Review: The Secret Recipe
The Secret Recipe
by Ilan Stavans, illustrated by Taia Morley
Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2025
A young boy in Mexico visits his grandmother, Abuela, to make bourekas. When she speaks to him in a language he doesn’t understand, she calls it their “secret language.” He learns that this language is Ladino, the language spoken by Jews long ago in Spain and Portugal. As he and Abuela make bourekas, she teaches him the Ladino words for the foods they are cooking. As the story progresses, the young boy resolves to learn to speak the "secret language" with his grandmother.
This quiet story brings a vibrancy to the love between an abuela and her grandchild, and the history of this endangered language, though there are a few confusing elements. The text transitions from past (“it is a language once spoken by Jews”) to present (“they cook, sing, and even dream in Ladino”) when describing Ladino, bringing to question whether the language is currently spoken. The timing is also made murky by the text’s suggestion that Abuela departed Spain due to the Inquisition, which ended by the mid-1800s.
The warm watercolor style of Taia Morley’s illustrations bring this Mexican Abuela’s home to life and capture the loving intergenerational bond of The Secret Recipe. The only inconsistency can be seen when the bourekas are described as “rectangular” pastries, but are shown throughout as triangular. The backmatter includes a Ladino glossary as well as a recipe from Sabor Judio: The Jewish Mexican Cookbook for bourekas con queso blanco (bourekas with white cheese), a book co-written by Ilan Stavans (author of The Secret Recipe) and Margaret E. Boyle.
The Secret Recipe introduces readers to the history of Spanish Jews who fled their homes in the 15th century and the language, Ladino, that they brought with them. Throughout the story, this history is juxtaposed with the modern day, as a young boy’s search for connection with his grandmother leads him to learn Ladino too.
While all readers can appreciate the history of Ladino, this book will delight Sephardic families and anyone looking to learn a bit of Ladino. The Secret Recipe will also serve as a fantastic educational text in Jewish preschools and libraries.
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