A review by bpicillo
National Dish: Around the World in Search of Food, History, and the Meaning of Home by Anya von Bremzen

informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

A thought-provoking and well-researched--albeit somewhat flawed--exploration food in the context of national identities. I think von Bremzen is successful in proving her overall thesis, but at times, there is over-simplification of intra-national identities and their relation to food pathways. This criticism may be somewhat unfair given that the goal is to compare across countries not necessarily dissect every food pathway within a given country. I think the later chapters on Mexico and Turkey were most successful. I also wished she had included a wider variety of countries since the ones included were the usual suspects. Beautifully written while mixing travel writing, memoir, and more academic styles.