Reviewed by Chris,
Community Engagement Librarian at Bridgewater Library
"I have discovered that there is romance in food when
romance has disappeared from everywhere else" -- Ernest Hemingway
Cara Nicoletti escaped from the world by both cooking and
reading. She spent her early years in her grandfather's butcher shop and ended
up a cook and butcher herself after moving to New York City. She started a blog
called "Yummy Books" to celebrate scenes in books that involve food
heavily.
In 'Voracious', she goes through some of her favorite books,
from childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, and writes about first how the book
affected her in that phase of life (and again upon rereading), and then
includes a recipe closely related to that book or scene (think cookies for If
You Give A Mouse A Cookie or cherry pie for In Cold Blood or even a
roasted pig's head for The Lord of the Flies.)
I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, although they seem quite
tasty. I tore through this book in a couple of days, sharing in her
reminiscence of books we both loved, and learning about books I (shockingly!)
have yet to read. The recipes are different from the ones offered on her blog,
so even regular readers of her writing will gain something new from this book.
Read this if you enjoy reading and cooking -- it's a cookbook
for the literate, or a book list for the gourmet.
