For the Vietnamese, cooking is a gesture of love. The author Kim Thúy, known for his autobiographical novels Ru ja Vi, has compiled the book Secrets of the Vietnamese Kitchen from the closely guarded secrets of his family: the best recipes that convey great feelings and delicious flavors. The work beautifully encapsulates the communal essence of cooking and inspires to realize the beautiful and the good. The book also contains excerpts from Thúy's novels dealing with dining and food.