Hallelujah! The Welcome Table
A Lifetime of Memories with Recipes

Maya Angelou

Our lifetime of memories is colored and decorated with food. People bring food to a home when a baby is born. There are birthday parties, graduation open houses, work Christmas parties, retirement dinners, and the funeral meal. There are memories of hanging around the kitchen and learning to cook, of going out for pizza with friends, or of hating oatmeal because it's all there was to eat when everyone in the house was out of work and money was tight. Food is more than a necessity for physical survival - it provides emotional support and survival as well.

In Hallelujah! The Welcome Table Maya Angelou gives her lifetime of food related memories. She remembers her grandmother selling lunch foods outside the local factories and she remembers fancy dinners with gormet dishes. She remembers spoon bread and beef wellington. The best bread pudding she ever had was when her son made some for her as a surprise dessert one evening after work.

This short book is rich in flavor as Angelou moves from one era to another. She once took a job as a Creole chef. That was fine except she lied when she applied for the job. She'd never cooked Creole before. Yet with some help from friends, she was turning out Creole dishes almost immediately and was soon winning praise from the customers. While living in New York City many years later, she recalls the gormet meal provided by the woman in their circle who never cooked.

Each memory shows how important food was in Angelou's life as more than sustenance. Food is part of the whole experience of life, friendship, and people. Strangers can easily come together over food. Romance often involves special meals. Family reunions involve food. When depressed, many people turn to food for comfort.

Maya Angelou's memories in Hallelujah! The Welcome Table are well told. Since I listened to the audio version, I didn't get the recipes. But I've always heard of spoon bread and never tried it. I may have to borrow a hard copy just to check it out.