"Trail of Crumbs" book review

Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home

Kim Sunee

2008

(Image credit: http://www.kimsunee.com/books.html)

I really, really wanted to like this memoir. It had been recommended by a few friends, and the description on the book jacket made it seem right up my alley- an adventurous young woman travels the world in search of love and a sense of place (she was born in Korea and adopted by an American family at age 3), cooking all the while. 

It took me a while to post this review, because the book was such a drag to get through. I hate to spend much time writing about a book that I didn't enjoy (because it's not like anyone reading this is going to go out and read it now) but it was on my list of books to read in 2012. So. I read it. 

I think part of the problem for me was that the majority of recipes that Kim interjects into each chapter were based in French cooking. And (no offense to Julia Child), French cooking just doesn't intrigue me. It's stuffy, inaccessible, heavy-sounding, and relies too much on animals and animal parts that I don't want to eat. 

Kim writes of what must have been a confusing, dramatic time in her life with very little passion. She's supposedly madly in love with a famous French business man (who, to be frank, seems to be a complete ass from the beginning of the book), and claims to find solace in cooking. Why did I feel like her writing was so passion-less? I wanted to drool over her words, feel inspired to cook new French dishes, admire her emotional strength. Instead, I struggled to stay awake through each long chapter. (And to be honest, I made it about 4/5 of the way through the book, mostly through a sense of obligation, and then it was due at the library so I returned it before finishing it.)

There were, however, two food items that I was inspired by in "Trail of Crumbs". At one point, Kim travels to North Africa and eats a dish with harissa, a hot sauce common in the region. I've read about it before and I'd like to try it. I live in an area with a lot of African immigrants, so I think I'll be able to find a can of it to try. The other dish is one that I'll cook some time in the next few weeks- an Orange Couscous Salad. 

(Inspired by "Trail of Crumbs")

2 c. cooked couscous

1/4 c. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

2 oranges- one juiced, one zested and chopped

handful chopped parsley

handful chopped mint

chopped cucumber

1/2 c raisins