Search results for ""author elissa altman""

“[A] gorgeously-written . . . brave and generous memoir” about growing up in a family with conflicting ideas about being Jewish and finding your own path (Dani Shapiro, New York Times–bestselling author of Inheritance). Though culturally Jewish, Elissa Altman was not raised religious. Her mother, an aspiring actor, didn’t feel the ancient teachings of the Talmud were relevant to modern life. Her father, the son of a cantor whose family died in the Holocaust, was the consummate rule breaker, caught between his spiritual hunger and his ongoing culinary affair with shellfish and spam—all things treyf, that which is unkosher and therefore forbidden. Altman’s youth was laced with contradiction and hope, betrayal and the yearning to belong. Synagogue on Saturday and Chinese pork ribs on Sunday. Bacon for breakfast before going to visit her orthodox grandparents. Longing for the religious traditions that grounded her friends’ lives, Altman attended Hebrew school, only to discover her own prohibited desire for other women. After her parents’ marriage fell apart, Altman found a haven at her grandmother’s house, cooking meals that made her feel whole again while embracing her homosexuality. Her story is a poignant, humorous and uplifting account of learning how to honor your past while becoming your most authentic self. “What makes Treyf so original is the author’s wry humor and her gimlet eye. . . . Her prose shines.” —The Wall Street Journal “A beautiful, brilliant memoir filled with striking images, unforgettable people, and vivid stories. . . . Wrought with such visceral love that the pages shimmer.” —Kate Christensen, author of Blue Plate Special “Gorgeous, singular, heartbreaking, haunting.” —Joanna Rakoff, author of My Salinger Year “Hard to put down.” —Booklist “Poignant and life-affirming.” —Kirkus Reviews

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“[A] smart yet tender tale. . . . Sometimes heartbreaking, often hilarious . . . one of the finest food memoirs of recent years.” - The New York Times Book ReviewFor a woman raised by a weight-obsessed mother and a father who rebelled by sneaking his daughter out to lavish meals at such fine dining establishments as Le Pavillon and La Grenouille, food could be a fraught proposition. Not that this stopped Elissa Altman from pursuing a culinary career. Everything Elissa cooked was inspired by the French haute cuisine she once secretly enjoyed with her dad, from the rare game birds she served at extravagant dinner parties held in her tiny New York City apartment to the eight timbale molds she purchased from Dean & Deluca, just so she could make her food tall. All that elegance was called into question when Elissa fell in love with Susan, a small-town woman whose idea of fine dining was a rustic meal served on her best tag sale TV tray. Susan’s devotion to simple living astounded Elissa, even as it changed the way she thought about food--;and the family who taught her everything she understood about it--forever.Based on the James Beard Award–winning blog and filled with twenty-six delicious recipes, Poor Man’s Feast is one woman’s achingly honest, often uproarious journey to making peace with food and finding lasting love.

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