Hidden Kitchens: Street Corner Cooking, Kitchen Rituals and Visionaries

Abridged
Author: Davia Nelson , Nikki Silva
Narrator: Frances McDormand
Genres: Cooking
Publisher: Audio Renaissance
Date: October 2005
Length: 3 hours
Ratings:
  • Book Rating: 2.5/5
Formats:
  • CD

Overview

"Food is our common ground, a universal experience. -James Beard
The saga of the Chili Queens of San Antonio, NASCAR kitchens tucked away in the crew pits at race tracks, the story of an unexpected kitchen--the George Foreman Grill--these stories and more from Hidden Kitchens, the popular and highly acclaimed radio series on NPR's morning edition, is now being released on a 3 CD set based on the new book Hidden Kitchens: Stories, Recipes & More from NPR's The Kitchen Sisters.
Produced by the Peabody Award winning radio team, The Kitchen Sisters, Davia Nelson & Nikki Silva, (creators of NPR's Lost & Found Sound and The Sonic Memorial Project) with Jay Allison, Hidden Kitchens explores the world of street corner cooking, kitchen traditions and visionaries, and how communities come together through food. These stories of secret, underground, unofficial and off the radar kitchens come alive in these sound rich stories full of an array of voices, music, and archival audio that capture a strong sense of place and time--stories that travel the country chronicling kitchen cultures past and present.
Hundreds of listeners called the NPR Hidden Kitchens Hotline with intriguing messages and hot tips about underground kitchens at nuclear test sites, secret civil rights kitchen, family recipes and more. Many of these funny, passionate and poignant messages are featured on this beautifully crafted, richly layered audio edition.

Reviews (3)

Is It Fey or Arch?

Written by Anonymous from Los Angeles, CA on June 5th, 2008

  • Book Rating: 2/5

This isn't a book. It's a collection of what could have been fascinating radio essays on, well, hidden kitchens. Instead, it's an exercise in rather limp prose and limper delivery -- the hosts seem on the verge of collapsing on a fainting couch. Just three discs, and it's excruciating. Sorry, but it's far too...NPR for my taste.

Hidden Kitchens - not what I expected

Written by Anonymous from Palmdale, CA on May 13th, 2008

  • Book Rating: 4/5

I was anticipating more of a cohesive story - this really is a compilation of interviews, voicemail messages - stories told in people's own voices. The story telling focused on lost or dwindling traditions - community, family and individual traditions - based on food. The overriding theme was food as fellowship. Hearing the stories of others, I was reminded of church pot lucks in my youth, the annual chicken bbq, my grandmother's cooking and story telling. I found this an exquisite collection of memories - and a reminder of what we often miss in our very busy lives, interaction with food and each other which nourishes more than our bodies. This was thought provoking and moving - and something I'd like to purchase and pass along to others.

Fantastic!

Written by Sarah T. on June 12th, 2007

  • Book Rating: 5/5

I almost never listen to abridged books, but I figured an NPR production would be quite good and having listened, I can't imagine the paper book is anywhere near as interesting! This book is full of sound clips from the locations visited, people's voices on answering machines, and tape of interviews. It tracks down kitchens from social clubs to street stalls, from people selling to late-night taxi drivers to avid hunters and gourmets. Each segement gives you a view into a particular kitchen, and a chance to hear why people are so passionate about it. A fascinating tribute to the ways food helps make communities.