Serving Up: Essays on Food, Identity and Culture

by Zoe Adjonyoh (Editor)

A groundbreaking collection of essays about food and its powerful link to identity, culture and community, from twenty exciting voices around the world.

We hear about a family ritual of drying mango and pickling limes in India, and the search for a father’s favourite hotdog in North Carolina. We investigate Latino food in cinema and vegetarianism in Buddhist diets, the cultural appropriation of Chinese food and the effect of gentrification on Black communities. And we learn about the grassroots organisations fighting for change, for equality for farmers and for better mental health provisions in kitchens, where toxicity and micro-aggressions are rife.

Edited by renowned chef and activist Zoe Adjonyoh, and featuring a foreword by acclaimed author and broadcaster Yasmin Khan, Serving Up is an electric, urgent anthology campaigning for representation around our dinner tables, wherever that dinner table may be.

Includes essays Abigail Koffler, Apoorva Sripathi, Chris Nigro, Cynthia Greenlee, Duron Chavis, Fatima Tarkleman, Hassel Aviles, Izzie Ramirez, Lee Tran Lam, Lenore Adkins, Mavis-Jay Sanders, Samah Dada, Scott Alves Barton, Selasie Dotse, Tambra Raye Stevenson, Tiffani Rozier, Vanessa Parish, Yoshivel Elise Chirinos.

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

Published October 7, 2025

Reviews

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Food for thought: We all deserve a seat at the table

“A good recipe can read like a good story, and it can shape narratives through a medium we can all relate to: a really good meal.”

I wanted to read this collection based off the cover and title and I’m pleased to report that it lived up to my expectations. I laughed, I gasped, I raised an eyebrow and I got downright angry. I enjoyed majority of the essays and learned quite a bit about the hospitality industry and food media. I know what it’s like to work in a hectic kitchen at a busy restaurant so a few of the essays are relatable.

It’s interesting and eye opening to read about the experiences of those from various backgrounds and positions in the industry. Each essay is written with passion, love, and valid criticism with questions such as, “Who are you to say my food is too spicy?, Who are they to decide that Chinese food needs an update?, How can this White person trademark a traditional dish that isn’t part of his culture?” (major side eye to Aloha Poke Co.😒)

Serving Up is a groundbreaking collection of essays about food and its powerful link to identity, culture, and community. Some of my favorites are: Columbusing Food And What It Looks Like by Lenore T. Adkins, Un Asiento En La Mesa: Musings On Food And Cinema by Yoshivel Elise Chirinos, ‘It’s Too Spicy’ And Other Such Bullshit by Fatima ‘Fatti’ Tarkleman, The Things We Could Not Swallow by Cynthia Greenlee, Why Black Spaces Are Needed In An Industry by Selasie Dotse, and Find Your People by Mavis-Jay Sanders.

I would’ve loved an essay on the rise of social media food influencers and how it affects the industry or those who’ve been doing the work for years. But this is a great read, highly recommend! Thanks to Netgalley and Unbound for the arc!

[Violet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this collection! I enjoy reading about food, and I liked the variety of these essays - by chefs, farmers, food critics, food writers... - about food, race, politics... What does it mean to be a Black farmer in the US? Why is Chinese food known (wrongly) as unhealthy and dirty? Who gets to judge that something is "too spicy"? Why is cultural appropriation wrong, and how does it harm the cultures and the people who are being stolen from? Why are restaurants known for being such toxic environments?

I loved in particular essays by Mavis-Jay Sanders and Selasie Dotse about the hospitality industry and being a Black chef in a predominently white environment, and the importance of Black-owned and Black-run businesses and restaurants; and Chris Nigro's moving essay about watching his hands transform and change in the kitchen after transitioning.

My ARC says at each chapter "Art to come" and I'll check the artwork when it is out; the essays were a delight to read, informative, well-written and interesting.

Free ARC sent by Netgalley.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting read for me. We all tend to take food around us for granted - in the UK we are fortunate enough to have a melting pot of cuisines available day and night. But very rarely do we give any thought to the cultures behind them - or the how and why those foods became staple dishes of the areas, or whether other cultures should "steal" the recipes and the cultures, as is often done.

This book is selection of essays which goes some way to answering these questions, and for me, has given me an appetite to read more about the topic, I want to understand better the provenance of the recipes and the cultures in which they were developed.

A book of essays is often difficult to read in a linear fashion, and I found this book the same: I have dipped in and out of it for the past month. Every essay is a worthwhile and thought-provoking read.

This is so applicable to my future plans too: I am setting up a food blog, where most of the recipes will be veganised, and I have a core list of ingredients - chilli, coconut, lemon, lime, chocolate, pineapple and coffee - none of which are UK ingredients - so I will now be researching the provenance of ingredients and recipes and educating my readers (and myself!) so that a fuller understanding of the culture, reason and meaning behind each recipe is gained. Previously I was planning to do that with the veganising part, now it will encompass the ingredients and recipes too!

Thank you to Net Galley and Boundless Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of essays centralling around food, written by authors that are Black, POC and/or queer. Voices that don’t often get center stage in the world of hospitality. If you love food, if food is big in your culture, or if you’re interested in other foods and cultures: read this collection. It’ll make your mouth water and your heart happy.

[Ritattoo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bullshit. Anti-white, whiny, aggressive authors, language so „woke“ that sometimes I was not even sure of words. I expected interesting, all over the world, food-related stories, I got a lot of nonsense instead. Read it if you have a nosering, lila hair and unidentified -another bs- sexual identity. Then it’s your book. If you happen to be a normal, interested, open person who is ok with who she is and wishes that for others, then give this book a miss. Anyway, be vegan too w/o the LABEL of it, of course. God, give me patience!

[Haxxunne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for what it is
—
In this collection of essays from the perspective of people working in food, primarily in the United States, we are given a diversity of in-roads to how food and culture intersect. Each is distinct from the next but the overall book explores who gets to tell stories about food, the barriers between public and private attitudes to food that is ‘other,’ who gets to be an expert in food from other countries, other cultures, sub-cultures.

It’s a book designed to be dipped into, each essay standing on its own but still contributing to the whole. I could have given it four stars but I felt that it missed some obvious wins, such as providing a little more context around each essay, or using other material that may have been published elsewhere but which would round out the essays. I think the biggest lack for me was a wider diversity of voices, such as academic, sociological or cultural studies writing, which could have offered nuanced, comparative takes on what is otherwise a set of personal opinions. There is a deep seam of cultural food writing that appears to be unacknowledged in this book, and having lay contributions from scholars in the field would have only served to deepen the argument.

[RedReviews4You Susan-Dara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Serving Up is a thought-provoking and enlightening collection of essays that explores the rich intersection of food, identity, and culture. Featuring a diverse range of authors and essay lengths, this anthology offers pieces that are both deeply personal and illuminating. There is so much about the food industry that lives behind the galley doors that the servers pass through and that keeps so much hidden from the diners and the general public. This book held open those doors and gives the reader a glimpse into that world. Each essay invites readers to reexamine the food that we eat—not just as mere sustenance, but as a cultural artifact and mirror to the world we inhabit.

Through reflections on race, gender, sexuality, mental health, and systemic inequities, Serving Up challenges us to consider who gets to shape the narratives around dining, cooking, and belonging. This is essential reading for anyone who eats out, works in food spaces, or simply wants to understand the stories that have long been underrepresented in culinary conversations.

[A Bookworm Crafts · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series of essays written by food professionals delves into topics such as culture, identity, belonging. They often highlight the lack of inclusivity in professional kitchens and the need for reform in this field.

I would recommend dipping in and out of this book as I found it difficult to read in one stretch (as collections of essays often are).

A recommended read for those who want to learn more about food culture and current issues in the hospitality industry.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boundless Publishing Group for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Tri · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy*

A series of essays that focus on food and community- You might have peeped some similar discussions either in other books or online, but this book is a nice blend of everything all in one go. Deeply personal and introspective, I thought it was a nice collection.

[Mitsy_Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only 150 pages, but dense with 19 short essays on food, identity and culture. Some of them read like a thesis and I didn’t enjoy them so much, but there are some more intimate memoir style essays that are bangers 🥹💓 4 🌟