Sisterhood of the Traveling Chopsticks

This Week’s Film: The Quiet American

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Every afternoon for the past two weeks, I?ve spent ?happy hour? curled up in a big wicker chair on my balcony reading Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam by Kim Fay. Kim was my endlessly patient and indefatigable editor for To Japan With Love, and now, in a literary turnabout, I?m reviewing her book this week.

A native of the Pacific Northwest, Kim spent four years in her early adulthood living and working in Vietnam. Along the way, she fell in love?with a man…with a Vietnamese family?with a cuisine?with a country.

Upon her return to the U.S., Kim settled in Los Angeles. But her nostalgia for all that she holds dear about Vietnam inspired her to plan a five-week return trip with her sister Julie and gal-pal Huong (pictured), to rendezvous with old friends, reunite with her adoptive family, and especially for the prime directive of gathering recipes and learning to make all her favorite Vietnamese dishes. Communion is a vividly detailed and intimate chronicle of her trip?both literal and figurative?down b? nh? ngõ?memory lane.

A recipe from Communion will be posted at the end of the week, along with my review of the book, and a film review of The Quiet American.