Dirty KitchenDirty Kitchen

"In the style of Crying in H Mart and Minor Feelings, filmmaker Jill Damatac blends memoir, food writing, and colonial history as shecooks her way through recipes from her native-born Philippines and shares stories of her undocumented family in America. Jill Damatac left the United States in 2015 after living there as an undocumented immigrant with her family for twenty-two years. America was the only home she knew, where invisibility had become her identity and wherepoverty, domestic violence, ill health, and xenophobia were everyday experiences. First traveling to her native Philippines, Damatac eventually settled in London, England, where she was free to pursue an education at the University of Cambridge, fully investigate her roots, and process what happened to her and her family. After nine years, she was granted British citizenship, and returned to the United States, for the first time without fear of deportation or retribution. Damatac weaves together forgotten colonial history and long-buriedIndigenous tradition, taking us through her time in America, and cooking her way through Filipino recipes in her kitchen as she searches for a sense of self and renewed possibility. With emotional intelligence, clarity, and grace, Dirty Kitchen explores fractured memories to ask questions of identity, colonialism, immigration, and belonging, and to find ways in which the ritual, tradition, and comfort offood can answer them."
Filmmaker Jill Damatac combines memoir, food writing, and historical context to explore her experiences as an undocumented immigrant from the Philippines living in the United States for twenty-two years. The book recounts her family's struggles with poverty, violence, and xenophobia, leading to her eventual departure and settlement in London, where she gained citizenship and the opportunity to examine her heritage. Through Filipino recipes and personal narrative, Damatac reflects on themes of identity, colonialism, immigration, and belonging, tracing her journey of self-discovery and return to the United States without fear of deportation.