Singapore, early 1990s.
Pin is a ten-year-old Sikh girl on scholarship at an elite school where she tries to fit in while also trying to blend in.
Her mother occasionally tells her she shouldn't be like her, but doesn't explain why. Pin tries to find clues in her mother's delicious cooking, which reflects her moods and emotional changes through the recipes and spices. When her grandmother moves in with them, secrets from the past resurface, and the food becomes bland, a sign that her mother is exhausted and sad.
Through Pin's innocent gaze, which alternates between her own world (her school, her friends, her family, the temple, and, of course, food) and the adult world (complex family relationships, a community obsessed with appearances, a dark secret everyone knows and everyone hides), themes such as religion, tradition, patriarchy, and the complex racial, identi...read more
