3 Comments
User's avatar
Arjun Bali's avatar

That's so beautifully narrated. On the topic of language, I would highly recommend, if you have not already read it, Peggy Mohan’s fantastic book: Wanderers, Kings, Merchants

Elli Benaiah's avatar

I haven't yet read Peggy Mohan's Wanderers, Kings, Merchants, but from everything I've learned about it, it seems wonderfully close to the questions I'm trying to explore - using language to trace the movement of people, much as I'm trying to use food.

Since we're exchanging recommendations, may I suggest Samantha Ellis's Chopping Onions on My Heart (published in the US as Always Carry Salt)? Ellis is an Iraqi Jewish writer, and her book is a beautiful meditation on the loss of Judeo-Iraqi Arabic and the ways food, memory and language carry one another. It struck me as a fascinating companion to what Mohan appears to be doing from a different angle.

Arjun Bali's avatar

Aha! Adding it to my list. Thank you!