Examines the changing food habits of Bengali immigrants to the United States as they deal with the tension between their nostalgia for home and their desire to escape from its confinements. This book shows how Bengali immigrants decide what defines their ethnic cuisine and differentiates it from American food.

By drawing on literary sources, family menus and recipes for traditional dishes, interviews with Bengali household members, and his own experience as an immigrant, Ray presents a vivid picture of immigrants grappling with the grave and immediate problem of defining themselves in their home away from home. Krishnendu Ray is Associate Professor of Liberal Arts and Management at the Culinary Institute of America.