ABOUT MY BOOKS

The Map of Lost Memories

Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam

To Asia With Love
Guidebook Series

We Are Family

*****

Communion is “THE book on Vietnamese cuisine, deserving a place in every foodies’ and travellers’ library. Highly recommended.” – The Globetrotting Gourmet



About the book:

Living in Vietnam for four years in the 1990s, Seattle native Kim Fay fell in love with the romantic landscapes, the rich culture, and the uninhibited warmth of the people. A decade later, she grew hungry for more. Inspired by the dream of learning to make a Vietnamese meal for her friends and family in America, Kim returned to Vietnam and embarked on an unforgettable five-week culinary journey from Hanoi to Saigon.

Joined by her sister and best Vietnamese girlfriend, Kim set off to taste as much as possible while exploring rituals and traditions, street cafés and haute cuisine, famine and feast, and Communism and the legacy of war. Together, the three women discovered a society shaped by its ever-changing relationship with food. Every encounter serves up an enticing morsel, from uncovering the secret world of ragu in the French hill town of Dalat to bonding with the Julia Child of Vietnam in Saigon. Epicures and culture buffs will delight in markets, restaurants, farms, fisheries, and cooking classes as Kim assembles her dream meal and shares recipes such as banana flower salad and clay pot fish. Examining how we eat reflects who we are as individuals and as communities, Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam offers a feast for armchair gourmets, as well as a colorful guide for travelers hungering for their next adventure.


A ship in harbor is safe,
but that is not what ships are for.

- John A. Shedd







Kim's bookshelf: read


Super Sad True Love StoryJust KidsWalks With MenThe King's Last SongWhen All the World Was Young: A MemoirTeeth of the Dog

More of Kim's books »



Kim Fay's  book recommendations, reviews, favorite quotes, book clubs, book trivia, book lists



"In reading Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam, I was struck by the fact that it was everything that Eat, Pray, Love was not. It was lovingly written by a young woman whose depth of understanding and deep appreciation of another culture and its culinary delights teases the reader to follow her on her odyssey to a country she knows well." - Courier-Journal
Raised in Washington State, I now live in Los Angeles (having arrived by way of a four-year detour through Vietnam). I am the author of Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam and the creator and series editor of the To Asia With Love guidebooks. My debut novel, The Map of Lost Memories, will be published by Ballantine Books/​Random House in August 2012. I am represented by Alexandra Machinist of Janklow & Nesbit.

BIBLIOGRAPHY


The Map of Lost Memories, August 2012

Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam, June 2010

To Vietnam With Love, Summer 2008

To Asia With Love, Summer 2005

All about Eve Babitz: James Wolcott mentions my Literate in LA essay in his blog for Vanity Fair!

KIM FAY ONLINE


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