In his native Israel, Gil Hov­av is beloved as a spe­cial nation­al cul­tur­al trea­sure. Now, final­ly, with this deft trans­la­tion of his utter­ly charm­ing sto­ry col­lec­tion that comes laced with 21 mouth­wa­ter­ing recipes, Eng­lish-speak­ing read­ers will be able to appre­ci­ate why. Hov­av is a mas­ter­ful sto­ry­teller, a born racon­teur. An unfor­get­table gallery of col­or­ful uncles, aunts, and oth­er fam­i­ly mem­ber — with food woven through as a lemo­tif — makes these auto­bi­o­graph­i­cal accounts of grow­ing up in Jerusalem in the 60s and 70s read like short sto­ries in the great tra­di­tion of Sholem Ale­ichem: tales told with great wis­dom, ten­der­ness, insight, and wit as tart as a bowl of Yemenite pick­les. And who wouldn’t sali­vate over Hovav’s fam­i­ly recipes for sweet sour chor­ba toma­to soup or his Aunt Levana’s egg­plant and feta bourekas? Dig in, dear read­ers, plea­sure is served.