TASTE MAKERS: SEVEN IMMIGRANT WOMEN WHO REVOLUTIONIZED FOOD IN AMERICA
I recently revisited one of my favorite books from 2021—Mayukh Sen’s TASTE MAKERS: SEVEN IMMIGRANT WOMEN WHO REVOLUTIONIZED FOOD IN AMERICA, and I would be remiss not to pass it on to all of you here. Sen, in his authorial debut, honors a group of seven extraordinary women in biographical accounts that are compassionate, smart, and cinematic— I truly felt as though I was watching a short film, reading his words—particularly as he detailed each woman’s journey navigating the unforgiving American culinary world that deprived them of the honor and recognition they deserved. As a prolific food writer and journalist, Sen pays deep attention to the public and private challenges these women faced in trying to express their love and passion for food—and in doing so, he does the most radical thing of all: He allows their lives to speak for themselves. Sen does’t try to rework their lives into a digestible form for American audiences but rather provides a raw and respectful account of each woman's life. As someone who was not born in the United States, I found it so refreshing to read a book that celebrates the lives of immigrant women who are frequently misunderstood and disregarded by American media.
—Nimarta Narang, Digital Fellow
