Praise for Donia Bijan and Maman’s Homesick Pie…
“Treat yourself to this delectable debut …ultimately this memoir is a loving tribute to her mother, her heritage—and food. Pour yourself a cup of cardamom tea (recipe included), and indulge in this savory slice of life.” —Family Circle
“Chapter by chapter, Bijan recreates the memory-menu of her life …by its heart-plucking end, this literary feast accomplishes what only the best meals do, bestowing …a larger appreciation of life’s precious table.”—National Geographic Traveler
“In its profound understanding of how food connects us to the past and future and to the places and people we love, Maman’s Homesick Pie gets to the very heart of why recipes and food—and the stories we tell about them—matter so much.”—Literary Mama
“Maman’s Homesick Pie is one of the best food memoirs I have read . . . The recipes at the end of each chapter add surprising depth to her story.”—Largehearted Boy
“The push-pull of Ms. Bijan’s relationship with her parents during their grief as she came of age will feel familiar to many readers, but the details of Ms. Bijan’s life will not.”—The New York Review of Books
“A lyrical memoir by an acclaimed San Francisco chef.” —St. Petersburg Times
“The memoir smoothly combines stories of Bijan’s childhood in Iran and transitions to life in America with pieces of her parents’ lives, and the family’s migrations after the loss of their homeland… They are the quietly compelling stories of an ordinary family dealing with extraordinary circumstances. Memories of family are inextricably linked to food.” –Wichita Eagle
“An elegant memoir.” –Hudson Valley News
A “wonderfully written memoir … so well rendered … Bijan writes movingly of her parents’ accomplishments, their difficulty adjusting to their new home, and her own burgeoning love of food and cooking … Like the perfect dessert, each chapter ends with recipes.”—Publishers Weekly
Donia Bijan graduated from UC Berkeley and the Cordon Bleu. After presiding over many of San Francisco’s acclaimed restaurants and earning awards for her French-inspired cuisine, she ran her own restaurant, L’amie Donia, in Palo Alto for ten years.
