For the October / November 2024 edition I chose the memoir Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (April 2021)
In August 2018, the author had an essay published on The New Yorker with the same title. It starts thus:
Ever since my mom died, I cry in H Mart. For those of you who don’t know, H Mart is a supermarket chain that specializes in Asian food. The “H” stands for han ah reum, a Korean phrase that roughly translates to “one arm full of groceries.” H Mart is where parachute kids go to get the exact brand of instant noodles that reminds them of home. It’s where Korean families buy rice cakes to make tteokguk, a beef soup that brings in the new year. It’s the only place where you can find a giant vat of peeled garlic, because it’s the only place that truly understands how much garlic you’ll need for the kind of food your people eat. H Mart is freedom from the single-aisle “ethnic” section in regular grocery stores.
From the book review on NPR:
[Crying in H Mart] powerfully maps a complicated mother-daughter relationship cut much too short. Stories of Korean food serve as the backbone of the book, as Zauner plumbs the connections between food and identity. That search takes on new urgency after her mother's death — in losing her mother, she also lost her strongest tether to Korean culture.
I'm looking forward to learning more about Korean cuisine.
Simona, briciole
Deadline for contributing your post: Saturday, November 30, 2024.
Leave a comment below with a link to your post or email me at simosite AT mac DOT com
Note: I borrowed the book from the library. Both the ebook and the audio version had long waiting lists. If you also plan to borrow the book, I recommend you check your library soon.
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