Review by Booklist Review
Nezhukumatathil's (World of Wonders, 2020) prowess as a poet infuses this unique memoir-meditation on the foods that mean the most to her. In addition to familiar U.S. fare, she walks readers through fruits exotic to North America, like mangosteen and rambutan, and foods like bangus (fish) and lumpia, common in the Philippines, where her mother hails from. Each chapter weaves facts, trivia, mythology, and personal stories together, linking Nezhukumatathil's food subjects through space and time in a meandering fashion. Her meditation on strawberries, for instance, mixes personal anecdotes about the fruit--reminding readers of the artificial strawberry scent applied to Strawberry Shortcake dolls in the 1980s--with trivia about historical uses and lore (the ancient Romans used strawberries as a cure for depression). She ties it all up with vivid prose that recalls the excitement of a mother anticipating her child eating their first handpicked berry. This whimsical and soothing work will appeal to fans of food writing, memoirs, intercultural stories, and poetry.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Poet Nezhukumatathil (World of Wonders) presents a smorgasbord of concise and lyrical odes to foods linked to some of her most important memories. She associates saba bananas, a Philippine staple, with a vacation she took to the country, where she felt the kicks of her first baby in utero ("I'm convinced I had the quickening--this baby jumping--earlier than expected, because was enjoying the delicious foods of his Lola's country"). Mangosteen fruit--"a cage trap of lightning, a sheen of sugar in a bowl"--brings to mind a trip to Hawaii with her husband. Other pieces unravel foods' complicated origins and histories, including an ode to vanilla and Edmond Albius, the enslaved boy who in 1841 developed a revolutionary technique for pollinating the plants (white botanists attempted to take credit for his method). The author's dazzling prose is the highlight, though her loose and associative internal logic can sometimes make the connections she draws feel tenuous or underdeveloped (a brief entry notes the proximity between the Buffalo grocery store that was the site of a 2022 mass shooting and an orchard where she and her sons once picked apples, leading to the somewhat odd observation that "there are not apples enough to cure this country's sickness"). Readers will find this to be an appealing if inconsistent banquet. (May)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A collection of flavorful memories. Poet and essayist Nezhukumatathil, award-winning author of World of Wonders, creates a graceful memoir centered on 40 different kinds of food, some exotic, some familiar, all evoking recollections of childhood, family, travels, friendships, and much more. "This book is a bite of personal and natural history," she writes, "a serving if you will--scooped up with a dollop of the bounty and largesse of the edible world." With a father from India and a mother from the Philippines, some of the author's memories center on traditional food such as kaong, the fruit of the sugar palm, prized in Filipino salads; jackfruit, her favorite fruit, which she first tasted during a visit to her grandparents in Kerala; bangus, the national fish of the Philippines, served fried as part of breakfast; and lumpia, a deep-fried Filipino finger food, with a crisp outer skin filled with chicken, ground beef or pork, carrots, and green beans. She takes sides in her parents' debate over which mangoes are sweetest, those from India or those from the Philippines. For her, it's Alphonso mangoes, from India, "hands down." Eating lychees reminds her of her 20s, when she lived in Buffalo and would fly to New York City to meet friends. She'd buy a sackful of lychees, eating them happily on a bench while people-watching. Cherries, figs, and maple syrup are among other foods that elicit the author's lyrical responses. The taste of apple banana, for example, "becomes a party in your mouth featuring a banana host and a sort of pineapple-strawberry DJ spinning tunes." Her memoir is not unlike halo-halo, a mixture of unexpected ingredients that make for a delectable dessert. "With halo-halo," she writes, "you never know what you are going to discover and when." Savory food writing. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
