How to Share an Egg
Memoir
A moving culinary memoir about the relationship between food and family—sustenance and survival — from a chef, award-winning journalist, and daughter of a Holocaust survivor. When raised by someone who once survived on potato peels and coffee grounds, you develop a pretty healthy respect for food. Bonny Reichert avoided everything to do with the Holocaust until she found herself, in midlife, typing those words into an article she was writing. The journalist had grown up hearing stories about her father’s near starvation and ultimate survival in Auschwitz Birkenau, but she never imagined she would be able to face this epic legacy head-on. Then, a chance encounter with a perfect bowl of borscht in Warsaw set Bonny on a journey to unearth her culinary lineage, dish by dish. Stepping into the kitchen to connect her past with her future, cuisine is an anchor and an identity, a source of joy and a signifier of survival.
Bonny Reichert is a National Magazine Award winning journalist. She was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and lives in Toronto with her husband Michael. Bonny holds an MFA in creative nonfiction and teaches creative writing. In 2022, an excerpt of How to Share an Egg won the Dave Greber award for social justice writing.