(I received a free eARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.)

The individual stories were really engaging: exciting and descriptive. I also enjoyed the recipes included, some of which I want to try and some of which were less appealing but equally interesting. The diversity of cultures and values gives it extra depth and worldview, too - it's well planned and well executed.

My main critique is that the order of the stories doesn't make sense to me. Following the alphabet is cute, but doesn't really seem to match the overall tone of the stories; even though the different dishes/ingredients are the focus, and it's stated multiple times that the author associates a distinct memory with each, jumping around to different points in time felt a little disorienting. I think I would rather it were organized along a linear timeline, and possibly further subdivided by motif/theme (family, travel, self-discovery, experimenting, etc).