I listened to Slow Noodles: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Recipes by Chantha Nguon and Kim Green, upon the recommendation of a friend, and it was well worth reading, despite the sometimes difficult subject matter.
Nguon, born in 1962 in Cambodia to an ethnically Vietnamese mother and Khmer father, had a happy childhood, but in 1975 her family fled to Saigon during the end of the Vietnam War, when the Khmer Rouge took over in Cambodian. Later, she spent 10 years in a Thai refugee camp before being able to return to Cambodia. Through the hardship and hunger, she retained memories of her mother’s kitchen, where she spent hours making complex dishes for the family and guests.
As the youngest daughter, Nguon started her life with several mother-figures in the form of her older sisters and mother, but was left to make her way alone at 18 when all have passed away or left. She works as a cook in a brothel, and she makes and sells street food, trying to earn enough money to change her circumstances. She has a facility with languages, and she and her partner/husband work hard to learn while in the refugee camp when their attempts to escape to the West by boat were not successful. When it finally becomes safe to return to Cambodia, they work as translators, and start their own nonprofit to assist women with their education and to learn a skill to support themselves.
Each chapter begins with a recipe, some simple and others more complex, and it made me want to try some Cambodian food. The audiobook was narrated by Nguon’s daughter, Clara Kim, which was a nice touch. Though it was difficult to read about what Nguon went through, reading it is a way to bear witness to the struggle and hopefully that knowledge will help prevent the violence and hardships from happening again.
I consider it weight-neutral as there were few descriptions of body size.
Reading While Fat 