Mem­o­ries of a Good Meal: Recipes of Resilience Inspired by Sto­ries of World War II Sur­vival is a mov­ing col­lec­tion of recipes and remem­brance by James Beard Award – win­ning chef Alon Shaya and culi­nary his­to­ri­an June Hersh, with a fore­word by The Nation­al WWII Muse­um. Draw­ing on inter­views and archival research, they present ten pow­er­ful sto­ries of Holo­caust sur­vivors and wartime heroes, high­light­ing how food sus­tained hope, resilience, and iden­ti­ty. Each chap­ter cen­ters on an indi­vid­ual nar­ra­tive, with recipes thought­ful­ly cre­at­ed to pro­vide culi­nary con­text to remem­bered meals — invit­ing read­ers to expe­ri­ence his­to­ry through the tastes and tra­di­tions. From hum­ble pota­toes eat­en by Pol­ish par­ti­san fight­ers to miso soup in a Japan­ese intern­ment camp, from hot cakes dreamed of in a Ger­man POW camp to dish­es pre­pared in a Jew­ish refugee com­mu­ni­ty in the Domini­can Repub­lic, each recipe reflects mem­o­ry and endurance.