We've hijacked Susie's blog and we're interviewing her. Susie (T. Susan Chang) has
been 
reviewing cookbooks for years for NPR and the
Boston Globe - there aren't many people around who know as much
about cookbooks as Susie. Now she's become an author with the
release this month of her own beautiful collection of stories, A Spoonful of
Promises, about food and love, with 49
recipes. At one of her recent book launch parties we asked
Susie how she first became interested in food and what it's
been like making the transition from reviewer to
author.
What inspired you to write the stories in A Spoonful of
Promises?
The very first food story of this kind I ever wrote was the one
called "The Chanterelles of Second Avenue" - it's the first story
in the book, and it's about some mushrooms I stole when I was
around 22. I wrote it for myself, because I wanted to explore
that memory and find a way to consider the power of food, and the
things it can make us do. (Well, and at some level I think I
needed to confess!) For me, food and feeling travel hand in
hand, and whether it's a question of desire, penitence, hope,
despair, or anything else, I feel I have a food story somewhere in
my mind.
After writing that first one, I knew I wanted to be able to
write more stories like that, but I didn't think I'd find a way to
publish them. So I was excited when NPR's Kitchen Window
series first gave me the freedom to share a little bit of this kind
of writing with the wider public. Later, finding a book
editor who understood my sensibility and getting to do an entire
book of them--that was almost too good to be true.
What kind of food household did you grow up in and how
did it influence you as a cook?
My mom was a talented visual artist, but she really put that
aside to throw herself into being our mom. She cooked about
half Chinese food and half Western dishes like roast chicken and
hamburgers and pasta; boeuf bourgignon was her party dish.
She was a really good cook, but she didn't define herself by it or
try to teach us. For a while she made dinner for us right
after we got home from school around 3, so we'd have the whole
afternoon to practice our instruments and do homework--that was the
priority.
By the time I became interested in cooking myself, my mom had
passed away; it was her Chinese food I really missed, especially
Kung pao chicken and wonton soup and steamed eggs and noodles with
pork. So a number of the recipes in the book came from me trying to
find my way back to those dishes from my childhood.
When did you first really fall in love with
food?
As a young urban professional, I often felt very confused and
insecure about work. But I understood food, and I loved all
kinds. I'd eat out all over Manhattan, and since I couldn't
afford to keep that up, I learned to cook. I still remember how
happy I would be to come home from work and have a little wine,
some good olives and bread and then start to cook--it was the
highlight of my day. Food turned out to be the first thing I
loved enough not to be afraid of being bad at it--if I failed, I
just ate it anyway and tried again the next day! and for that
reason, food really also became my path to wisdom.
What are some of the challenges you faced writing this
memoir?
The limits of memory! I remember feelings and food
vividly, but sometimes the surrounding details are not as
clear--the when, the where, sometimes even the who. In fact,
my sister says that one of the pictures in the book which I
describe as being of me is actually of her!
So my stories are like impressionistic snapshots, taken through
food-tinted glasses. I describe the few things I can remember
clearly, and then reconstruct the rest of the picture by staring at
the fuzzy parts of the memory with an imaginary magnifying
glass. I can vouch for the feeling, the food, and the
governing metaphor in each story. The rest is kind of up for
grabs.
From a writing point of view, what's it like describing
food every day?
Our language is pretty impoverished when it comes to food
terms. Apart from the taste descriptors like salty and sweet,
we have about twelve words, and they all basically mean
"Tasty!" Every time I write, I work my language engine very
hard to find new words to bring the food to life--I borrow from the
languages of other senses, I use buzzwords from other disciplines,
I rely on slang, motion-filled verbs, metaphors, whatever it
takes.
What do you hope readers will remember from your
book?
I hope readers come away with a friendly, real feeling about
food. It's not just: does it taste good or does it not taste
good? It's about what you were doing when you made it,
who you ate it with, the mood you were in before and how it made
you feel after. It's a way to remember and a way to
forget. It's a way to make mistakes and forgive yourself for
them. It's a way to remind yourself to actually live your
life, because there's nothing more immediate than the taste in your
mouth.
Oh-and if my readers are word people, I hope they come away with
some phrases that they like, because I think some of my coinages
are saturated with character. Sometimes I just chant "Zombie
Servants of the Noodle God!" over and over, because I like the way
it sounds.
After being a book reviewer for so many years, what's it
like writing your own book?
A little nerve-wracking! I don't think I could write a
straight-ahead cookbook like the ones I review. I don't see
A Spoonful of Promises as a cookbook - I don't even
try to compete on that front. I can see what some people
might not like about it if they approach it as a cookbook; they
might want more recipes, or fewer, or a more focused
selection. That said, every time I dip into the book, there's
this wonderful feeling of Ah yes! that is exactly what I meant to
say. I could get used to that feeling.
Do you have future book projects in mind?
Yes, definitely. I'd like to write another book of
stories, perhaps one a little more focused or thematic. I have a
bunch of other back burner ideas for books, but that's what I'd
like to do next. Writing a book was so much more fun than anything
else I've ever done in my life that I really hope I get to keep
doing it.