Life Stories #52: Ann Mah & Anya von Bremzen

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photos: Katia Grimmer-Laversanne (Mah); John von Pamer (von Bremzen)

This episode of Life Stories brings together two women whose food-inflected memoirs took their titles from the same Julia Child classic: Ann Mah writes about her excursions to find the great regional dishes of France in Mastering the Art of French Eating, while Anya von Bremzen combines the history of her family in the Soviet Union with an exploration of the complex interplay between the party line on Soviet cuisine and the realities of what people ate in Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking.

Two very different projects—but as you’ll learn over the course of our conversation, Mah and von Bremzen do share some common ground, from their mutual backgrounds in travel and food journalism to the roles that family and memory play in each of their stories. And, perhaps most importantly, the realization that a great dish isn’t necessarily defined by its ingredients, but by the experience of preparing and enjoying it with others. (You’ll also learn about the distinctive aroma of andouillette, and the favorite dish of Joseph Stalin… both of which, I have to confess, sounded delicious!)

Listen to Life Stories #52: Ann Mah & Anya von Bremzen (MP3 file); or download this file by right-clicking (Mac users, option-click). Or subscribe to Life Stories in iTunes, where you can catch up with earlier episodes and be alerted whenever a new one is released. (And if you are an iTunes subscriber, please consider rating and reviewing the podcast!)

11 November 2013 | life stories |