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‘Appropriation Is an Undeniable Fact of Human Interaction’
Jeffery Renard Allen writes in ‘Eat Joy,’ coming out next week
“Eat Joy: Stories & Comfort Food from 31 Celebrated Writers,” out October 29 from Black Balloon Publishing, is an unconventional collection of intimate, in-depth essays with recipes celebrating the foods we eat to get through the dark times in our lives. Each piece is full of heartache, loss, adversity, and self-discovery; each serves as a reminder of our resilience. Collectively, the book presents a hopeful vision, and it serves up delicious things to eat along the way. — Natalie Eve Garrett, “Eat Joy” editor.
By Jeffery Renard Allen
Some years ago, I spent a summer month on Lamu off the Kenyan coast through the help of two good friends in Nairobi who wanted to start a writers’ residency on the island. I was the ideal test subject given my fondness for the place. Lamu feels like a throwback to another time with its houses erected from stone and winding narrow streets. You get where you need to go by foot or donkey or jahazi (dhow) powered by outboard motors since there are no motorized vehicles on the island with the exception of a motorcycle or two. You relish in the slow pace and the air from the Indian Ocean, free of any worries about crime or violence — this would later change — and relieved that no one will try to hustle or game you. Lamu is the perfect place to get away and write for month (or two) as long as you don’t mind a bit of donkey shit.
I stayed inside a tower-like structure that was the British owner’s take on the traditional Swahili home, a vacation house built to impress guests rather than provide comfort. My time there felt a bit like camping out inside an art installation. The owner, whom I never met, left the residence in the care of his “house boy,” a local man named Saidi (Friday), a short, slight, and slim man in his early thirties who wore a fez as evidence of his Islamic faith, and to offset his preference for Western-style shirts and jeans.
Saidi was an outstanding cook. I only took coffee in the mornings, but after Saidi had brewed a fresh pot, I would give him fifteen dollars to spend at the market on the fresh meat, fish, fruits, and vegetables that he needed to prepare my lunch and dinner…
