Nourishing Reads

Three beloved books about food from Nana

When I am reading a novel and the author includes a description that is food related, it goes a long way to the sensory experience of a particular story’s setting. (It can also send me into the kitchen for a snack.) As a category, books on food related topics was once on the Reading Queens challenge list and we still find a way to include memoirs by chefs and restaurateurs, and novels with a twist or recipes.

“To cook for someone is the purest expression of love” is a quote I wrote down after reading The Art of the Chicken by Jacques Pepin (pub. 2022). I have been a great fan of Pepin since his earliest TV shows, which were as much about how to show love to one another as they were about the cooking techniques and recipes.

This post, however, is about reading and The Art of the Chicken is in large part a memoir. He writes: “Childhood food memories are powerful, visceral, and remain with us forever.” And this memory of country living: “a rooster’s crowing at sunrise proclaims the triumph of light over darkness.” As he describes his childhood in Bresse, France during WWII, the story follows his learning to cook watching his mother in their family’s little restaurant. How he became a world class chef, one who has cooked for Charles de Gaulle, John F. Kennedy, and Howard Johnson, is a fascinating international account.

Throughout the book are his fanciful and brilliant paintings of chickens! And yes, he shares his wisdom on preparing various dishes. This is a book I will enjoy and keep forever.

Another book which I will keep (I just bought a copy for Erica rather than loaning her my copy) is Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts, by Crystal Wilkinson (pub. 2024). The author of this memoir teaches creative writing in the MFA program at University of Kentucky, has served as poet laureate of that state, and has won numerous awards for her writing. This is a deeply personal account of her family’s heritage from generations living in the hills of Appalachia since her earliest discovered enslaved ancestor to her present-day family. The recipes are wonderful and the story of the family’s experiences, living in this time and place, speak of the love passed down over the generations. A quote Wilkinson puts in the book was from her dear friend bel hooks: “To be loving is to be open to grief.” There is grief, yes, and there is going forward through feeling and showing love. The book’s subtitle is: “Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Cooks.”

One last title is a novel: Sourdough by Robin Sloan (pub. 2017). I borrowed the eBook from the county library’s digital service after reading descriptions using the terms fun, quirky and delightful. As I was just taking up baking with sourdough (thanks to Laura!), it caught my attention, and it did not disappoint. This is a fictional story of one person’s obsession, and I could almost relate. And there is a sort of connection in the story between the sterile work environment and use of artificial intelligence and the longing for bread from natural fermentation. Ha!