Cookbook Review: "Flavors of Oakland", by Anya Ku and Elazar Sontag

One of the interesting things about living in the East Bay is how much local history can be found preserved in some crack or crevice. In a larger city, such places are much more transient, and thus harder to define. Oakland being smaller and more close-knit than, say, San Francisco, has a deep-set community with all sorts of intriguing checkered history, with many stories shared by longtime residents to any who will hear them. Thus, we have 'Flavors of Oakland'.

      

This oddly shaped volume is penned and put together by Anya and Elazar, a pair of (at the time) high schoolers steeped in that rich, communal, multicultural environment. It appears an earnest effort to take those stories straight from the mouths of the community, and offer them up alongside recipes- whether of their experience, their heritage, or even their church potluck. Given that the book was crowdfunded, clearly the people being represented very much liked what what was being done, so that's a strong positive right at the start.

The locals highlighted in this book come from what seems like everywhere (Oaxaca, Eritrea, Venezuela, Vietnam, Goa, and more beyond). To call such varied backgrounds 'local' sounds odd at first, but that's part of why it's so important to do it. When you take the time to make a neighborhood your home, the give and take helps build a community full of diverse experiences and insights that meld to become a still-greater whole.

Whether from a casual glance or a thorough, dedicated read, that ethos comes through in spades as one turns the pages. Every face within the book seems to shine with the earnestness that comes when someone really cares about what they're doing and why they're doing it. They all want to be there, to share their food and tell their story. 

Just as important is the feel that that's where their ambitions end- a welcome and refreshing feeling in the age of the aspiring short-term celebrity. It's not just about the individuals, but the many differences between them, and the shared desire to express a special something about the place they all call home.

As far as the recipes go, they're as diverse as they come, but each still has that home-cooked comfort food vibe. None are wholly alien to me, though a few I haven't yet eaten in some form or other. The recipes use home kitchen notions, and measures rather than weights- which in this case is a deliberate stylistic choice rather than a black mark, noted in a 'How To Read This Book' page. The only issue I have with that is the vagueness that can come with measuring flour, but it's no big deal here.

While a few of the recipes benefit from a stand mixer or food processor, most people will have little trouble preparing any recipe they take a liking to in this volume as long as they can get the ingredients. The recipes don't mention cleanup though, and a few of them are likely to have you lamenting the state of your kitchen afterward, so be sure to read them through and think about them before going shopping. I'm not spoiling that for you though!

Now we get to the interesting bit.

The locals' stories shown here are supposed to feel familiar, like everyday people. The writing style helps sell that feel to some degree- the prose is simple and repetitive, but surprisingly well edited to maintain brevity without loss of impact or purpose. 

When it comes to 'home cooks in home kitchens' though, the story changes. Most of them are- but looking a little deeper, enough are caterers, chefs, or parts of restaurant families that one has to wonder at who knew who to help make this book happen. Compounding that, the preface was penned by Oakland's then-mayor, and the foreword by Charlie Hallowell of Pizzaiolo. No small ask, to have them step in and cosign. And given what's happened for the authors since, I suspect their careers got one hell of a push.

Still. While the hometown pride aspect may have been punched up a little to better camouflage the professionals mingling among them, that doesn't make it less effective or lower quality, and in fact does a fine job at telling the story of Oakland while sharing its salt, smoke, spice, and special sense of self. As someone who lives walking distance from a number of the restauants and places mentioned, I very much respect their attention to detail and absolute fidelity to the neighborhood. 

For the east coasters (New Yorkers in particular), it's reminiscent of the vaguely lauded Red Rooster in Harlem, where Marcus Samuelsson works to prop up a community by creating a space for its history, food, and culture... except Oakland is being much more subtle about it.

This is a difficult concept to frame and express. 'Flavors of Oakland' does an excellent job.

Got a few more local restaurants for my list to go have a taste of too. Perhaps reviews of those are soon to come- let's go exploring!