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A review by knod78
A Tiger in the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
4.0
This completes Task 11: Read a food memoir by an author of color, Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge.
I loved this book. I could be biased and completely full of nostalgia, but I loved it. I loved the challenge she set for herself for a year to truly learn her family dishes. I would kill for something akin to this experience. Hell, I want to go to her family's kitchens and cook with them. I especially loved all of the Singapore talk of their food. I love Singapore even though it's a very different Singapore to when I lived there. But I can't help it. When she talked about going to the Cold Storage for supplies off of Orchard Road in downtown Singapore, I burst with smiles and love and memories. I remember walking up there with friends and buying some Tang to drink. I also loved all of the stories she learned about her family members and especially her grandmothers. This would be my ideal thing sitting around cooking and learning family history.
The book is pretty well organized and easy to read. It is food porn for sure. My gripe is that I wasn't sure where we were in relation to the year sometimes. She talked about going to see her aunties, but then also said she hadn't see them since Chinese New Year even though we just had a chapter about August with the Aunties. I know it was from one Chinese New Year to the next. On occasion, I got confused. I didn’t understand the need for the bread challenge, as well. I kept wondering if she was trying these dishes at home. I mean the pineapple tart to my knowledge she had only done twice and apparently she was an expert. And if she hadn’t been practicing, well it’s no wonder some of her dishes were off for the finale. I just wasn’t clear.
So, if you love food and family, this is the book for you. It even inspired me to make a dinner for Chinese New Years this year (Year of the Ox - my husband) and maybe I will attempt one of her recipes.
I loved this book. I could be biased and completely full of nostalgia, but I loved it. I loved the challenge she set for herself for a year to truly learn her family dishes. I would kill for something akin to this experience. Hell, I want to go to her family's kitchens and cook with them. I especially loved all of the Singapore talk of their food. I love Singapore even though it's a very different Singapore to when I lived there. But I can't help it. When she talked about going to the Cold Storage for supplies off of Orchard Road in downtown Singapore, I burst with smiles and love and memories. I remember walking up there with friends and buying some Tang to drink. I also loved all of the stories she learned about her family members and especially her grandmothers. This would be my ideal thing sitting around cooking and learning family history.
The book is pretty well organized and easy to read. It is food porn for sure. My gripe is that I wasn't sure where we were in relation to the year sometimes. She talked about going to see her aunties, but then also said she hadn't see them since Chinese New Year even though we just had a chapter about August with the Aunties. I know it was from one Chinese New Year to the next. On occasion, I got confused. I didn’t understand the need for the bread challenge, as well. I kept wondering if she was trying these dishes at home. I mean the pineapple tart to my knowledge she had only done twice and apparently she was an expert. And if she hadn’t been practicing, well it’s no wonder some of her dishes were off for the finale. I just wasn’t clear.
So, if you love food and family, this is the book for you. It even inspired me to make a dinner for Chinese New Years this year (Year of the Ox - my husband) and maybe I will attempt one of her recipes.