building and engagement through inspiring, interactive, and impactful presentations, tours, and events.
“Whether teaching hands-on dumpling classes, leading international supermarket shopping tours, or navigating the restaurant jewels of Buford Highway, I am mindful that my role is to help break down barriers and dispel negative stereotypes through positive experiences,” says Keng, “As a leadership development diversity presenter, my goal is to leverage the power of food and culture by 'opening minds, one mouth at a time'™.”
Before starting her own business, Natalie was a strategic marketing executive at a Fortune 100 corporation and headed leadership development and diversity teams for national nonprofit organizations. She was a recipient of the Greater Women’s Business Council Trailblazer Award and was appointed to serve on the Governor's Health Task Force.
Egg Rolls & Sweet Tea is available from Global Hearth, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target and through independent booksellers. Purchases through GlobalHearth.com will support local food and health initiatives and women authors and entrepreneurs. (Share the book and sauces as unique, Georgia Grown gifts! Special rates for teams, groups, markets and fundraisers available.)
Natalie's summer notes.
Since only natural, whole ingredients went into my line of sauces, I am no stranger to the farmer’s markets in Atlanta. I love the Peachtree Road Farmers market. My go-to items include fresh okra, cabbage, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, basil, mint and, of course, peaches. I love the wild-caught Georgia white shrimp, which I cook into Seven-Spice Lemon Garlic Georgia Shrimp and serve over Savory Miso Butter Garlic Noodles, free-range pasture eggs and especially the locally harvested honey for my Fried Chicken Spring Rolls with Honey recipe. I always drop by the Garnish & Gather booth to pick up a farm-fresh meal kit, and to thank them for featuring Egg Rolls & Sweet Tea in their fall line-up of chef-driven recipes.