Hidden Kitchens: Street Corner Cooking, Kitchen Rituals and Visionaries
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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.
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.
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.