Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking is a book that stirs the soul as well as the senses. And all of this is bound together by Anya's sardonic wit, passionate nostalgia and piercing observations.

Her narrative is embedded in a larger historical epic: Lenin's bloody grain requisitioning, World War II starvation, Stalin's table manners, Khrushchev's kitchen debates, Gorbachev's disastrous anti-alcohol policies and the ultimate collapse of the USSR. In this sweeping, tragicomic memoir, Anya recreates seven decades of the Soviet experience through cooking and food, and reconstructs a moving family history spanning three generations. And yet, the flavour of Soviet kolbasa, like Proust's madeleine, transports her back to that vanished. These days, Anya is the doyenne of high-end food writing. In 1974, when Anya was ten, she and her mother fled to the USA, with no winter coats and no right of return. It was a life by turns absurd, drab, naively joyous, melancholy and, finally, intolerable. Born in a surreal Moscow communal apartment where eighteen families shared one kitchen, Anya von Bremzen grew up singing odes to Lenin, black-marketeering Juicy Fruit gum at school, and longing for a taste of the mythical West. Num Pages: 448 pages, Illustrations (black and white). Born in a surreal Moscow communal apartment where eighteen families shared one kitchen, the author grew up singing odes to Lenin, black-marketeering Juicy Fruit gum at school, and longing for a taste of the mythical West.

When she’s not in Spain or traveling to some exotic locale to try a new restaurant, Anya lives in New York City.Description for Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking Paperback. In addition to The New Spanish Table, Anya is the author of four ethnic cookbooks, including the James Beard Award-winning Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook, Terrific Pacific Cookbook, The Greatest Dishes!: Around the World in 80 Recipes, and Fiesta! A Celebration of Latin Hospitality, which won Anya her second Beard award.

In her latest tour de force, The New Spanish Table, Anya reveals the Spain she knows and loves, peppering delicious recipes with historical tidbits, cooking hints and true Spanish hospitality. A contributing editor at Travel + Leisure, she has pioneered Spanish cuisine in publications like Food & Wine, Departures, Conde Nast Traveler and the LA Times. But unlike those who have recently discovered Spain’s sophisticated flavors and innovative charms, Anya has spent the last 10 years writing about Spanish cuisine and culture. Like most of the culinary world, food and travel writer Anya von Bremzen has Spain on the brain.

Anya von bremzen books