Umma's table
Yeon-sik Hong (Author, Artist), Janet Hong (Translator)
"The joy of food and tradition brings a family together. Madang is an artist and new father who moves to a quiet home in the countryside with his wife and young baby, excited to build a new life full of hope and joy, complete with a garden and even snow. But soon reality sets in and his attention is divided between his growing happy family and his impoverished parents back in Seoul in a dingy basement apartment. With an ailing mother in and out of the hospital and an alcoholic father, Madang struggles to overcome the exhaustion and frustration of trying to be everything all at once: a good son, devoted father, and loving husband. To cope, he finds himself reminiscing about their family meals together, and particularly his mother's kimchi, a traditional dish that is prepared by the family and requires months of fermentation. Memories of his mother's glorious cooking--so good it would prompt a young Madang and his brother into song--soothe the family. With her impending death, Madang races to learn her recipes and bring together the three generations at the family table while it's still possible. A beautiful and thoughtful meditation on how the kitchen and communal cooking--both past, present and future--bind a family together amidst the inevitable."--Publisher's website
Print Book, English, 2020
First edition View all formats and editions
Drawn & Quarterly, [Montréal, Québec], 2020
Domestic fiction
358 pages : chiefly illustrations ; 21 cm
9781770463868, 1770463860
1102170800
Prologue
Checkup
Making kimchi for the winter
Community hall
The world I serve and protect
Spring greens
Father
Comprehensive physical
What is family
Vegetable garden
Emergency room
Hosptial bills
Dol: first birthday
A macrobiotic diet
Back to the hospital
Mother
What I wanted to say
Legacy
Umma's table
"First published in 2015 by Woorinabi Publishing Co., Korea"--Copyright page
In English, translated from the Korean