Living and Cooking Vietnamese: An American Woman's Experience

A friend borrowed this book to me and I read it while traveling to my sister-in-law's wedding. I am an American woman married to a Vietnamese-born man and found the recipes to be helpful, but secondary to the wonderful stories and descriptions of her experience of this rich culture. I couldn't believe the similarities as I lived through the wedding experience and she described it there on paper! (My wedding was very American with little of the cultural pieces. My sister in law's wedding was all Vietnamese.) This was a great find!

I really enjoyed this cookbook. The recipes taste very authentic and are easy enough to prepare for the home cook. Have you ever sat down with a friend in her kitchen and copied down a family recipe off of a well worn index card or watched as a relative chopped and stirred while you made a mental note of the ingredients and preparation method so you could repeat it and pass down the recipe to your family? The recipes in this cookbook are those kinds of recipes - I really feel like I got a chance to peek into (and copy) Mrs. Tran's personal recipe box. If you enjoy "community cookbook" style recipes - ones that are actually used in homes as opposed to restaurants, then you will probably also enjoy this cookbook. There are no pictures, but I do not think that is a drawback. The recipes are homey, delicious, and less daunting than those often found in a more typical cookbook.