Watermark Books and Cafe

Twenty years ago, one would be hard pressed to find a food memoir. Laurie Colwin and MFK Fischer had the market cornered. Not so today. The food network, reality shows, and the proliferation of readily available ingredients and cooking schools, have propelled celebrity chefs into the world of storytelling.

There are some standard elements included in a chef’s memoir: a passion for food; the role of food in their childhoods; formal or on-the-job education; retooling that education to create their own restaurant; and, if we’re lucky a few good recipes. 

One wonders, then, if there is anything new to say in such a book. But oh, how personal and passionate we are about our food. And if a chef has the discipline to write her story, and she can write well, readers are hard pressed not to find something to like in the food memoir.  Donia Bijan’s "Maman’s Homesick Pie" could have been a lesser memoir by focusing on only one aspect of Donia’s story: a political memoir—her family fled their home in Tehran in the late 70s during the Iranian revolution; or an immigrant’s story—the family moved to the Bay Area and her father, a successful Doctor, could never find work or an identity in his adopted homeland; or a coming-of-age story telling of Donia’s assimilation into American schools and the decision not to go into medicine, as her father had hoped. Instead, Bijan has written an affectionate tribute to her mother while she tells the story of how a career as a chef defined her. From an education at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, where her final exam was judged by the renowned Madam Brassard; to her first job in a San Francisco restaurant, where if you showed up ready to work, you were hired; to her return to Paris to train on the job with world class chefs - Bijan captures our hearts with her very personal journey. Throughout her long road to becoming a chef, she remains close to her family as they all find their ways into a new life.   

Each chapter in this delightful book ends with a recipe that grounds her memories – recipes that include Saffron Yogurt Rice with Chicken and Eggplant, Orange Cardamom Cookies, Rose Petal Ice Cream, and Madame’s Cocoa Pound Cake. (As our featured cookbook this month, our menu includes items from the book. Don't miss them - they are incredible.) 

By combining her formal Cordon Bleu education with her work in a kitchen in San Francisco and then with her return to Paris where she learned to infuse the spices and flavor from her mother’s Persian cooking, Donia Bijan found her place in the world—both in the kitchen and out. 

Review by Sarah Bagby

Maman's Homesick Pie: A Persian Heart in an American Kitchen (Hardcover)

By Donia Bijan

$19.95

ISBN-13: 9781565129573
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 10/2011

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