I prefer reading memoirs by less-popular, more-real people. People I can instantly find a way to connect with. I prefer reading real-life stories that make me feel like I’m having a conversation with the author over a cup of coffee. Or beer, if we’ve hit it off well.
“Salt & Sour” by Yoda Olinyk is a book is a whole, hearty meal of emotions and camaraderie. And lots of hugs and affirmations of love and closeness to the reader.
I found out about this book after watching @booksbythekilo‘s review of it and I immediately headed to the Kindle store and purchased my copy of it. Why? Because something struck a chord in my heart and I felt that I would be able to relate to the book in a way. And boy, was I not wrong.
The book starts off with Yoda’s childhood and her intense feelings of independence, “Self!”, and her love for journaling everything that happened to her on a daily basis. She shared her home with her sister and her dad and her mom. Her mom, ambitious about her work and her dad, a reserved geek. While they were initially in love, her mom later left her dad which made Yoda feel confused and lost. Picking up the pieces of a broken family along with her dad, they helped each other through their amateurish attempts at cooking in a kitchen that Yoda’s mom earlier managed entirely on her own. There’s also mention of Yoda’s struggle with cocaine in her teenage years.
As Yoda went off to culinary school, she found ways to heal her friends through the simple art of cooking and serving a home-made meal. Not just a meal that’s made at home, but a meal made away from home which reminds the diner (her friends) of their respective homes. The exhilaration of finding her culinary calling trumped any other high till date.
She met the person who would single-handedly topple her entire life when she worked at the kitchen at a local golf course. I feel incompetent to summarise the entire six years that followed post this, and hence I would urge you to read this book on your own and listen to the author first-hand. I’ll insert a small paragraph I’ve borrowed from the author’s website:
In this gutsy memoir, Yoda chronicles her turbulent relationship and the restaurant that caused her to lose so much, including herself. Instead of sugar-coating the process and promising everything will get tied up in a sparkly bow, Yoda details how complicated and unravelling starting over really feels.
– Salt & Sour, Yoda Olinyk
Post the traumatic experience with her ex which left her beaten down and reduced to a panicking and tired bubble, it took various attempts at resuscitation to get herself back to normalcy.
On a personal note, I have struggled with feelings of codependency with close friends and people I’ve had relationships with. I have felt the crushing loneliness of an empty room once things have soured out. I’ve had salt rubbed into my wounds when I see my friends happy, with successful friendships and relationships. I have tried and failed to rebuild my relationship with the “Self!” that Yoda writes about so brilliantly. So when I read the passages from this book that resonated with my own story (not entirely and at the same degree of intensity), I felt understood. I felt like I wasn’t a fool for being cheated on and gaslit by my ex and not choosing to look at the red flags that kept popping up everywhere. Even the best of us make mistakes, what matters is how we grow out of them and take time off to heal our own aching shoulders.
Yoda is not only a debut author but also a professional chef based in Ontario, Canada and owns a catering company there. I look forward to trying out the lovely recipes that are interwoven into the story of her life. There are 17 wholesome, traditional recipes that will warm your heart and soul. There are recipes that the author learned from her family (My Mother’s Pot Roast, Grandma Anne’s Pierogi, Sunday Caesar Salad, Dad’s Pizza, Garlic Noo Noos) and recipes that her friends and acquaintances graced her with (Sara’s Melon Gazpacho, Pedro’s Orange Cake, Portuguese Lupini Beans). Some of the recipes are vegan and/or gluten free and I was delighted to learn that there’s a vegan alternative to my all-time favourite beer snack, calamari! (I’m not vegan, for the record).
The book is delightfully precise about every little aspect of Yoda’s life. At times, it may feel that certain points are reiterated one too many times, but according to me, that’s symbolic of healing: you have to keep going around the same circles for a while until you realise you’re dizzy from all the spinning and need to walk on a somewhat-straight line (pun not intended). And yet, even when you’re on your path to recovery, you do end up taking a detour to a small park with a merry-go-round, the catch being that it’s not merry at all.
The author also speaks in the same candid fashion on her instagram and I look forward to following her work there too. You can check out her website, where you can find a lovely “My Recipe for Starting Over” on the side-bar
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