Katish, Our Russian Cook

I love reading about food and also about immigrants to the US. My parents were immigrants themselves and I grew up surrounded by their friends who were Polish, Russian, and German immigrants. Some of my favorite books are by MFK Fisher and Ruth Reichl. This book was good but not wonderful, as I, for some reason, expect it to be, although I would be hardpressed to say just what it was missing. Someone wrote that it was fiction, but I believe it to be a memoir and that the people in it are all real. I did like the book, the story it told and the recipes, some of which I will certainly attempt (some of the easy ones!)

One of the Modern Library Food Series which has re-published some great food writing, under the editorship of Ruth Reichl, of the late, lamented Gourmet magazine (I know there's online stuff, but it's just not the same). As well as a delightful narrative, this book has very detailed recipes provided by the title cook, who emigrated from Russia to Los Angeles in the 1920s. The book originally appeared as a series of articles in Gourmet magazine in the 1940s.

90. 1st ed dw.