This was really interesting! I'm doing Book Riot's Read Harder challenge this year, and one of the tasks was to read a food book about a cuisine I hadn't tried before. One star for the recipes, but really, Ant Egg Soup could have done without the snide political asides. Where was America anyway? I mean, WTF man? What's that got to do with a food tourist book? It starts off thinly disguised with the educated and wealthy young American girl who warned her of drug scams in Muang Sing, then reveals itself in obvious disdain at the end of chapter 9 when she writes I still didn't know who had won the American elections and I didn't care. The last straw was the author's disapproval for America/Americans. (all within the distance of a few pages or paragraphs) and subject discrepancies (who the hell is Tony in Starving in Udomxai when there was only Marge and Terry?) all made it that much more annoying to spot. The repetitiion of words like really so early on in the book points that she wanted to get across - I had to find out more. it was like hearing someone daydreaming out loud.
This is a must-read for anyone interested in Southeast Asia, Laos, or foreign travel.ĭNF - I managed to get to the end of chapter 9 before giving up on this uninspiring and unengaging tale, but I'll most likely go on to the final chapter - Ant Egg Soup - to find out if eating soupy ant eggs are all that.
The style of writing is smooth and brings forth images that linger with the reader, like the morning fog of Luang Prabang. She goes into detail of the sights, smells, tastes, textures, and visual qualities of the foods she tries, and brings it all together as an entire experience, including interactions with the locals and having to smile through culinary adversity. She visits towns and villages and eats foods most of us would not dare try, including ant egg soup.Įating is a whole-body and whole-spirit experience for the author.
She writes not only of royal dishes, however. The author, a foodie at heart, had the travel bug from an early age and was excited to visit Laos after acquiring some recipes popular with the royal court previous to the overthrow by the Pathet Lao. It interweaves food, history, travel, personal awareness into one cohesive tome. This book is much more than just a travel story.
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