Book Details:
Book Description:
Illyanna Maisonet spent years documenting her family’s Puerto Rican recipes and preserving the island’s disappearing foodways through rigorous, often bilingual research. In Diasporican, she shares over 90 recipes, some of which were passed down from her grandmother and mother—classics such as Tostones, Pernil, and Arroz con Gandules, as well as Pinchos with BBQ Guava Sauce, Rabbit Fricassee with Chayote, and Flan de Queso.
In this visual record of Puerto Rican food, ingredients, and techniques, Illyanna traces the island’s flavor traditions to the Taino, Spanish, African, and even United States' cultures that created it. These dishes, shaped by geography, immigration, and colonization, reflect the ingenuity and diversity of their people. Filled with travel and food photography, Diasporican reveals how food connects us to family, history, conflict, and migration.
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About the Author: Illyanna Maisonet
Illyanna Maisonet was the United States' first Puerto Rican food columnist for a major newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, and sold out pop-up dinners across the San Francisco Bay Area. An IACP award winner for narrative food writing, she has collaborated with José Andrés for Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story wrap party, contributed recipes to Rancho Gordo, authored a crowdfunded cookbooklet, and has written for the Los Angeles Times, Bon Appétit, Saveur, Food52, Food & Wine, Lucky Peach, and more.
She has dedicated her career to documenting Puerto Rican recipes, including her family's, and preserving the Puerto Rican diaspora's disappearing foodways through rigorous, often bilingual research.
She was also born and raised in Northern California where she still resides with her cats: Che, Chillón and Pavo. And Mami.
My Thoughts: Not Your Run of the Mill Cookbook
If you're looking at Diasporican as your run of the mill cookbook, you will be sorely disappointed, and you will end up missing out on a great experience. Diasporican is a combination memoir, history book, and cookbook, which is what makes it so special. The author does a great job of bringing her personal connections into the recipes. She also shares a lot of the history behind the culture of Puerto Rico and its impact on the foods.
I like that the recipes are not watered down with non traditional ingredients. They are very much the real deal which is what true Puerto Rican cuisine is all about. I also appreciate the anecdotes the author shared with the recipes. While I greatly enjoyed the book, I will caution you that the author did not filter her use of some profanity. It is not overdone, but it does exist, so be forewarned. In my humble opinion, I feel that language isn't necessary and is the only thing that put me off a bit. Even so, I recommend Diasporican to all.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All comments and opinions are strictly my own.
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