Hidden Kitchens: Stories, Recipes, and More from NPR’s The Kitchen Sisters
by Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson
Rodale Books, 320 pp., $27.50
I have long been fascinated by food traditions and rituals, as well as by food writing that goes well beyond the plate. While getting my anthropology degree at UT, I used my studies as a way to explore human aspects of food production, preparation, and consumption, and I have been researching and reading all I can about culinary history and traditions ever since. When my friend and colleague MM Pack told me about the Kitchen Sisters’ NPR program Hidden Kitchens, I was very intrigued.Hidden Kitchens is the highly acclaimed radio series produced by Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva, aka the Kitchen Sisters, for Morning Edition. When the Hidden Kitchens project began, the Sisters and co-producer Jay Allison opened up a hotline and asked listeners to comment on things like “What food traditions are disappearing from your life?” and “Who glues your community together through food?” The response was overwhelming, and hundreds of listeners called to share their stories. Following tips from these callers, the Sisters embarked on an ongoing nationwide exploration of street-corner cooking, traditional meals, kitchen rituals, regional oddities, and endangered recipes. Their new book chronicles some of these stories, offering a glimpse into many of America’s rich and complex culinary traditions. It takes the reader along on a journey of discovery of the “hidden” culinary cultures of America, from the fascinating Burgoo Festival in Kentucky and the historic Chili Queens of San Antonio to a homeless man from Southside Chicago whose George Foreman grill is not only a “hidden kitchen” but a connection to the real hunger and poverty that the boxing legend himself endured as a child.
This is a fascinating, endearing, and enlightening book that offers a vision of American life and identity as seen through cooking, reminding us of how family and community traditions are very often, and sometimes inadvertently, passed along through food.
This article appears in December 2 • 2005.
