I dare you to read Lessons in Fusion without positively drooling at all the luscious descriptions of food.
Author Primrose Madayag Knazan has developed her skill at writing about food on her Instagram page Peg on a Plate where she describes in exquisite detail the items she’s tried at various Winnipeg and Manitoba eating establishments.
Her novel Lessons in Fusion has plenty of mouth-watering descriptions of all kinds of dishes. There are even tempting recipes at the beginning of every chapter!
In Lessons in Fusion Knazan uses her culinary and social media expertise to craft an exciting story about a 16-year-old foodie from Winnipeg named Sarah who has won a spot in an online cooking competition called Cyber Chef.
Sarah has been writing a blog where she features recipes she has tried and photographed. Most of her recipes come from her Jewish heritage. Her Dad is Jewish and Sarah often cooked with her Jewish grandmother before she died.
The Cyber Chef directors however try to steer Sarah away from cooking traditional Jewish dishes and are much more interested in Sarah’s Filipino heritage. Sarah’s Mom is Filipino and they want Sarah to enter dishes from Filipino cuisine in the competition.
But Sarah barely knows anything about her Filipino relatives or Filipino traditions. Her mother is estranged from both her family and her culture. Sarah is not sure why.
Some interesting things about the book for me were………..
the text message exchanges which often take the place of more traditional dialogue
the inside look at the ethical quandaries of reality-type programming
the fact the story takes place during the pandemic and how that impacts the plot
the Winnipeg setting of the novel which makes it especially appealing to those of us who live here
the suspenseful revelation of the mysterious reasons for Sarah’s mothers’ estrangement from her heritage
the way the novel moves around in time to help us understand the history of Sarah’s family
how Sarah learns so much about herself over the course of the novel
May is Asian Heritage Month and Lessons in Fusion was a perfect read to celebrate the complexity and richness of that heritage for many young Canadians.
Other posts………..
Who is Dr. Rizal and What Is He Doing in Winnipeg?