Of Morsels and Marvels

by Maryse Condé, Richard Philcox (Translator)

For many, cooking is simply the mechanical act of reproducing standard recipes. To Maryse Condé, however, cooking implies creativity and personal invention, on par with the complexity of writing a story. A cook, she explains, uses spices and flavors the same way an author chooses the music and meaning of words.
 
In Of Morsels and Marvels, Condé takes us on a literary journey around places she has travelled to in India, Indonesia, and South Africa. She highlights the tastes and culinary traditions that are fascinating examples of a living museum. Such places, Condé explains, provide important insights into lesser-known aspects of contemporary life. One anecdote illustrates what becomes of the standard Antillean dishes of fish stew and goat curry by two Antilleans who own a restaurant in Sydney, Australia. Cuisine changes not only according to the individual cook but also adapts to foreign skies under which it is created. The author also recounts personal memories of her lifelong relationship with cooking, such as when Adélia, her family’s servant, wrongly blames little Maryse for mixing raisins with fish and using her imagination in the kitchen.
 
Blending travel with gastronomy, this enchanting volume from the winner of the 2018 Alternative Nobel Prize will delight all who marvel at the wonders of the kitchen or seek to taste the world.
 

Genres: Essays, Travel, Food, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography Memoir, Food Writing

324 pages, Hardcover

First published April 8, 2015

About the author

Maryse Condé was a Guadeloupean, French language author of historical fiction, best known for her novel Segu. Maryse Condé was born as Maryse Boucolon at Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, the youngest of eight children. In 1953, her parents sent her to study at Lycée Fénelon and Sorbonne in Paris, where she majored in English. In 1959, she married Mamadou Condé, an Guinean actor. After graduating, she taught in Guinea, Ghana, and Senegal. In 1981, she divorced, but the following year married Richard Philcox, English language translator of most of her novels.

Condé's novels explore racial, gender, and cultural issues in a variety of historical eras and locales, including the Salem witch trials in I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem and the 19th century Bambara Empire of Mali in Segu.

In addition to her writings, Condé had a distinguished academic career. In 2004 she retired from Columbia University as Professor Emeritus of French. She had previously taught at the University of California, Berkeley, UCLA, the Sorbonne, The University of Virginia, and the University of Nanterre.

In March 2007, Condé was the keynote speaker at Franklin College Switzerland's Caribbean Unbound III conference, in Lugano, Switzerland.

Reviews

[Rennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this suffered from a bit of mismarketing. Although her writing about food, and eloquent argument for why cooking is a profession/hobby to celebrate and respect as much as writing and literature are wonderful elements of these essays, they're far from being the focal point. These are really about her travels, and what she drew from each trip or location, woven into her reminiscences of people, events, moments with her husband, fraught family relationships and the like. Some of the writing is absolutely sublime -- I highlighted so many lines that are just absolutely gorgeous, or relatable, or heartbreaking. Elsewhere I wish she'd gone into a little bit more of how/what she felt, which she tends to draw back from doing just as she approaches is. And that's a shame, because when she reveals these little corners of her heart, she does it with the most meaningful observations.

So it's a little bit about food, more about places she's been, sketched out in various amounts of detail. Not what it's made out to be but completely worth the read. The writing is lovely even in translation (by her husband!)

[Marie-Eve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Je suis étonnée par le choix du terme « merveilles » dans le titre. J’ai l’impression que Maryse Condé souligne davantage ses déceptions que ses émerveillements. Ça demeure intéressant, mais c’est moins sensuel et plus désenchanté que ce à quoi je m’attendais.

[Dena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a good insight to books that I read. I found this a great read but slightly a bit boring at times.

[Maëlla K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about what inspired Maryse Condé to write and her fear of not being able to write something new and original. If you read her books, then you get a few behind the scenes of how she created her stories. And you figure out what was truly invented or real. If this is your first book, you might enjoy it better if you see it as an introduction to recap the different interpretations of the main theme of her books: the tension between figuring out who you are and how society perceives you.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have not read Conde’s other books, which might have out me at a disadvantage, but I found this book dull and repetitive. Each chapter is more or less: “I got invited to a conference/ festival/ talk in an interesting place. The audience was unappreciative. The food was crap. Then a friend or stranger rescued me and fed me this interesting dish.”

[LeBossu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Au fil des voyages, des rencontres et des souvenirs, la fierté, voire la vanité d’avoir construit une carrière littéraire ; les questions d’identité, d’appartenance, et du racisme. Des opinions bien à elle, la plaçant parfois à contre-courant ; une curiosité insatiable

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

First of all, this is not a food book so do not be deceived by the marketing that suggests it is. If you are looking for a book that will engage your imagination with visions of exotic meals and cuisines, or one to inspire you to the kitchen to bravely explore new foods and flavors, or to tempt you with rich descriptions of delicate tastes and exquisite aromas, there are many books that will fill that order and this is not one of them. It is a memoir of an extremely well-traveled author who notes many of the foods she is served and prepares herself, but they are hardly the focus, only sparingly described, and she doesn’t seem to enjoy even half of what she eats.

What I have found most fascinating about this book is the paradox of how it has made the author seem incredibly irritating yet made me curious and even excited to read her fiction. The book documents her extensive travels and most annoyingly her constant boredom, dismissal, and disappointment with the people places, and events she experiences. At times, it reads as a list of people and places she doesn’t like. She constantly laments the burden of travel, the ignorance of her readers, and the pedantic attitude of her seminar hosts and audiences. She seems insufferable.


Despite all of that, she is an engaging writer and I found myself eager to take each trip with her and her poor, translator husband and hear more about her unmet expectations.

[Chacha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Attention, sous-couvert de nous parler de nourriture (dont il est trop peu question finalement) ce livre contient de l’homophobie, du snobisme, de l’anti-féminisme, du sexisme, de la complaisance avec la colonisation de la Palestine - alors que Maryse Condé se réclame de Frantz Fanon ! Je suis si déçue et dans l’incompréhension.

[divsmath · Rating 1 out of 5]

Most bougie pretentious text I have read all year. Annoying self-righteousness.
The redeeming quality is that at least it made me want to cook again and be more adventurous in the kitchen. Whatever. Skip it.