National Dish: Around the World in Search of Food, History and the Meaning of Home

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Description

Travelling from Paris to Tokyo, from Seville, Oaxaca and Naples to Istanbul, she investigates the rapid decline of France's pot-au-feu, the misconstrued beginnings of pizza, the meeting of indigenous and European lineages in mole, and the complex legacy of multi-culturalism in a meze potluck."Never have we been more cosmopolitan about what we eat - and yet more essentialist, locavore, and particularist." With a witty mix of anecdote and research, Anya von Bremzen reassess the fascinating role that food can play in our cultural heritage, and uncovers how as a nation's political and social identity are called into question, so too is its palate.

Reviews

'*** - Praise for Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking' - ***

'Heartbreakingly poignant and laugh-out-loud funny. This is an important book, a must read!' - Heston Blumenthal

'Moving and darkly comic' - Sunday Times

'This poignant memoir is an education in the richness of eastern European cuisine, and the story of Soviet communism, through the lens of family experience' - Observer

'A breathtaking balancing act...Von Bremzen is as much a virtuoso in her writing as her mother is in her cooking' - Masha Gessen

Author Bio

Anya von Bremzen is the winner of three James Beard Awards for her books and journalism. She is the author of six acclaimed cookbooks and a memoir - Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking - which won the Guild of Food Writers 2014 Food Book of the Year in UK. She has written for Food & Wine, Travel+Leisure,Saveur, the New Yorker, and the Guardian among other publications. She was born in Russia to Ukrainian parents, and emigrated to the USA as a child. When not on the road Anya divides her time between New York and Istanbul.