The Language of Baklava

Diana Abu-Jaber’s vibrant humorous memoir weaves together delicious food memories that illuminate the two cultures of her childhood—American and Jordanian. Here are stories of being raised by a food-obsessed Jordanian father and tales of Lake Ontario shish kabob cookouts and goat stew feasts under Bedouin tents in the desert. These sensuously evoked repasts complete with recipes paint a loving and complex portrait of Diana’s impractical displaced immigrant father who like many an immigrant before him cooked to remember the place he came from and to pass that connection on to his children. The Language of Baklava irresistibly invites us to sit down at the table with Diana’s family sharing unforgettable meals that turn out to be as much about “grace difference faith love” as they are about food.