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81 reviews for:
Be My Guest: Reflections on Food, Community and the Meaning of Generosity
Priya Basil
3.55 AVERAGE
81 reviews for:
Be My Guest: Reflections on Food, Community and the Meaning of Generosity
Priya Basil
3.55 AVERAGE
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Priya Basil, born to a British Sikh family, grew up in Kenya before returning to England as a teenager and then settling in Berlin, Germany. She playfully delves ,in this extended essay/ memoir, in a series of observations regarding hospitality which further stretches into various overarching themes and topics. She explores food as power and writes about women who cook to gain affection of the family simultaneously reflecting on colonial India (her home country) where in 1876 British administrators hosted a weeklong dinner in proclamation of Queen Victoria as Empress of India while an estimated 100,000 Indians starved to death in the same duration.
She also mentions her struggle while growing-up as a Sikh in a Kenyan-Indian community in Nairobi where she encountered and understood the religious practice of Langar in Gurdwaras, a post-worship communal meal, which foster a sense of equality and community among the human beings. Later, those experiences guided her to work with refugee advocacy groups in Germany. In these quick and short musings in which she goes through the philosophical wisdom of Plato, Kant, Arendt ,Derrida and other thinkers, Basil explores what means to be a woman, immigrant, host or guest through the backdrop of food.
While it’s an exceptional piece of writing, these conversational snippets touch on a lot of serious subjects such as racism, xenophobia, EU politics, Brexit, Refugee Crisis and Charity.
It becomes quite overwhelming to tackle with these range of subjects in such short book. I think some of the subject matter she tried to raise need further elaboration. I didn’t find that much about food in it yet hospitality was a prevalent theme throughout.
However, it did realise us the roles food and hospitality play in our personal life and in the broader world at large. It’s a welcoming tale that delves into true meaning of hospitality and emphasises that sharing food is not only for nourishment but a place for unification regardless of our religion, race or socioeconomic status.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Priya Basil's reflections on food and community are exactly that: stream of consciousness reflections on the experience of hosting and being hosted in the form of what really seems to be a long-form essay. Born in England and raised in Kenya by an Indian family before moving back to England and eventually to Germany, Basil represents such a diversity of flavors and experiences, and this was a joy to read.
I loved the descriptions of Basil's grandmother, Mumji, who cooked absurd amounts for every meal, every day, leaving the family with five freezers full of leftovers that were never eaten. All the more so, I loved the honesty with which she was portrayed. Refusing to serve leftovers, Basil presents Mumji as constantly complaining about the responsibility of preparing all this food for her husband and family, a contradictory trait that seems to have been passed down to Basil's own mother and eventually to herself.
Basil describes herself also as something of a glutton, obsessed with flavors, spices, and whole eating experience, filling the book with memories of stuffing herself to the bursting at her mother's or grandmother's table or, especially, at the Sikh communal meal, where she and her siblings salivated over the sweet semolina-based bread that came before the meal itself.
And yet, this book is about more than food. Indeed, more than anything, this is a book about community. Basil smoothly incorporated linguistic details--did you know that hospitality comes from the same root as hostility?--and a broader analysis of society. The role of food in the experience of race, racism, and refugees is significant, and the exploration of national hospitality through the lens of the changing demographics of the E.U., as well as the oxymoronic "hospitality industry" was powerful.
Quick, wide-reaching, and sassy, this book made me smile; I only wish there had been slightly more text on the actual food! Recipes, descriptions, pictures--I love food writing because of the access to dishes that I have never experienced and may or may not enjoy actually eating. With so many different dishes in her personal background, Basil had such a wonderful opportunity for this kind of sharing, and I think she left a little to be desired in that respect.
I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley through Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and author Priya Basil. Opinions stated in this review are honest and my own.
Release Date: 3 November 2020
I loved the descriptions of Basil's grandmother, Mumji, who cooked absurd amounts for every meal, every day, leaving the family with five freezers full of leftovers that were never eaten. All the more so, I loved the honesty with which she was portrayed. Refusing to serve leftovers, Basil presents Mumji as constantly complaining about the responsibility of preparing all this food for her husband and family, a contradictory trait that seems to have been passed down to Basil's own mother and eventually to herself.
Basil describes herself also as something of a glutton, obsessed with flavors, spices, and whole eating experience, filling the book with memories of stuffing herself to the bursting at her mother's or grandmother's table or, especially, at the Sikh communal meal, where she and her siblings salivated over the sweet semolina-based bread that came before the meal itself.
And yet, this book is about more than food. Indeed, more than anything, this is a book about community. Basil smoothly incorporated linguistic details--did you know that hospitality comes from the same root as hostility?--and a broader analysis of society. The role of food in the experience of race, racism, and refugees is significant, and the exploration of national hospitality through the lens of the changing demographics of the E.U., as well as the oxymoronic "hospitality industry" was powerful.
Quick, wide-reaching, and sassy, this book made me smile; I only wish there had been slightly more text on the actual food! Recipes, descriptions, pictures--I love food writing because of the access to dishes that I have never experienced and may or may not enjoy actually eating. With so many different dishes in her personal background, Basil had such a wonderful opportunity for this kind of sharing, and I think she left a little to be desired in that respect.
I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley through Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and author Priya Basil. Opinions stated in this review are honest and my own.
Release Date: 3 November 2020
There are five people in my house and as come meal times it is like feeding the 5000. We eat together almost every night, and if I can drag the teenagers away from their phones, we often have conversations about all sorts of things, including politics. It is the hospitality provided over those shared dinners where long term friendships are formed.
Priya Basil has grown up in a family of food fanatics and she probably thinks that it goes way back past her grandmother. She has provided for years for her family, ensuring that all those that sit at her table struggle to get up after. This greed-gene flew in the face of her mothers aim to get her and her sister to sit and eat politely, as every time temptation loomed, she abandoned all that she had learnt, just to eat. When it comes to her mothers kadhi though, she still experiences pure greed.
Recipes are the original open source … You only need to successfully make a recipe once to feel it is your own. Make it three more times and suddenly it’s a tradition.
The etymological origins of the word hospitality are from ghosti; the word hostility also shares these same roots and Basil traces the history of food being used as a weapon against populations to starve them or force them to migrate against their will. Sadly, we are in a time where hostility seems to be on the rise and places where people once looked after each other have become places of tension.
Thankfully, this is a book that concentrates about the shared pleasures of good conversation and even better food. It is also a call to say rather than being selfish, sharing mealtimes with friends and neighbours will help people belong in that community. We can play a part in reducing the friction that seems to be growing, by becoming a generous and selfless host. A slender volume, full of wisdom and is very much worth reading.
Priya Basil has grown up in a family of food fanatics and she probably thinks that it goes way back past her grandmother. She has provided for years for her family, ensuring that all those that sit at her table struggle to get up after. This greed-gene flew in the face of her mothers aim to get her and her sister to sit and eat politely, as every time temptation loomed, she abandoned all that she had learnt, just to eat. When it comes to her mothers kadhi though, she still experiences pure greed.
Recipes are the original open source … You only need to successfully make a recipe once to feel it is your own. Make it three more times and suddenly it’s a tradition.
The etymological origins of the word hospitality are from ghosti; the word hostility also shares these same roots and Basil traces the history of food being used as a weapon against populations to starve them or force them to migrate against their will. Sadly, we are in a time where hostility seems to be on the rise and places where people once looked after each other have become places of tension.
Thankfully, this is a book that concentrates about the shared pleasures of good conversation and even better food. It is also a call to say rather than being selfish, sharing mealtimes with friends and neighbours will help people belong in that community. We can play a part in reducing the friction that seems to be growing, by becoming a generous and selfless host. A slender volume, full of wisdom and is very much worth reading.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
A brief collection of Priya Basil's ruminations on the meaning and purpose of hospitality, both in the personal and political sense. Basil begins with a discussion of the meanings of food for her and her family growing up as a British Indian in Kenya, but meanders through a myriad of topics such as colonialism; philanthropy; her Sikh religion and its community-food-sharing traditions; and, most substantially, hospitality as it relates to immigrants and refugees. I loved the connections between her personal reflections on what it means to serve guests', but also her larger thoughts on her experiences feeling welcome (and unwelcome) in Berlin (where she now calls home) in juxtaposition with the experiences of recent immigrants to the European Union. If you like personal essays and food writing, I think you would get a lot out of this short work.
Thank you to Knopf for providing me with an early e-copy of this work through Netgalley. Be My Guest is out now.
Thank you to Knopf for providing me with an early e-copy of this work through Netgalley. Be My Guest is out now.
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Didn't think it was v good
lots of short vinaigrette
very pro-EU
lots of short vinaigrette
very pro-EU
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Das Buch erschien im Original auf Deutsch und ist super interessant, es reflektiert auf Gastfreundschaft und was gemeinsames Essen für uns kulturell und emotional bedeutet, aber zB auch auf die Erfahrung einer Einwanderin in Deutschland.
There are five people in my house and as come meal times it is like feeding the 5000. We eat together almost every night, and if I can drag the teenagers away from their phones, we often have conversations about all sorts of things, including politics. It is the hospitality provided over those shared dinners where long term friendships are formed.
Priya Basil has grown up in a family of food fanatics and she probably thinks that it goes way back past her grandmother. She has provided for years for her family, ensuring that all those that sit at her table struggle to get up after. This greed-gene flew in the face of her mothers aim to get her and her sister to sit and eat politely, as every time temptation loomed, she abandoned all that she had learnt, just to eat. When it comes to her mothers kadhi though, she still experiences pure greed.
Recipes are the original open source … You only need to successfully make a recipe once to feel it is your own. Make it three more times and suddenly it’s a tradition.
The etymological origins of the word hospitality are from ghosti; the word hostility also shares these same roots and Basil traces the history of food being used as a weapon against populations to starve them or force them to migrate against their will. Sadly, we are in a time where hostility seems to be on the rise and places where people once looked after each other have become places of tension.
Thankfully, this is a book that concentrates about the shared pleasures of good conversation and even better food. It is also a call to say rather than being selfish, sharing mealtimes with friends and neighbours will help people belong in that community. We can play a part in reducing the friction that seems to be growing, by becoming a generous and selfless host. A slender volume, full of wisdom and is very much worth reading.
Priya Basil has grown up in a family of food fanatics and she probably thinks that it goes way back past her grandmother. She has provided for years for her family, ensuring that all those that sit at her table struggle to get up after. This greed-gene flew in the face of her mothers aim to get her and her sister to sit and eat politely, as every time temptation loomed, she abandoned all that she had learnt, just to eat. When it comes to her mothers kadhi though, she still experiences pure greed.
Recipes are the original open source … You only need to successfully make a recipe once to feel it is your own. Make it three more times and suddenly it’s a tradition.
The etymological origins of the word hospitality are from ghosti; the word hostility also shares these same roots and Basil traces the history of food being used as a weapon against populations to starve them or force them to migrate against their will. Sadly, we are in a time where hostility seems to be on the rise and places where people once looked after each other have become places of tension.
Thankfully, this is a book that concentrates about the shared pleasures of good conversation and even better food. It is also a call to say rather than being selfish, sharing mealtimes with friends and neighbours will help people belong in that community. We can play a part in reducing the friction that seems to be growing, by becoming a generous and selfless host. A slender volume, full of wisdom and is very much worth reading.