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The Language of Baklava
The Language of Baklava | Diana Abu-Jaber
10 posts | 11 read | 1 reading | 8 to read
Diana Abu-Jabers vibrant, humorous memoir weaves together stories of being raised by a food-obsessed Jordanian father with tales of Lake Ontario shish kabob cookouts and goat stew feasts under Bedouin tents in the desert. These sensuously evoked repasts, complete with recipes, in turn illuminate the two cultures of Diana's childhoodAmerican and Jordanianwhile helping to paint a loving and complex portrait of her impractical, displaced immigrant father who, like many an immigrant before him, cooked to remember the place he came from and to pass that connection on to his children. The Language of Baklava irresistably invites us to sit down at the table with Dianas family, sharing unforgettable meals that turn out to be as much about grace, difference, faith, love as they are about food. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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review
rachelk
The Language of Baklava | Diana Abu-Jaber
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Pickpick

A foodie memoir that reads like a novel about growing up between cultures with lots of extended family plus Middle Eastern recipes. I especially love the way Abu-Jaber depicts childhood and how naturally recipes become part of the story. I‘m excited to try making some!

43 likes1 stack add
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Peaceful_Reader
The Language of Baklava | Diana Abu-Jaber
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Reading this for book club-love the recipes and her stories of family.

TheCanuckReader My fav dessert! 7y
Peaceful_Reader Truthfully never finished. I have so many other books waiting for me .... I wanted to like it. I blame my general dislike of nonfiction. 7y
10 likes2 comments
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DebinHawaii
The Language of Baklava | Diana Abu-Jaber
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Day26 #readjanuary #autobiography I enjoy autobiographies/memoirs & learning someone's story from their own words. It probably comes as no surprise that many of my favorites are chef and/or food related. Most of these would be considered more memoir than true autobiography, but here are some of my faves. (BTW-You can insert any Ruth Reichl memoir here-all are great & Diana Abu-Jabar is an author but most of her books have a strong food presence)🍴

See All 28 Comments
LeahBergen I only have 3 of these. 😉 8y
EvieBee Lovely collection! I love food memoirs and Ruthie too. Sigh. 8y
Audrey Have you read Fuchsia Dunlop's memoir? It's one if my favorites. 8y
DebinHawaii @LeahBergen Which ones do you have? 😀 8y
DebinHawaii @EvieBee84 She is the best! 👍😀 8y
DebinHawaii @Audrey I have not read it yet! Thanks for the recommendation--adding it to the TBR stack. 📚🍴 8y
Donna_sBookMinute I like watching Jacques Pepin. He really knows food. 8y
DebinHawaii @Donna_sBookMinute I adore him! ❤️ 8y
LeahBergen @Audrey That is one of my all-time faves, too. 💗💗 8y
LeahBergen I have Mango, Apples and Baklava (that worked out well 😂) 8y
RealLifeReading I think I've read all except the Pepin! Why I haven't read that yet I don't know. 8y
Audrey @DebinHawaii her cookbooks are also fantastic. Very authentic Chinese food from different regions. 8y
Audrey @LeahBergen yeah! Someone else who has read Fuchsia! 8y
JayneMc Have you read Nigel Slaters "Toast"? Fab read from a British chef. 8y
DebinHawaii @RealLifeReading Definitely read it! One of my very favorites! ❤️📚 8y
DebinHawaii @LeahBergen Perfect! You covered all the food groups! 😂 @Audrey I will check them out too! 8y
DebinHawaii @JayneMc Yes! I love Slater and Toast was excellent. His 'Eating for England' is a fun read too. 8y
BethFishReads I've read 5!!! 8y
SaraFair Loved the first two and want to get to Eric Ripert as well. Price has not gone down enough, it's still pretty new. Found I like Reichl as well. 8y
Ncostell I love a good foodie memoir too! 🍽 8y
DebinHawaii @BethFishReads I would expect no less! 😆👍 @SaraFair I am on hold at the library for the Ripert-it looks really good! @Ncostell Yes! I love all the foodies on Litsy! 🍽👍 8y
106 likes2 stack adds28 comments
review
PatienceFortitude
The Language of Baklava | Diana Abu-Jaber
Pickpick

So good! All throughout reading this book, I kept recommending it to just about everybody, and reading passages aloud. It's about food, and family, and shifting identities between two countries. The prose is lovely.

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PatienceFortitude
The Language of Baklava | Diana Abu-Jaber
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"I looked, I tasted, I spoke kindly and truthfully. I invited. You know what else? I keep doing it. I don't stop if it doesn't work on the first or the second or the third try. I'd like that!" She snapped the apron from the chair into the air, leaving a poof of flour like a wish. "There is your peace."
Dessert and diplomacy! Yes! This!

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PatienceFortitude
The Language of Baklava | Diana Abu-Jaber

"He cooks to remember, but the more he eats, the more he forgets."

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PatienceFortitude
The Language of Baklava | Diana Abu-Jaber
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The writing in this entire book is so gorgeous, I can't actually pick a single quote. Lush description of food. Imagery and metaphor that borders on poetry, to describe her sense of her inner life in a way that perfectly describes a feeling. I can flip to any page and love a sentence. So good!

lynneamch Souns delicious and just what need right now. 🙄 8y
4 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
PatienceFortitude
The Language of Baklava | Diana Abu-Jaber
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Gorgeous food writing to go with my humble brown bag lunch.

MrBook Baklava is so good 😁! 8y
Suzze There is a store near me that sells all sorts of types of Baklava. Just going in there sends your blood sugar rising! 8y
PatienceFortitude Honestly, baklava is not even my favorite. I'm reading this book and drooling over the description of lamb for dinner 8y
3 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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LeahBergen
The Language of Baklava | Diana Abu-Jaber
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Oh, do I love a good food memoir! #booksthatmademehungry #SomethingforSept

Hobbinol What a smorgasbord!♥️ 8y
MrBook A cornucopia of greatness! 8y
See All 9 Comments
CherylDeFranceschi Beautiful stack! 8y
DebinHawaii Great stack! The Language of Baklava is a favorite of mine! ❤️📚🍴 8y
AWahle Some of my favorites in that stack, like Maman's Homesick Pie. Happy to see more to add to my TBR stack! 8y
rubyslippersreads Yum! 😄 8y
LauraBeth Me too - you have an awesome collection! 8y
71 likes1 stack add9 comments
blurb
Dvd
The Language of Baklava | Diana Abu-Jaber
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This book raises anticipation for summer in this quote "Barbecues are the smell of lighter fluid, dark and delicious as the aromas of gasoline."