Gabriele Edlbauer & Julia S. Goodman

The way to the heart is through the stomach - and perhaps this also applies to intercultural understanding. Most of Julia Goodman's ancestors were Eastern European Jews who emigrated to the USA at the beginning of the 20th century. Gabriele Edlbauer on the other hand grew up on an organic farm in the predominantly Catholic Mühlviertel region of Upper Austria. While gnawing on chicken bones together, the two women came to chat about the significance of certain foods in relation to their own identity. After all, chickens feature in Julia's most important life memories. Since her family always had a chicken recipe at hand for every holiday, including the weekly Shabbat, it was no surprise that the bird eventually became Julia's favorite dish. Gabi's most prominent childhood memories of chickens are less culinary: the hens on the family farm mainly served an economic purpose.

Through sharing their stories, they both soon realized that their connections with chicken and their respective artistic approaches were entangled in strange ways. In the process of cooking together, they developed a fascination with the idea of how certain dishes can convey or trigger very specific feelings. The result is a humorous, artistic attempt to expose complex feelings and hard truths in chicken recipes. This book is filled with emotional recipes - accompanied by creative serving suggestions - and invites you to express yourself through chicken.