How Food Frames Stories - Anna Kharzeeva

Folklore, Food & Fairytales

In these fractured times l wanted to continue to look at how stories and food can overcome the distance between people and enhance our shared experiences so earlier this year I spent time exploring storytelling through food writing. I interviewed some very talented writers who tell stories through their food writing to find out why how food has shaped their writing and in what ways food enhances their storytelling. They have all had different experiences around food which has influenced how they write and the subjects they write about. In their own ways they use their writing to break down barriers through stories and food. I hope you find these conversations as fascinating as I did.

In this fourth & final interview I would like to introduce you to Anna Kharzeeva. Anna is the author of the remarkable cookbook, The Soviet Diet Cookbook, which is not just that but also a fascinating anthropological, historical analysis of the Soviet regime. She is a political refugee and had to flee Russia at the outbreak of the war against Ukraine or face the possibility of decades in jail for protesting against the actions of the current regime. We had arranged to do the interview before the war broke out and eventually managed to do it once she arrived in Australia after fleeing Moscow via Istanbul. We stuck to my original questions which predated the awful events in Ukraine as we wanted this interview to work with the rest of the series. As you will hear however, naturally the war and its effects aren’t far from her thoughts.

You can find Anna on Instagram and you can buy her book here

Anna also mentions the fundraising drive set up by Olia Hercules and Alissa Timoshkina - Cook For Ukraine.

You can find Olia Hercules Books here:

You can find the rest of the interviews in this series here: How Food Frames Stories. You can find my interviews with storytellers here: Vernacular Voices of the Storyteller

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You can also find out more at Hestia's Kitchen which has all past episodes and the connected recipes on the blog. If you'd like to get in touch about the podcast you can find me on Twitter or Instagram at @FairyTalesFood.