The Culinary Book Club at Kitchen Conservatory (anyone is welcome to sign up and join us) is currently reading an especially good book. Over the last two years, we have read, discussed, and eaten from novels, memoirs, histories, and food politics and science. September’s selection is “Tastes Like Cuba,” a memoir by Eduardo Machado.

What qualities make for a good food memoir? First, I want to salivate at the descriptions of the food. Second, the food needs to be a central part of the story. Third, a good story needs to be well-written and compelling. Since this author is a playwright, he writes his life story with lots of dialogue in the present tense, which is more fun to read than “I remember when this happened.” Machado’s memoir delivers on all three points.

Please join us on Sunday, September 21 at 1 pm for our Novel Cuisine book club. The menu is chock full of Cuban flavors and the class participants get to be both book critic and food critic at the same time!