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A review by mpurdy
Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks by Crystal Wilkinson
emotional
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Thank you, @netgalley , the author @crystalwilki , and the publisher @tenspeedpress an imprint of @clarksonpotter for this earc copy in return for an honest review.
When I applied for this book through netgalley, I wasn't too sure exactly what I was getting into. I am a history buff at heart and love learning new recipes. So this book sounded right up my alley. Though what I wasn't expecting was to be brought to tears on multiple occasions. Crystals' family history is fascinating and moving, and I couldn't help but reflect on my own. My life is not comparable at all, but what is is the love and connection we both share from cooking recipes passed down through the matriarchs in our lives and the ones from the past.
I loved the sentiment of making recipes better or becoming a better chef than those before us. I feel like that's ultimately what our family wants from us to be better. To take what they taught us and use them as the foundation to build on top of.Though sometimes I feel like I get caught up in keeping things the same to preserve them. When in reality tweaking them as I gain more knowledge is also keeping tradition alive.
I really enjoyed this style of memoir and always find it fascinating how much you can learn about a person when they talk about food and what they ate as a child. Food is a gateway to the soul and a tether to our ancestors, and The Prariesong for the Kitchen Ghosts illustrates this beautifully.
When I applied for this book through netgalley, I wasn't too sure exactly what I was getting into. I am a history buff at heart and love learning new recipes. So this book sounded right up my alley. Though what I wasn't expecting was to be brought to tears on multiple occasions. Crystals' family history is fascinating and moving, and I couldn't help but reflect on my own. My life is not comparable at all, but what is is the love and connection we both share from cooking recipes passed down through the matriarchs in our lives and the ones from the past.
I loved the sentiment of making recipes better or becoming a better chef than those before us. I feel like that's ultimately what our family wants from us to be better. To take what they taught us and use them as the foundation to build on top of.Though sometimes I feel like I get caught up in keeping things the same to preserve them. When in reality tweaking them as I gain more knowledge is also keeping tradition alive.
I really enjoyed this style of memoir and always find it fascinating how much you can learn about a person when they talk about food and what they ate as a child. Food is a gateway to the soul and a tether to our ancestors, and The Prariesong for the Kitchen Ghosts illustrates this beautifully.