Serving Up - by Zoe Adjonyoh (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A groundbreaking collection of essays about food and its powerful link to identity, culture and community, from twenty exciting voices around the world.

We hear about a family ritual of drying mango and pickling limes in India, and the search for a father's favourite hotdog in North Carolina. We investigate Latino food in cinema and vegetarianism in Buddhist diets, the cultural appropriation of Chinese food and the effect of gentrification on Black communities. And we learn about the grassroots organisations fighting for change, for equality for farmers and for better mental health provisions in kitchens, where toxicity and micro-aggressions are rife.

Edited by renowned chef and activist Zoe Adjonyoh, and featuring a foreword by acclaimed author and broadcaster Yasmin Khan, Serving Up is an electric, urgent anthology campaigning for representation around our dinner tables, wherever that dinner table may be.

Includes essays from: Abigail Koffler, Apoorva Sripathi, Chris Nigro, Cynthia Greenlee, Duron Chavis, Fatima Tarkleman, Hassel Aviles, Izzie Ramirez, Lee Tran Lam, Lenore Adkins, Mavis-Jay Sanders, Samah Dada, Scott Alves Barton, Selasie Dotse, Tambra Raye Stevenson, Tiffani Rozier, Vanessa Parish, Yoshivel Elise Chirinos.

Review Quotes

"All exceptional food writing is impetuously representative. And this thought-provoking, genuinely "multi-palated" tome is a must read." -- Yemisi Ogbe, author of Longthroat Memoirs

"A smörgåsbord of insightful and eclectic food writing . . . Will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you hungry, and best of all, it will make you think." -- MiMi Aye, author Mandalay: Recipes and Tales from a Burmese Kitchen

"I found it a stimulating, thought-provoking read and welcomed the opportunity to hear from fresh voices." -- Jenny Linford, author of The Missing Ingredient

"Serving Up's informed writing peels the skin off our surface-level obsession with what we eat. Cynthia Greenlee's attack on the gentrification of charcuterie boards is a withering delight." -- Corey Mintz, food reporter and author of The Last Supper

About the Author

Zoe Adjonyoh has been cooking up consciousness since 2010. She is an author, entrepreneur and empowerment coach and has spent thirteen years in the hospitality industry focusing on food justice and female empowerment. As the chef and founder of the West African food brand and cookbook Zoe's Ghana Kitchen, Zoe pioneered West African cuisine globally. And through her activism with Black Book Global, Zoe led the conversation on decolonising the food industry. She has previously spoken at TedX and lectured at institutions including Harvard, the Culinary Institute of America, Bates College, and The Omega Institute. She was formerly the Director of the Women's Leadership programmes at the James Beard Foundation. Zoe is the author of Zoe's Ghana Kitchen and the editor for Serving Up: Essays on food, identity and culture. She is based in New York.