Coconuts & Collards: Recipes and Stories from Puerto Rico to the Deep South

 Adapted from Matt’s discussion of this book for Food52’s Piglet contest: Von Diaz was born in Puerto Rico and spent her early life there before her family moved to Georgia, trading “plantains, roast pork, and Malta for grits, fried chicken, and sweet tea.” Her affection for her mother and grandmother, and the food they made, is clear—sometimes poignant. She doesn’t always seek to replicate their food, or that of the good Southern cooks she met growing up. Instead, she notes that “with history and culture as your guides, the path to creating delicious foods…can reveal connections to your past and to others that you wouldn’t otherwise see.” People who love cookbooks often say something along these lines: “If I can find just one recipe I like in a cookbook, then the book is worth having.” I found that recipe in Asopao de Pollo, a dish that Diaz says is inspired by her mother—a hardworking woman who was often forced to be thrifty. The dish is a chicken and rice soup, with a little tomato,