 I wanted Kin as soon as I saw it for no other reason than the artful cover that looks like a coloured construction paper rendering of a bird, head curled down to catch a golden egg. The image is iconic — an endless circle. Like a gift inside the cover, Marie Mitchell writes about it on the first page: “The Sankofa bird on the cover of this book is a symbol from Ghana, one that I have been drawn to for many years. Its beak is either carrying or reaching for an egg, its feet face forward while its head looks back, advising us to remember the lessons of the past as we journey on into the new world of the future—a practice I try to honor, and the spirit of Kin.” Emma Hall’s images wrap Mitchell’s words in the essays inside. They read like a higher love. “Here in Grenada…I’ve been able to find pockets of me that I thought were gone,” writes Mitchell. The books I love don’t have cooks on their cover. I also don’t need to see a food photo. I get that personality/celebrity and a gorgeous, finished dish are important to marketing and they sell lots of cookbooks, which is always and forever real good. I prefer a non-literal cover. Cooking engages my imagination, and I like to enter the kitchen that way. I can see through Kin to other cookbooks, like the ones in the pile below. They have a sparkling vision and express freedom and fun and personality and artful thinking. I imagine serious discussions with publishers. This kind of cover is easier to get in Europe than in North America. I had the same feeling the first time I saw Homa Dashtaki’s Yogurt and Whey. When I wrote about that book for the Washington Post I interviewed the Creative Director Sarah Cave. I wanted to talk to her as much as Homa. It was a nice conversation about book design. "We wanted a graphic abstract to look like pools of spilled cream in a color reminiscent of poured plaster,” she said. A big factor in my attraction are cooks and writers who work with creative teams. There is trust and kinship in the cookbooks DNA. Testing a cookbook calls for some cooking. Soon I will disappear into the kitchen and make Mitchell’s recipes mine. Then when I enjoy dinner I will think nice thoughts of her. This is Marie Mitchell. And here is a terrific piece of writing on Kin. *** One thing that we could do that would change life for all island and coastal people is to cap our use of fossil fuel. It is that simple. Filling up all our machines with gas and oil is directly tied to the severity of storms like Melissa (I do like the idea of naming storms after companies like British Petroleum). Island and coastal nations all over the globe are on the front line of the climate crisis. Fossil fuel and global travel corporations need to step up and fund rebuilding as an act of reparation. I hope we’ve reached the point where environmental architecture and design will protect them from future and certain catastrophe. The foundation of rebuilding must rest on the principle that beach access is a citizen’s right. This Al Jazeera documentary had a big impact on me when I heard it a year ago. Home for millions are places where we go to “get away.” This is the reality we need to think about when traveling. How does our being there do good? Boarding a plane is not a gateway to taking. If you want to help, there are organizations represented in the video link above, and World Central Kitchen is in Jamaica. Let’s come together. Send cash and nothing else, please. *** Two legends. 2025 & 2000Comments are closed.
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