Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table

Because Ruth Reichl is, at the time of writing Tender at the Bone, a highly regarded food writer, critic, and chef, her ideas about food are naturally the central focus of the text. As Reichl explores the various roles that food can play in people’s lives, she discovers that food can be more than simple sustenance: It is a form of self-expression.

For Reichl, food is an expression of personal identity. During a chaotic childhood, she learned that she could feel more stable and centered in the kitchen, and she learned to take pride in having organized routines there. A significant part of her individuation from her mother centered on their differing approaches to food—where Miriam’s approach was careless and haphazard, Reichl’s was discerning, ordered, and even studious. The structure of the text—with the two parties that bookend Reichl’s coming-of-age story—emphasizes how Reichl’s food journey from childhood to adolescence into adulthood is also the story of how she set herself apart from Miriam and Miriam’s approach to food.

Reichl also sees that food is an expression of cultural identity. During her travels abroad, she learns how integral distinct foods and cooking techniques are to each nation’s identity. She offers vivid descriptive detail regarding the traditional foods she encounters in Italy, Greece, Tunisia, and Quebec, evoking not only their deliciousness but their uniqueness and their significance to local people—making it clear how these foods embody identity for each place.