ABSTRACT
To consider the significance of food for Vietnamese diasporans, this chapter analyses the recent profusion of ‘narrative cookbooks’ written by diasporic Vietnamese authors. A close examination of the recipes, ingredients and autobiographical narratives in these texts attests to the heterogeneity of Vietnamese experience as its diasporans adapt and translate their culture to new contexts. This chapter argues that reading for food affords new perspectives on entangled histories of cultural transformation—in which the pressures of immigration, as well as the legacies of colonialism and imperialism, continue to impact the sense of belonging of Vietnamese diasporans in the world today.
