cubaitlubin's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
What is a national dish, in an age of increasing globalization? History, memoir, delicious food, travel, community, look to the future. Plenty of diverse histories considered, especially in th chapters on Oaxaca and Turkey. I feel the epilogue was the most powerful piece of writing for me, as the author explored the origins of borsch and to whom it "belongs". She was born in Soviet Russia, and her mom was born in Ukraine. She reckons with these questions of identity, nationality, and shifting symbolism (through borsch) as a response to Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. I think overall I'm learning I do best with food writing as text, not audio, but this was time well spent nonetheless.
purplemuskogee's review
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
3.5
Highly enjoyable, although I preferred her previous book, "Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking". This one, about national dishes, covers just a few countries, starting with France which was the one I knew best and found somewhat lacking - the dish is pot au feu, which she says has been chosen as a unifying dish but then she writes there are regional differences but she doesn't go into detail... I found the chapter on Japanese food, ramens and Gohan rice, really interesting although it doesn't really cover rice as much as ramens. The final chapter on borsch (is it Russian? Is it Ukrainian?) was excellent.
Free ARC sent by Netgalley.
Free ARC sent by Netgalley.
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