Raised in the traditional kitchen from which his mother runs her Buen AppeTito catering service, Weston Tito Hingler's childhood is shaped by the foods he eats, especially those he must try before he is allowed to enter the Tsil Café where his father invites?and at times challenges?diners to experience foods of the New World cooked New Mexican style.

Filled with recipes and definitions of New World ingredients, Averill's novel follows Wes as he navigates his way through the dueling cuisines of his passionate parents and the signature recipes of his life.

Thomas Fox Averill, a graduate of the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, is professor of English and writer- in-residence at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas.