A Memoir from a Young Chef who Fought to the Bitter Ende

SAVOR: A Chef’s Desire for More, Fatima Ali and Tarajia Moller Fatima Ali, a talented chef from Pakistan and fan favorite on “Top Chef”‘s 15th and latest seasons, hired Tarajia Morrell as her food writer to work with her on an unusual memoir.

Morrell’s acceptance of the job was bittersweet. Ali, 29, was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma at the age of 29. She had just found out that her cancer was terminal. She had just been told by her doctor that she only had one year to live.

Morrell helped her to document how she would live it. Morrell also assisted her in creating a list of famous restaurants she wanted to visit, such as Osteria Francescana, Modena, and Noma in Copenhagen.

Morrell, the writer and founder of Lovage’s food blog, was ready for “poignant but delicious voyaging.” But those plans were canceled after Ali’s sudden acceleration in his cancer.

In January 2019, Ali’s final month, she was unable to travel far enough to meet the chef. Instead, she travelled as far as Los Angeles to interview her. Ali’s doctors tried to help her through the constant pain for a week, but they were often unsuccessful and not always gracefully.

One doctor inquired about the book the stranger was writing with his patient. “A book about you written by many people?”

“Savor” is a collective work. It was created by the willpower and determination of a young, Muslim, queer, feminist woman who arrived in America to seek fame, freedom, and influence. Ali is able to hear Morrell’s voice in the book’s opening pages and Ali’s perspective in the scene with the doctor.

But the ghostwriter disappears. “Savor” was faced with so many narrative hurdles that it is a success. Its expert execution is an example of editorial alchemy.

Morrell mixes chapters with Ali’s engaging voice. These include essays Ali wrote for Bon Appetit, which earned her a posthumous James Beard Award. Durrani, a loving mother and deeply influential, was proud of her daughter’s determination and love. However, she also refused to make some of her most important professional and personal decisions.

The back and forth between Ali and Ali strengthens the narrative. It amplifies Ali’s description of “this push-pull and this vacillation” between her homeland, and her adopted country. In Pakistan, her career and sexuality were questioned.

America allowed her to live beyond the norms to avoid her mother’s expectations of her finding a husband. Ali had always wanted her own restaurant and cooking program, and the book makes it clear that she would have achieved this.

Ali was 22 years old when she graduated from Culinary Institute of America. She was a sous-chef at a Manhattan restaurant, and was Food Network-famous for winning her episode of “Chopped” (2012).

She still loved Pakistan and wanted to change people’s perceptions. She writes, “No one knows anything about Pakistani food and very few people know much about our culture. The only thing that is known is the fact Osama Bin Laden was found hiding in our hillsides.” We need more information. I’d like to use our food to disarm them.

Fatima Ali explained to the judges why she won “Chopped.” This theme is repeated throughout “Savor.”

The book is not a memoir about cancer or a behind-the scenes account of reality TV. While both elements are present, “Savor,” in contrast to the many books on chefs, cooking, and inspiration, is a kind of “Life Confidential”.

Ali grew up in Karachi and Lahore, and spent a few years in Austin, Texas. Ali and Mohammad watched cooking shows together. Favorite cooking shows were Nigella Lawson’s and Martin Yan’s “Yan Can Cook”.

Their father was also a part of their adventures, and they shared many delicious meals together. Ali accompanied her grandmother to Pakistan’s open-air markets, where she savored every flavor, color, and scent.

Although her childhood was idyllic, it was not ideal. It was marked by the divorce of her parents and then a horrible trauma that her family largely ignored.

Food and the culture of sharing food in a welcoming community were constants. The refuge was found in recipes. Ali, 17, defied all expectations and decided to go to culinary school instead of her outstanding private high school record.

She plunged into her life for the next ten years. The bulk of the inspiring book is about her wild and beautiful life, achieving goals one by one and loving her family and friends. Ali is sensual, vulnerable, and wise. She is witty and funny, even as she grieves the loss of everything.

She wrote, “I want something to be left behind, something that could possibly help others ride the bull, and grab life by its horns.” Morrell was her posthumous guide.

Mary Pols is a student at Bates College. She is the author and editor of “Accidentally on Purpose,” a memoir. She is currently working on a novel.

By Fatima Ali with Tarajia Morrell | Ballantine | $28

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