Food comes from the heart
By Caterina Bernardini |
March 9, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHERYL Tan is one of those people who you really enjoy listening to. She is funny, smart and so excited about her new book that is selling well around the world. "A Tiger in the Kitchen" is a story about reconstructing the author's life and that of her family through cooking. "This book gave me the opportunity to make an amazing journey back to my country discovering things about my family I didn't know," Tan said at the Shanghai Literary Festival.
She was born and raised in Singapore but at the age of 18 she moved to America to start a career in journalism. After years of studying and working she became a successful fashion reporter for the Wall Street Journal.
The change from fashion to food may puzzle some, but Tan said at some point the Singaporean dishes that defined her childhood began to call her back.
She said her father wanted a son and, thus, she was treated more like a boy.
The book, begins with her returning to Singapore to learn more about Singaporean food and, above all, about her own family.
"When you are in the kitchen the stories come out, you learn many anecdotes about your family," she said.
Moreover, Singapore is one of the most food-obsessed cities in the world, its cuisine is various and combines a lot of different tastes, both spicy and not.
Little by little Tan entered this world and, as she says in the book, she became a very good chef who also cherished long-buried family stories.
One example is her "wonderful grandmother" who taught her how to bake a very tasty pineapple pie and told her many family secrets, some of them very intimate.
Tan is a very lively person who admits it was difficult to change from being a journalist to an author.
"It is one thing to write about other people, but quite another to write about yourself and to try to see members of your family as characters for a book," she said. "Also, I was used to writing articles of 1,000 words, so when the editor told me I had to write 90,000 words in a year I was a little bit scared."
But in the end she managed and she even seems genuinely surprised by its success.
In New York it "is hard to introduce such a different culture such as the Singaporean one," she said.
"A Tiger in the Kitchen" is a pursuit of the haunting flavors recalled from childhood meals and a deeper look at herself and her family. It turns out she is a great cook, too. "After writing this book my husband definitely eats much better," she said, laughing.
Besides being full of life with interesting and funny stories and some insight into Singaporean culture, "A Tiger in the Kitchen" also offers some tasty recipes for readers to try in their homes.
So sink your teeth into this book.
She was born and raised in Singapore but at the age of 18 she moved to America to start a career in journalism. After years of studying and working she became a successful fashion reporter for the Wall Street Journal.
The change from fashion to food may puzzle some, but Tan said at some point the Singaporean dishes that defined her childhood began to call her back.
She said her father wanted a son and, thus, she was treated more like a boy.
The book, begins with her returning to Singapore to learn more about Singaporean food and, above all, about her own family.
"When you are in the kitchen the stories come out, you learn many anecdotes about your family," she said.
Moreover, Singapore is one of the most food-obsessed cities in the world, its cuisine is various and combines a lot of different tastes, both spicy and not.
Little by little Tan entered this world and, as she says in the book, she became a very good chef who also cherished long-buried family stories.
One example is her "wonderful grandmother" who taught her how to bake a very tasty pineapple pie and told her many family secrets, some of them very intimate.
Tan is a very lively person who admits it was difficult to change from being a journalist to an author.
"It is one thing to write about other people, but quite another to write about yourself and to try to see members of your family as characters for a book," she said. "Also, I was used to writing articles of 1,000 words, so when the editor told me I had to write 90,000 words in a year I was a little bit scared."
But in the end she managed and she even seems genuinely surprised by its success.
In New York it "is hard to introduce such a different culture such as the Singaporean one," she said.
"A Tiger in the Kitchen" is a pursuit of the haunting flavors recalled from childhood meals and a deeper look at herself and her family. It turns out she is a great cook, too. "After writing this book my husband definitely eats much better," she said, laughing.
Besides being full of life with interesting and funny stories and some insight into Singaporean culture, "A Tiger in the Kitchen" also offers some tasty recipes for readers to try in their homes.
So sink your teeth into this book.
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