Padma's All American
Tales, Travels, and Recipes from Taste the Nation and Beyond: A Cookbook
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF 2025: The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Taste of Home
“[Lakshmi] is the perfect person to help us understand how immigrants are changing the way Americans eat . . . . A spicy blend. . . . Delicious.” – The Wall Street Journal
In this very personal book—the result of seven years of traveling and tasting, listening and observing for her award-winning Hulu show Taste the Nation—Padma Lakshmi compiles more than 100 recipes from the immigrant and Indigenous communities she visits, as well as many from her own family, showing us what really comprises American cuisine.
Recipes include:
• Plum Chaat • Tomato Egg Drop Soup • Yogurt Tahdig • Pasta all’Amatriciana
• Jollof Rice • Saag and Grits • Shoyu Poke • Pad Thai Fish • Jerk Chicken
• Amazonian Tamales • Biracial Latkes • Vegetable Pakori • Coconut Rice • Banana Lumpia • Strawberry-Cardamom and Cream Cake • Masala Chai •
Padma’s All American is filled with mouth-watering recipes, adapted here for the home cook—along with profiles and stories from the people who inspired the dishes. It is a joyful book—a love letter to the people who create and evolve American cuisine every day and a road map to the foods that give America its vibrant palate, from one of our most essential culinarians.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Taste the Nation host Lakshmi (Love, Loss, and What We Ate) uses this gorgeous compendium of recipes collected during her travels across the U.S. to craft a "love letter" to "all immigrants who have made a life here and, in turn, made America what it is." An extensive introduction offers practical advice on best cooking practices and a comprehensive pantry list in which Lakshmi breaks down potentially unfamiliar ingredients, stating that one of her goals is to "get you familiar with the flavors you love (or will love) but may have never tried cooking at home." For starters, there's som tum, or Thai green papaya salad, and Afghan leek and scallion dumplings. Meat, poultry, and seafood dishes include Italian saltimbocca, Filipino chicken adobo, and Peruvian ceviche. The chapter on grains features abundant rice dishes, from Cuban moros y cristianos (black beans and rice) to South Carolina crab fried rice. Dessert and drink options pull from a similarly wide range of cultural influences. Lakshmi's instructions are thorough, and she provides both plenty of substitution ideas and step-by-step photo illustrations for trickier dishes. Throughout, profiles of home cooks and professional chefs from immigrant backgrounds add heart. This accomplished collection is a treasure trove. This review has been updated.
