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Irish Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
A good spread of food memoirs: from the sanitised to the ‘slutty'
Picky Author : Jimi Famurewa ISBN-13 : 978-1399739542 Publisher : Hodder & Stoughton Guideline Price : £20 The Jackfruit Chronicles Author : Shahnaz Ahsan ISBN-13 : 978-0008683795 Publisher : Harper North Guideline Price : £16.99 Moveable Feasts: Paris in Twenty Meals Author : Chris Newens ISBN-13 : 978-1805224204 Publisher : Profile Books Guideline Price : £18.99 Tart: Misadventures of an Anonymous Chef Author : Slutty Cheff ISBN-13 : 978-1526682697 Publisher : Bloomsbury Guideline Price : £16.99 Care and Feeding Author : Laurie Woolever ISBN-13 : 978-0063327603 Publisher : Ecco Guideline Price : £22 Strong Roots: A Ukrainian Family Story of War, Exile and Hope Author : Olia Hercules ISBN-13 : 978-1526662927 Publisher : Bloomsbury Circus Guideline Price : £20 Early on in Picky, his ode to growing up second-generation British Nigerian and 1990s junk food, restaurant critic Jimi Famurewa unmasks the illusion that is food memoir. 'Working as a food writer,' he writes, 'can have a warping effect on childhood memories ... The past becomes an editable document.' It's provocative but risks spoiling the show. There's masterful writing, as Famurewa rhapsodises about a Twix 'scraped down to a soggy, denuded girder of a shortbread', the 'wincing remnants' of Brannigans crisps. It's refreshing to read an account of a reasonably happy existence – especially when it's of a single-parent son. Picky is also a significant meditation about the 'cultural performance of immigrant life', crucial to understanding the machinations of code-switching that is instinctive to multinational children. He is wonderful at expressing the heightened sensations of childhood, such as the giddiness of travelling to the US as an unaccompanied minor, 'a continent-hopping Paddington Bear of the sky'. His paean to McDonald's enlightened this second-generation immigrant reader why the 'slender, elegant uniformity of McDonald's fries in a pillar-box-red sleeve' held not only me, but my parents, in its sway. Famurewa, whose previous book was the eloquent Settlers, about the British black African experience – is a thoughtful, thorough writer. However, in a memoir the author must be the star, and even though he studied drama at Royal Holloway, Famurewa is reluctant. Out of respect, he never really delves into the people he loves, particularly his mother. Perhaps it's his British reserve coupled with the modesty of a 'Nice Nigerian Boy' but in Famurewa's conscientious refusal to manipulate his story, he and his characters never really take flight. READ MORE Shahnaz Ahsan. Photograph: Tracey Aiston If Famurewa is diffident about showcasing his immigrant family, Shahnaz Ahsan has no qualms about bragging about hers. Her cookbook memoir, The Jackfruit Chronicles, starts with her grandfather Habib, who arrives in Manchester from what is now Bangladesh in 1953 and starts a family that thrives despite Enoch Powell, Thatcher-era racism and post-9/11 anti-Muslim sentiment. British-Bangladeshis such as Habib created what we know as the 'Indian curry house', where one pot of house gravy is tailored into different dishes with proteins, vegetables and spices. Jackfruit's 'Benglish' recipes offer an intriguing glimpse of early immigrant adaptation: cheese and Patak pickle pinwheels, crumpets swapped for the flatbread chitoi pitha. Unfortunately, Ahsan's style is prone to cliched platitudes that emphasise the wonderfulness of a clan for whom 'food is the love language which we share'. 'Thank you,' she writes, 'to Aneesa and all the other aunties who pass on their wisdom both in and out of the kitchen.' Ahsan grew up on Enid Blyton, and Winona Ryder's Little Women, and it shows in her relentlessly heartwarming prose. Her characters lack nuance; her jokes fall flat. There's a touch of preachiness to Ahsan, who as a teenager would hide 'lads' mags' such as Zoo (where Jimi Famuwera once worked) 'in the belief that if we could, somehow, limit the availability of this media, women would actually be regarded with a modicum of respect one day'. In some families there is a refrain: Someone should write about how marvellous we are. The Jackfruit Chronicles is exactly the kind of saga that your grandma would bless. Food writer Olia Hercules , from London, must stand by as the landscape and people of her idyllic Ukrainian childhood are demolished. Her parents' home, built 'to retire in, to grow weathered in, alongside the creased riverbank that stretches below' is occupied by the Russian military. However, as she realises in Strong Roots, the war opens up another past, one whose wounds had been covered over during more halcyon days. 'When I was growing up, I never questioned why we talked about certain things in half-whispers,' she writes. 'My grandparents' memories were 'mined' and had to be trodden on lightly for a long time.' The irony is that the tales that Hercules gathers – horrifying, hilarious – might have been discarded were it not for the current terror. She's not alone; hordes of Ukrainians, since the war began, have been scrambling to preserve their heritage. However, such stories come with a cost, as Hercules realises when she prods her grandmother Vera for what is ancient and unendurable. '(F)rom out of her stiff body came a stiff voice ... I understood that her stiffness was a barrier, a barrier against the past, perhaps to shield her from things that she might have never discussed before.' There are some overripe moments. (For example: 'A list of occasions when I see my ancestors' smiles' that includes 'my children's eyes'.) However, Hercules knows how to mix lushness with crisp, unyielding fact; what's more, instead of explaining her characters, she describes them. Her grandmother Vera excitedly gets ready for a 'foto sessiya' with a crinoline blouse and 'huge lacquered hair'. 'I need you to be natural, grandma!' Hercules shrieks, and makes her change. The people in Hercules's book have been maturing inside her for a lifetime, gathering richness. They can be stubborn, quick to anger and vain; she conveys the way they talk over each other, and how their punchlines falter. Hercules's people may be strong, but she has also rendered them so vividly so that they will endure. They are blood, breath and bone – shut your eyes and they resound with exuberant cacophony. Slutty Cheff Slutty Cheff , the anonymous author of Tart, is a few years shy of 30. As her name suggests, she's a horny workaholic in an esteemed London restaurant, and bangs many a dish, on and off the line. She's white, socially privileged and loves her parents; she's at the sweet spot in life when things are on the cusp. In short, you'd hate her if she weren't so winningly self-deprecating. Tart is not strict memoir. As Slutty told British Vogue, 'Stories are based on my stories, and stories of my chef friends,' which makes it all the more entertaining, an updated 18th-century picaresque where the rogue hero is a woman 'who will feed your desire, like a Tesco meal deal'. Plus, although Tart has plenty of fat-and-sugar stoked steam, its author knows that the cardinal rule for both culinary and erotic writing is to stay crisp and dry. She observes, 'The other reason why I don't want people to know about my lover is far more important than gender politics: the man I'm sleeping with has a topknot.' There are darker aspects of Tart, like panic attacks and a sleazy co-worker, and Slutty confesses, 'Whenever I lose the sense of who I am or what I do, or I spin into disassociation or fall into a sense of depression I feel scared and worry that I'll never be happy again. There are two things in my life that are a constant reminder that pleasure exists: food and sex.' Anthony Bourdain. Photograph: Alex Welsh/The New York Times The kitchen, touted by many as an artistic vocation, can also be a form of self-medication, its mania an addictive panacea for people too terrified to stop. Laurie Woolever is 22 when Care and Feeding begins. She has a lot in common with Slutty, except instead of present-day London, she lives in 1996 New York. A blond Ivy League graduate who can cook and write, she will become assistant to the two chefs synonymous with that era's culinary machismo – the not-yet #MeToo'ed, evangelist of Italian cuisine Mario Batali, and Kitchen Confidential author Anthony Bourdain. Much as in Tart, what unfolds is a heady rush of alcohol, food, dirty sex and high-calibre work, proving that whoever said drink and drugs were counterproductive was wrong. Except. Let's just say that we hope Slutty doesn't suffer like Woolever in 20 years. This raw, scalding book is about what happens when one's career is ascendant while one's personal life unravels. Some events are spectacularly badly timed; shortly after Woolever gets sober, her husband leaves her and Bourdain kills himself. Woolever is briskly inventive, like when she describes a lamb tongue's salad as 'intriguing because of the truffles and provocative because of the tongue'. She's deadpan about Ferran Adria, pink limousines and a writer who 'had a revolting Humbert Humbert-ish way with wine descriptors ... bottles were 'sexy babies' and 'flirtatious teens'. Still, an attraction of the book is the two outsized men with whom she was affiliated, and on this Woolever delivers, sometimes reconfiguring their signature swaggers in unexpected ways. About Batali (who concluded a written apology about his misconduct with a recipe for cinnamon rolls) she's gentle – he's an erudite, generous monster who's a surprisingly astute observer of her spiralling behaviour. Regarding Bourdain, whose kindness she paints in many lights, Woolever gives him a remarkable send-off. 'He had,' she states, 'made the colossally stupid, but somehow wholly plausible decision to die of a broken heart.' If only she wasn't so excruciatingly hard on herself. Woolever details every embarrassing incident in her life, and reprints her journal extracts and emails with every blemish – they're broken and sloppy, the sort of thing a vainer writer would want permanently erased. However, much of Care and Feeding makes you crave reckless behaviour, such as that 'woozy punch-in-the-face feeling' of a gin-and-tonic at a Sri Lanka bar. You can't forget the brilliant accomplishments – in kitchens and elsewhere – that were fuelled by the admittedly toxic adrenaline of that time. Compare Woolever and Slutty to the more virtuous recollections of Famurewa, Ahsan, and Hercules; consider that there won't be a Batali autobiography any time soon, and it seems that, at least for now, in the world of food memoir, it will still be the white girls who have the most fun. Chris Newens. Photograph: Sabine Dundure In Moveable Feasts , Chris Newens seeks, in each of Paris's arrondissements, a dish that encapsulates something of the city's soul. Methodical and charming, Newens starts his research the old-fashioned way, by talking to strangers, waylaying Sri Lankan plongeurs on a sleeper train and sniffy haute bourgeoises after church. In the world, Paris is the city most famously defined by its outsiders. As his title suggests, Newens's teenage hero was Ernest Hemingway, and he is caught between the schoolboy fancies that lured him there, and the mercurial, multinational Paris that keeps him. His city hovers between unconventional and stereotype, with diaspora dishes that are also predictably Parisian (bahn-mi in the 13th), croissants and Congolese-style malangwa fish. As a white English man with fluent French, Newens can navigate the homeless in the Bois des Vincennes and a 1993 Saint-Émilion with equanimity. More than Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, Newens recalls another culinary Paris chestnut, George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London. Like Orwell, Newens is at his best when he is observing individuals where they work, like the employees at the smoothly functioning colossus of decent-priced dining, Bouillon République. Many memoirs touch on home, that mysterious place where you belong. A Paris expat like Newens, however, decides to settle in a place where he will forever be foreign. It's not a choice all Paris immigrants make. For the Sri Lankan waiter at La Fontaine de Mars or the Peruvian-American student at the Cordon Bleu, there's a yearning for geographical and emotional permanence, to become an indelible part of the city's history. It is our sincere, if somewhat naive, hope that they will.
IOL News
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- IOL News
Tyla's fashion warm-up: stealing the spotlight before the Met Gala
Tyla styled in a dress by British Nigerian designer, Tolu Coker. Image: X/@Tyla_seethal21 Amidst the buzz surrounding the Met Gala, the streets of New York have predictably become a vibrant hub of style. From A-listers to fashion darlings, the who's who of global celebrity is out in full force, dropping lewks as if it's Fashion Week. But here in Mzansi, all eyes are on one woman: Tyla. And if her previous pre-Met outfits are anything to go by, she's coming for necks again this year. The Met Gala is the fashion Olympics, where celebrities are expected to bring the drama, artistry, and a little bit of madness to the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Hosted annually by "Vogue" editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, the event raises funds for the Costume Institute while serving as the ultimate visual feast. Themes are given. Expectations are high. And anyone who doesn't bring it? Well, the internet never forgets. This past weekend, Tyla stepped out styled by Law Roach - the same man who helped establish Zendaya's fashion icon status. Known for his "image architect" approach, Roach loves playing with nostalgia, reinvention and a touch of drama. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ So naturally, he pulled out a stunner for Tyla, which was a vintage Roberto Cavalli mini dress straight from the Italian label's autumn/winter 2004 collection. The brocade and lace combination, ruffled bubble hem, and moody baroque detailing screamed early 2000s opulence. Think sultry elegance with a side of sass. Trust her to make a two-decade-old dress feel completely 2025. Later that evening, the Gen Z fashion queen took it up another notch in a second Cavalli number: a satiny silver suit with a fierce crocodile-print effect. Tyla (@Tyllaaaaaaa) styled by Law Roach in Roberto Cavalli for Pre-#MetGala events. 🔥 📸 Getty — Spur Play Africa (@spurplayafrica) May 4, 2025 With trousers so low-rise they practically grazed her hips, it was giving full Y2K fantasy, well, minus the cringe. Laced details at the waist sealed the deal, adding a rugged femininity that only someone like Tyla could pull off. And just when you thought she might take a breather - darling, never. The pièce de résistance? The standout look of the weekend was a burnt orange striped silk ensemble by British-Nigerian designer Tolu Coker. Coker, known for her Afro-diasporic storytelling through fashion, is making waves with her unapologetically bold, cultural aesthetic. Her pieces often celebrate Black identity with rich textures, layered fabrics and political undertones. Celebs like Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Tems, Doechii, Maya Jama and Tiwa Savage have all rocked her pieces, proving that Coker's aesthetic is global. From the Grammys to music videos, her work has been seen across red carpets and creative stages.
Reuters
15-04-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Exclusive: Football-IFAF expands flag championships to Africa ahead of LA28
NEW YORK, April 15 (Reuters) - IFAF will hold its first African Flag Football Championships in June, executives have told Reuters, expanding the continental championships at a critical moment ahead of the sport's Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The competition from June 20-21 in Cairo, Egypt, joins existing events in the Americas, Europe and Asia Oceania, as the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) and the NFL look to build the sport's reputation as a global phenomenon. The competition will operate as a pathway to qualification for the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships. "As a sport, you can't say you are a global sport and you exclude Africa. It's impossible," said NFL Africa Lead Osi Umenyiora, a British Nigerian former defensive end who won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants. "That's what, in conjunction with IFAF, we're really trying to build here: A truly global sport." IFAF President Pierre Trochet said the championships would create opportunities for new players as the sport is determined not to become a "one-and-done" Olympic entrant. "LA is the beginning of the story for us and a commitment that is shared with IFAF and the entire team of the NFL to look for a future edition - '32 and beyond - and it's just as a result that those continental competitions are growing so fast," said Trochet. "It's a consequence of our common goal to stay in the Olympic programme on the long term." CLEARER PATHWAY The NFL has ramped up its promotion of flag football since the sport was announced as part of the Los Angeles 2028 programme, with the non-contact format that emphasises speed and agility offering a clearer pathway for women to compete. Played without the expensive helmets and pads used in gridiron football, some also see the sport as more accessible to newcomers, with a lower chance of injury than in the bone-crunching world of the tackle game. The NFL will co-host youth football development events in conjunction with the championships, expanding the NFL Africa programme to Egypt for the first time, as the U.S. league continues its push toward internationalisation. Umenyiora, who moved to the United States when he was 15, got his start in flag and touch football and said the sport once seen as the sole domain of North America was quickly knocking down those barriers. "(You) add in the Olympics. You add in the national team. You add in the IFAF competitions, the continental competitions that are going to be taking place hopefully for us on a yearly basis, and I think the idea of the NFL globally is not that far-fetched," he said. The league announced ahead of the Super Bowl that it would play its first-ever regular season games in Dublin and Australia in 2025 and 2026, respectively, and last month said it was exploring the possibility of a game in the United Arab Emirates. In the 2023 season, 88 foreign-born players participated in at least one regular-season game, with Nigeria accounting for the second-largest group of international players behind Canada. With 12 teams - six men's and six women's - expected in Los Angeles, Trochet said each continent will have "an equal chance to access the qualification pathway. "If an African team is fortunate enough to get in in 28, one is going to win," said Umenyiora.
FACT
18-02-2025
- Entertainment
- FACT
New Balance drops 1000 Colorways exclusively in the Middle East
It's time to put your most fashionable foot forward. The sportswear brand New Balance has dropped a new collection. New 1000 Colorways is exclusive to the Middle East and is available at Foot Locker in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, as well as online in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. New Balance has launched two new colorways of the 1000 sneaker. The promotional images are set against the backdrop of Miami lights, and pay homage to the brand's roots. First released in 1999, the New Balance 1000 embodies Y2K aesthetics with its bold, futuristic design. Its sleek silhouette, prominent overlay panels, sculpted sole unit, and nylon eyelets set it apart, making it a standout in both past and present sneaker culture. Unconventional yet timeless, the 1000 seamlessly integrates into today's sneaker scene, reflecting New Balance's craftsmanship and authenticity. The new campaign features the brand ambassador and Latin Grammy Award-winning singer Eladio Carrión and British Nigerian singer, Darkoo. Eladio was born in Kansas, United States, and raised in Puerto Rico. He has released five albums, which have reached the top 10 on Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart. Darkoo was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and raised in London, United Kingdom. She started making music when she was 15 years old, and is famous for her Afrobeat sounds. Her breakthrough record Favourite Girl received international acclaim, and she is set to headline her first show in London this year. The new 1000 colorways will be available in NB Navy/Dusk Shower/Pearl Grey/Sunfade Pink and Mineral/Sea Salt/Angora/Peach/Blossom. New Balances New 1000 Colorways are available from 20 February. The prices start from AED 799 in the UAE and SAR 929 in Saudi Arabia. Check in with FACT for the best things to do. GO: Visit for more information.
