The book “Savage Feast,” by Boris Fishman, has descriptions of meals and food throughout, along with 25 recipes. But it’s not a cookbook. The book is a tightly written page-turner about the author’s childhood in Minsk, his extended family and their odyssey from Belarus to New York (via Vienna and Rome in the 1980s) as well as his efforts to conquer his own demons. While reading it, I was frequently tempted to head to the kitchen and fry some onions, the step that starts many of the Eastern European recipes in his book, especially those attributed to an aunt and notably to Oksana, a Ukranian woman and a magical cook who was the companion to his grandfather in Brooklyn. Dishes like braised cabbage, potato latkes and sweet-and-sour roasted peppers are some of the recipes.
“Savage Feast: Three Generations, Two Continents and a Dinner Table (A Memoir With Recipes)” by Boris Fishman (Harper, $27.99).
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