Reading Bite by Bite was like receiving a warm embrace from Nezhukumatathil. Each essay is precisely what the title suggests: bite-sized. While the essays are rather short, it is rich in language and content. I love Nezhukumatathil’s poetry, and the beautiful lyricism found in her poems carried over to this collection. In addition, I really enjoyed how she wove together personal stories and the historical (which is deeply sociopolitical) by using a different food for each essay as the jumping point. Furthermore, she gave enough space for the reader to reflect alongside her on how we think about and experience this complicated yet beautiful world that we live in. The cherry on top (and forgive me for using a food-related idiom) has to be the beautiful illustrations by Fumi Nakamura for each chapter.

Overall, a heartwarming essay collection that will undoubtedly strike a chord for food and nature lovers. (If you’re also a fan of Ross Gay’s writings, this is well worth picking up.)