Product Description
A tantalizing Caribbean memoir--part cookbook, part family history--by "one of the more talented novelists at work in the English language today" (Norman Mailer). Reminiscent of Like Water for Chocolate, Pig Tails 'n Breadfruit blends lyrical, evocative writing with engaging descriptions of how to cook the dishes of Austin Clarke's native Barbados. Winner of the 1999 Martin Luther King, Jr., Achievement Award and author of eight highly praised novels and five short-story collections, Clarke is considered one of the preeminent Caribbean writers of our time. Pig Tails 'n Breadfruit describes the way he learned traditional Bajan recipes--food that has its origins in the days of slavery, hardship, and economic grief--by listening to his mother, aunts, and cousins talk about food while they cooked it. From Oxtails with Mushrooms, Smoked Ham Hocks with Lima Beans, and Breadfruit Cou-Cou with Braising Beef, to Clarke's renowned Chicken Austintacious, each dish evokes the vibrant, sun-drenched island of his childhood and is accompanied by stories about the rituals of food and family. The result is not only succulent food, but a unique portrait of growing up in Barbados in the late 1930s and early 1940s. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Bajans Shouldn't Read this Book in Public
The more acquainted you are with the food rituals of West Indians (and Bajans in particular), the more you should restrain yourself from reading this book in public. You will grin, chuckle and gafaw, and people will stare at you.

Visit beautiful Barbados....
This delightful book evokes the language and spirit of Barbados.The author weaves in tales of growing up in Barbados with memories of the food, 'hot cuisine', that fashioned his childhood.For anyone who has visited the island, this will surely bring back fond and enticing memories.Readthe book, visit Barbados!

Descriptions of preparing dishes, lovingly detailed.
This culinary memoir of the author's childhood in Barbados describes his early introduction to cooking, his involvement with native dishes, and his progress in becoming a cook. Don't look for recipes here; it's more amemoir and biography of Barbados cooking, though descriptions of preparingdishes are lovingly detailed and rival James Beard's Americanpresentations. ... Read more

Product Description
Robert Edison Sandiford moved from Canada to his parents’ native Barbados in 1996. He went for "wife and work" —his new bride was a Bajan, and he had landed an editor’s position at the leading daily newspaper. Yet his journey ‘Back Home’ also led to a series of insightful and often poignant meditations on relationships, island life, and the decline of his father, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease twelve years earlier. "Coming out of the Caribbean as these stories did, they could not have been written in any other time or place," says Sandiford in the Preface. Part travelogue, part memoir, Sand for Snow: A Caribbean-Canadian Chronicle is a thoughtful, revealing, and often humorous trip to a most unexpected destination. ... Read more

Product Description

Book Review

Many people merely dream of traveling around the world. This highly unusual man acts on his dreams. Every time he starts to wonder about an interesting place he has not been, he simply packs his bags, grabs a camera and goes to the airport to claim his seat. Soon he is in Brazil, China, Africa or anywhere there are people to meet, things to see and do, like taking pictures, buying art, shaking hands, asking questions and being entertained by professional guides and story tellers. "Hello, how are you, good to meet you. I'm Leon Freeman from Memphis, Tennessee." I found his introduction by a tribesman in Papua New Guinea as a cousin the most striking story of them all.

Mr. Freeman retired from his school teaching career and immediately set out to explore the world. Over the years he visited five continents, sixty-two countries and a string of islands ringing the globe like pearls. He discovered one satisfying fundamental fact: in human essence, we are all one. Whatever differences there might be in our outer physical appearance or our diverse cultural extensions, there are no qualitative differences to the principle: 'all human babies are created equal.'

In this picture book, Mr. Freeman provides the viewer with unforgettable, vicarious experiences to enjoy time and time again for many years to come.

- Maia Jaribu Ajanaku, SMU - Retired Teacher, Entrepreneur ... Read more