Description

A Book of the Year in the FT, Guardian, Observer and on BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme

‘I couldn’t love this more’ Nigella Lawson

‘Enchanting, fascinating and humorous’ Claudia Roden

Is there really such a thing as an authentic dish? In a mouth-watering journey stretching from Paris to Tokyo, join award-winning food writer Anya von Bremzen as she chews over the legend of Margherita pizza, indulges in the craze for high-end noodles and digs into the postcolonial paradoxes of Mexico’s mole.

Full of eye-opening tales and sparkling wit, National Dish explores the politics of national pride that tie food to place, untangling the myths and misunderstandings around some of the world’s most famous cuisines.

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PRAISE FOR NATIONAL DISH:

‘Sparklingly intelligent’ SPECTATOR

‘A delightfully engaged and engaging writer’ OBSERVER

‘So enlightening… so much fun to read’ FT

‘A fast-paced, entertaining travelogue’ NEW YORK TIMES

‘Playful, erudite and mouthwatering’ FUSCHIA DUNLOP

Publisher Review

‘A fast-paced, entertaining travelogue, peppered with compact history lessons that reveal the surprising ways dishes become iconic’ – New York Times

‘This voyage into culinary myth-making and identity is essential reading. Its breadth of scope and scholarship is conveyed with such engaging wit. I couldn’t love it more’ – Nigella Lawson

‘This dazzlingly intelligent examination of how foods become national symbols . . . so enlightening – as well as so much fun to read . . . Von Bremzen is a superb describer of flavours and textures – but she also understands that food is never just about food’ – Bee Wilson

‘For all its dry wit and vivid descriptions of puttanesca and tortillas, this is a serious book – a skilful blend of academic research and lived experience. It’s a sparklingly intelligent examination of, and a meditation on, the interplay of cooking and identity’ – Spectator

‘A playful, erudite and mouthwatering exploration of ideas around food and identity. With the help of a diverse cast of characters and dishes, Anya von Bremzen highlights the intricacies and the contradictions of our relationship with what we eat’ – Fuschia Dunlop