Breaking Bread: Recipes and Stories From Immigrant Kitchens, is my latest read. The book, by Lynne Christy Anderson, a professor who teaches writing, is not new. It’s about 12 years old. However, it is still offers plenty of good insight into the role of food in immigrant households.

Breaking Bread contains the stories of 25 families living in the Boston area. The people interviewed for the book have come to Boston from across the globe. There reasons for being in the United States are diverse. Some arrived with their parents as children. there are those who came looking for a better life. Then there are those who had to flee their home countries for their own safety. These are just three of the reasons.

On one level each of the stories seems very much the same. People come to the U.S. They find many things challenging. They miss many things from home, and yet, by and large, the interviewees do not want to permanently return to their country of origin.

Yet each story highlights the uniqueness of the cultures represented in the book. One finds it in the way in which people talk about how parent or child may prepare a dish slightly different from the way they do.

Breaking Bread in the Kitchen

Reading this book I was reminded of Recipes and Reciprocity. Much like that book, Breaking Bread is about the kitchen as a nexus for sociological research.

At the beginning of each chapter, the interviewee is introduced to the reader as they are working on preparing food in the kitchen. This gives background to the recipes that will be featured at the end of each chapter. Other family members are introduced as the food preparation continues.

Then there is a break in the narrative. At this point the interviewee picks up on how life in the U.S. is different from where they came from. They talk about the things that they like and dislike about their new place and way of life.

For example, Naija Pathan (241-252), originally from Pakistan, talks about how living in the U.S. has made her views on life and the role of women, less conservative. She then goes on to speak about how moving back to Pakistan to get married is going to be challenging because of that.

She also talks about how food has been a way for her to connect with her new friends in the U.S. When there is a party Naija will take along Pakistani dishes. Or, she will invite her friends to meet at a local Pakistani restaurant when they go out to eat together.

It’s About the Food

One thing that struck me as I read the book is the number of people who bring back food from their country of origin whenever they go back to visit. Or, they have relatives mail it to them. Sahim,( a woman from Ethiopia talks of the difficulty of getting teff, the flour used to great Injera. I know, in Winnipeg it is only recently this has started to be more relatively available.

I did find it interesting that in the recipe section, many of the ingredients are asterisked. The asterisk noting that the ingredient should be available in local specialty stores. I don’t know the situation in the U.S. Reading this in 2023 in Winnipeg, most major grocery chains would carry most of the ingredients.

Many of the recipes in the book are fairly complex, or at least ingredient intensive. One difference between life in the U.S. and most other countries is the pace. Most of the people being interviewed, don’t have the time to prepare the foods they grew up with.

It’s About more than the food

Many of the people featured in Breaking Bread are preparing these dishes as a way to remain connected to their culture. Over and over the stories involve parents cooking with children and grand-children as a way of keeping the family connect to their roots.

A lament that I caught time and again in this book is the way in which cooking and eating is the U.S. is a more solitary activity. Frequently when speaking of life in the country they were born in, the conversation takes a turn toward how neighbours were always showing up. Sharing the food is just as important as cooking and eating the food.

The format of Breaking Bread also emphasizes this. The fact that Anderson is eating with the people she is interviewing brings the reader into a sense of being welcomed in to the home. This also allows the interviewees to be at ease in their conversations.

Summary

Overall, Breaking Bread contains a great selection of stories that reflects the importance of food in the immigrant experience. It is also a good illustration of how, although our foodways may be different, our desire for love, family, and safety is something we all share as humans. We just need to appreciate the deliciousness of our differences.