Chef, television personality, and author of cookbook Smoke and Pickles, Edward Lee here sets out to explore the diversity of flavors and cultural traditions that make up America’s melting pot cuisine. Styled as both a memoir and a travelogue, the book takes us on a tour around the country, with each chapter devoted to a particular food and place.

We follow along with Lee as he explores the influence of Cambodian food in Lowell, Massachusetts, speaks with Vietnamese fishermen along the coast of Texas, and joins in the fasting and feasting of Ramadan in Dearborn, Michigan. Throughout, he is guided by a restless curiosity about the people and stories behind particular foods, and provides us with deep cultural inquiry as well as enticing descriptions of the foods he eats.

Each chapter ends with several recipes inspired by Lee’s experiences (Pork Lab with Fried Egg on Popcorn Bread; Seared Beef Rib-Eye with Prunes, Almonds, and Bourbon-Washed Butter; Spicy Tomato-Braised Chicken with Turmeric and Cashew). With his unique perspective as a Brooklyn-born, Kentucky-based chef of Korean descent, along with his wide-eyed curiosity and compelling narrative voice, Lee has written a book that captures the complexity of American cuisine.