When reading book reviews, one must necessarily read with a pinch of salt. I choose to write "pinch of salt" here because the book I finished last Tuesday was a book with recipes, but it was not a cookbook. Readers who hate for an author to include recipes are going to hate this book, maybe not even finish it. Those who don't mind will read the book and enjoy the story where author Ruth Reichl discovers that "food could be a way of making sense of the world." As for me, the recipes did not interfere with my reading of the book, and if I were to buy the book for myself (it was loaned to me by a friend), I would be buying it because I wanted the recipes.
Reichl's story is a memoir, of sorts. She writes: "This book is absolutely in the family tradition. Everything here is true, but it may not be entirely factual. In some cases I have compressed events; in others I have made two people into one. I have occasionally embroidered." As it turns out, I have fallen into a genre of reading that I don't usually read: memoirs. I'm reading four of them currently. I have discovered that memoirs have quite a bit of fictional edge to them.
Reichl states, "I learned early that the most important thing in life is a good story." Hmmm, sounds like a good book discussion question there. I hope this means her mom was not quite as dysfunctional as she sounds in the book. Her mother's habit of serving moldy food did influence me. I immediately went to my refrigerator and threw out the turkey bones I had been saving to make bone soup. Granted, her mom had them in the refrigerator two weeks and I only had them in three days, but her mom's "Everything Stew" made me squeamish at the thought of using the bones less than fresh off the turkey.
When an author embellishes a memoir, a person with an average adventurous life (me) can feel as if only people with amazing stories are worthy of being published. I don't know about the worthy part, but certainly Reichl may have felt that need in order to have her book published. As a story, it's a fun, easy read (four days).
I did have one experience that connected with one of hers. Risotto. I am here to save your meal if you find yourself in Italy, at a local market buying Arborio rice because there isn't any other rice on the shelf. You take your groceries back to the little place you are renting for the week in Tuscany. You measure out the water, just like you would for rice at home. You measure out the rice: 1/2 the amount of the water.
STOP!
Your rice will never cook this way. EVER. You will give up on it and eat the rest of the meal without the rice.
Risotto, an Italian dish made with Arborio rice must have little amounts of broth added to it and you must stir and stir and stir. As the site in the link below states it: "you have one job and one job only" to keep stirring while you add the broth. Risotto Recipe for Beginners
I have not tried cooking it the way Reichl mentions in the book: "...cover the rice with boiling broth and bake it". She does not include a recipe. I surmise that she does not think it is a good idea either.
Another take away from the book: a mentor to Reichl makes her "taste salad dressings over and over until I could pour out the precise ratio of olive oil to vinegar without looking at what I was doing. 'It's like typing, ' she said, 'you have to know it in the fingers so that you do not think about it with the head. You will need this later.'"
This is quite a profound practice. More and more I am coming to realize the body has memories which the mind forgets. I see this in my father with his Alzheimer's. I see it when I come to the computer ready to put in one of the many passwords I use. My fingers remember that which I might have a difficult time telling someone if I had to do it without moving my fingers. And, I am finding it in my spiritual life as well. In the recent past, walking with Christ has been too much of a cerebral walk and not enough of a bodily one. While saying they don't believe in Gnosticism, some Christians act gnostic! Only spirit is good, and matter is evil.
What?! Where have I taken you, the reader? Jesus loved to eat: see how often he is doing it in the gospel accounts. This is a joyful book, and I hope the character of Doug (Reichl's husband) is a true one. He really is a turning point in the book. His goodness brings out joy in Reichl's dad and courage in Reichl herself (along with her friend Marion).
So, I end with recommending this book to those who can handle recipes within a story, and if, in addition to reading the book, you would like to watch a joyous movie (different story) about food and love and goodness bringing out the best in a group of stiff, straight-laced, religious group, watch Babette's Feast.
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A suggested practice: Really enjoy making a meal. Look at the colors. Smell the fragrances. Taste and taste and taste again. Sit down to eat. Take your time. Savor the meal (or if you're at my house, feel free to chuckle with me over my mishaps). Love the people you're with. Thank God for whatever has been provided. Bless the food, the hands that prepared it, those who eat it. (If you have sandpaper people in your life -- which involves other practices -- then, in this practice, start with just you and God enjoying the meal, or a few people willing to enjoy communing over a meal with you.)
Reichl's story is a memoir, of sorts. She writes: "This book is absolutely in the family tradition. Everything here is true, but it may not be entirely factual. In some cases I have compressed events; in others I have made two people into one. I have occasionally embroidered." As it turns out, I have fallen into a genre of reading that I don't usually read: memoirs. I'm reading four of them currently. I have discovered that memoirs have quite a bit of fictional edge to them.
Reichl states, "I learned early that the most important thing in life is a good story." Hmmm, sounds like a good book discussion question there. I hope this means her mom was not quite as dysfunctional as she sounds in the book. Her mother's habit of serving moldy food did influence me. I immediately went to my refrigerator and threw out the turkey bones I had been saving to make bone soup. Granted, her mom had them in the refrigerator two weeks and I only had them in three days, but her mom's "Everything Stew" made me squeamish at the thought of using the bones less than fresh off the turkey.
When an author embellishes a memoir, a person with an average adventurous life (me) can feel as if only people with amazing stories are worthy of being published. I don't know about the worthy part, but certainly Reichl may have felt that need in order to have her book published. As a story, it's a fun, easy read (four days).
I did have one experience that connected with one of hers. Risotto. I am here to save your meal if you find yourself in Italy, at a local market buying Arborio rice because there isn't any other rice on the shelf. You take your groceries back to the little place you are renting for the week in Tuscany. You measure out the water, just like you would for rice at home. You measure out the rice: 1/2 the amount of the water.
STOP!
Your rice will never cook this way. EVER. You will give up on it and eat the rest of the meal without the rice.
Risotto, an Italian dish made with Arborio rice must have little amounts of broth added to it and you must stir and stir and stir. As the site in the link below states it: "you have one job and one job only" to keep stirring while you add the broth. Risotto Recipe for Beginners
I have not tried cooking it the way Reichl mentions in the book: "...cover the rice with boiling broth and bake it". She does not include a recipe. I surmise that she does not think it is a good idea either.
Another take away from the book: a mentor to Reichl makes her "taste salad dressings over and over until I could pour out the precise ratio of olive oil to vinegar without looking at what I was doing. 'It's like typing, ' she said, 'you have to know it in the fingers so that you do not think about it with the head. You will need this later.'"
This is quite a profound practice. More and more I am coming to realize the body has memories which the mind forgets. I see this in my father with his Alzheimer's. I see it when I come to the computer ready to put in one of the many passwords I use. My fingers remember that which I might have a difficult time telling someone if I had to do it without moving my fingers. And, I am finding it in my spiritual life as well. In the recent past, walking with Christ has been too much of a cerebral walk and not enough of a bodily one. While saying they don't believe in Gnosticism, some Christians act gnostic! Only spirit is good, and matter is evil.
What?! Where have I taken you, the reader? Jesus loved to eat: see how often he is doing it in the gospel accounts. This is a joyful book, and I hope the character of Doug (Reichl's husband) is a true one. He really is a turning point in the book. His goodness brings out joy in Reichl's dad and courage in Reichl herself (along with her friend Marion).
So, I end with recommending this book to those who can handle recipes within a story, and if, in addition to reading the book, you would like to watch a joyous movie (different story) about food and love and goodness bringing out the best in a group of stiff, straight-laced, religious group, watch Babette's Feast.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A suggested practice: Really enjoy making a meal. Look at the colors. Smell the fragrances. Taste and taste and taste again. Sit down to eat. Take your time. Savor the meal (or if you're at my house, feel free to chuckle with me over my mishaps). Love the people you're with. Thank God for whatever has been provided. Bless the food, the hands that prepared it, those who eat it. (If you have sandpaper people in your life -- which involves other practices -- then, in this practice, start with just you and God enjoying the meal, or a few people willing to enjoy communing over a meal with you.)
4 comments:
Oh how I love your blogs! Made me smile like I was in your kitchen and you were talking to Ruth and how life really was for her and family ;)
And, I appreciate your comments and encouragement! Thank you!
I love your blog, too. Sorry it has taken me so long to find it. I have a lot of reading to do.;-) This post took me back to Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel; another book with recipes incorporated. It also made me feel better about my cooking skills (to use the term loosely).
Thanks, Elly! You do know that you've just added another book to my ever growing list? And, of course, I headed over to your blog. Very clever! I've never seen a blog like it! What a great way to keep and share recipes (I have recipes I use on Pinterest, but they get lost amongst all the other pins.)
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