Food for Talk is a book club for anyone interested in cooking!  Instructions on how to join this community of home cooks and fellow culinary travelers can be found after the description of this month's cookbook.  If reading about food, experimenting with new recipes and learning from other cooks sounds fun, sign up and join us on the second Sunday of every month at 3pm! Locations vary.

This month 2 cookbooks!:  Islas: A Celebration of Tropical Cooking by Von Diaz and Caribe: A Caribbean Cookbook with History by Keshia Sakara

Please register with Barbara Shatara at bshatara@burlingtonvt.gov 

About this month's cookbooks:

Islas by Von Diaz

This fascinating book connects the food of far-flung islands, exploring the connections and distinctions which characterize islands like Puerto Rico and Curacao, Madagascar and the Seychelles, Guam and Vanuatu.

Puerto-Rican born author Von Diaz does more than simply present an array of recipes. Looking at the way the cooks adapt and employ techniques and ingredients, she highlights the complex cultural legacies which introduced foods, and sometimes enslaved people, from around the world.

Through her focus on cooking methods common to all the islands, Diaz emphasizes everyday dishes which may not be what tourists are most familiar with. While it's possible to find recipes for such foods with their focus on seafood and tropical fruit, Islas reveals the importance of “earthiness, richness, intensity, saltiness, sourness, brininess.”

Caribe by Keshia Sakara

Caribe is the first cookbook to explore Caribbean food culture of the entire region: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Petite Martinique and the Carriacou, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, The French Caribbean, The Dutch West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago. Through years-long research including collaborations with historians and extensive travel to the islands, food writer and chef Keshia Sakarah explores the complicated and varied stories of each nation through its beloved dishes, addressing difficult truths while at the same time creating a joyful collection of the most celebrated recipes in the region to pay homage to those who created them, from Haitian Independence – Soup Joumou and Dominican Saltfish Accra Fritters, to Guyanese Pepperpot and Montserratian Fish Broth, passed on through generations.

How to Join:

It's as easy as 1, 2, 3...
1. Register with Barbara Shatara bshatara@burlingtonvt.gov
2. Pick up a copy of the book from the Library's Main Desk. 
3. Read it, make a dish (not required though) and bring it to the discussion at 3 pm.