Publisher's Synopsis
‘This voyage into culinary myth-making is essential reading… I couldn’t love it more!’ Nigella Lawson
‘Enchanting, fascinating and humorous’ Claudia Roden
‘Anya is your perfect guide to the profound subjects of nationalism, food and identity. And she’s often funny as hell’ René Redzepi, chef and co-owner of NOMA
In National Dish, award-winning food writer Anya von Bremzen sets out to investigate the eternal cliché that “we are what we eat”. Her journey takes her from Paris to Tokyo, from Seville, Oaxaca and Naples to Istanbul. She probes the decline of France’s pot-au-feu in the age of globalisation, the stratospheric rise of ramen, the legend of pizza, the postcolonial paradoxes of Mexico’s mole, the community essence of tapas, and the complex legacy of multiculturalism in a meze feast. Finally she returns to her home in Queens, New York, for a bowl of Ukrainian borscht -a dish which has never felt more loaded, or more precious.
As each nation’s social and political identity is explored, so too is its palate. Rich in research, colourful? characters and lively wit, National Dish peels back the layers of myth and misunderstanding around world cuisines, reassessing the pivotal role of food in our cultural heritage and identity.
Featuring an epilogue on Ukrainian borscht, recently granted World Heritage status by UNESCO
‘Reads like an engrossing unputdownable novel about the perpetual soup of humanity. And it made me think so much!’ Olia Hercules
‘A legend of food writing… a must-read of all those who believe in building longer tables where food is what brings us all together’ José Andrés
