A review by jjp723
On the Noodle Road: From Beijing to Rome, with Love and Pasta by Jen Lin-Liu

4.0

Very interesting and well-written book about the search for the origin of the noodle by a trip along the Silk Road. Ms. Lin-Liu has a knack for meeting a wide variety of people and describing their personalities and food equally well. After reading some other reviews that thought she spent too much time moaning and groaning about her status as a wife vs. independent person, I almost considered returning it to the library unread, but I'm glad I didn't as I didn't think her pondering those things took anything away from the book - and besides, I think she just wrote what most of us feel from time to time anyway.
The weakest part of the book for me was the section on Italy, but that may just be because I'm familiar with that cuisine as compared to the others. My favorite section was a surprise, and I think it's because of the mood I'm in with the beginning of 2016 - a small part in the Uzbekistan chapter where Lin-Liu describes an encounter with a fellow American traveler Jeffrey. His attitude of acknowledging the bad but ultimately finding the good really stood out for me. I especially liked how he likened the food in Central Asia (as described by the author) as how he ate as a child growing up in 1950's Michigan - "When we had spaghetti, my father would uncork a bottle of Chianti, the only wine we drank, and which we only drank with spaghetti," he added. "I grew up in Leave It to Beaver America, and we were delighted with our food." - As I really hate any kind of pretentiousness, this attitude of appreciation was very nice!
Recommended.