“Expat Cookbooks: Expressions of Identity and Community While Living Abroad,” March 15, 2025
On March 15, members of the Book Club of Detroit enjoyed a delectable presentation by BCD member Dan Freidus about his collection of “expat cookbooks” — cookbooks compiled by and for people living away from their home country.
Dan explained that people living away from their home country — missionaries, Peace Corps volunteers, diplomats, military families, etc. — want to connect with what’s familiar and reassuring, and one way to do that is through cooking.
Dan, who searches out Jewish cookbooks on behalf of the New York Public Library for its collection, is an avid cook as well as a book collector. He started collecting expat cookbooks after he discovered a cookbook from an Episcopal church in Egypt at a book sale. One of the challenges of collecting this genre is that “expat” is seldom used in the title of these cookbooks.
Some examples from Dan’s collection. Notice the “Camel Soup” cover.
In this grouping is a cookbook for American students studying abroad who were not allowed to cook in their dormitories.
A cookbook compiled by CIA employees and their family members.
Some expat cookbooks reflect a condescending or bigoted attitude toward the people of the surrounding area; for example, recipes for “stuffed camel” were meant as a spoof, to poke fun at the country of residence. Other cookbooks were aimed at overcoming expats’ reluctance to cook and eat in the style of the country where they were living.
BCD members enjoyed treats made using two recipes from Dan’s collections. The above is not from an expat cookbook, but is noteworthy nonetheless. It’s the brownie recipe of Mrs. Beatty Zimmerman Rutman — aka Bob Dylan’s mom.