Sobremesa

Coronavirus. Social distancing. Stay-at-home orders. Up until a few months ago these words and concepts were virtually unknown to the majority of us. Yet, here we are. Together. While most of us are confined behind closed doors, staying away from one another, we are also more connected than ever. We can't put words to the fear, isolation, and loss--of loved ones, of jobs, of our homes, of our support systems--that we collectively awaken to each morning. We must bravely hold onto hope, love and, most importantly, one another. How better to do this than by learning and embracing the age-old practice of sobremesa--the time spent lingering over a meal with loved ones, well after the food is gone? The concept of sobremesa drives the narrative in this culinary memoir peppered with Or a's family's Argentinian recipes. Though the concept of sobremesa is sin traducci n--it has no English equivalent--now, at a time when our global community is being asked to stay close to home, the connection and reflection the practice fosters is crucial to our well-being everywhere. A la Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate, Sobremesa: A Memoir of Food and Love in Thirteen Courses is a story about family, love, and loss that is richly sprinkled with mystical encounters with the spirit world and the ghosts we carry with us, who are always there, ready to be conjured back to mind through taste and smell.