06 Mar / A Tiger in the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
A toothsome distraction from the recent Tiger Mother hunt, journalist Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan offers A Tiger in the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family, which takes readers from Carnegie Hall into fragrant kitchens, trading threatened stuffed animals for pineapple tarts, Prokofiev for pandan.
Tan’s strong-willed tiger streak had kept her “deftly” out of the kitchen, growing up privileged in Singapore, but fueled her academic excellence, her solo immigration to the United States at 18, and her eventual glamorous New York City career as a fashion writer.
Despite comical culinary inexperience marked by “rather unfortunate episodes,” Tan was convinced that with “a Singaporean grandmother who was both a force of nature and a legendary cook … I believed it was in my blood to excel in the kitchen – or at least kill myself trying.”
A serendipitously timed layoff from her Wall Street Journal job – mixed with concern over her parents’ family-splintering later-in-life divorce – sends Tan to Singapore on and off for a year, where her relatives generously welcome her, not only to satisfy her culinary quest but also to feed her heart and soul with lost and forgotten family stories. As Tan masters her favorite childhood dishes, she also realizes “that the point hadn’t truly ever been the food.”
Between braised ducks and moon cakes, Tan learns of gambling ancestors, opium addiction, abusive first wives, and foundling uncles. Her Tiger is fiercest when recording such familial histories, albeit occasionally weakened with quips about ruined manicures and designer shoes. Her debut fare proves a light appetizer, but with promise of a substantial meal yet to come.
Review: San Francisco Chronicle, March 6, 2011
Readers: Adult
Published: 2011
And a beautiful version of the “Asian woman without a face”-cover.
Do you think it’s a problem we can’t see her face? Maybe she’s turned away in this picture because her mouth is SOOO full of the most delicious foods she can’t even smile anymore!
Was thrilled to see your name pop up here! Thanks SOOOO much for sending so much traffic my way from your baodabooks.blogspot.com! Someone is always coming over to visit me from visiting you!
I’m glad to hear that!
Well, the cover is nice, but it’s also a bit conventional. Have you read this? Fun, but true.
http://causticcovercritic.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-to-make-chinese-or-japanese-book.html
That was a GREAT blog post. Shaking my head but still laughing.
Have you seen this? http://readingthepast.com/gallery/reusable-covers.htm about all the book covers that literally get reused again and again. So much for originality!!