Death, a life-threatening diagnosis, a pandemic. Things crumbled in 2020; life fell apart. But crumbs are also memories of a satisfying slice of cake, of a piece of crusty bread.

In Crumbs, an ongoing food memoir manuscript, Bégin takes readers down a winding trail of souvenirs and writes an intergenerational memoir of food and illness. Following her and her family’s breadcrumbs, readers cross borders and vicariously travel to Europe, North America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. The food is often home cooked meals, but also institutional foods served in hospitals, schools, and on planes.

Avoiding easy romanticization, she looks at food as both a source of comfort and distress – and always as a mean of intellectual enquiry.

Two pieces central to Crumbs have been published: one in Gastronomica, the other in Adelaide Magazine.