When I first heard about
The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister I KNEW that I would like it. Number 1, I love to read. Number 2, it was a book about a cooking school and I love to cook. But when I got the book and started to read it, it was more than "like" - I LOVED IT! I really just ate it up! (Pun totally intended!)
Each chapter focuses on one of the students in the class and explores how food and cooking has touched their lives. The characters are all different ages, come from different backgrounds and have had unique experiences and yet, the cooking of a meal brings them all together with a common thread. Each of their personal stories are beautifully written and melt together in this book like a warm and gooey brie cheese!
In the very first chapter I felt giddy as her main character described a zester:
"Lillian smiled. She felt about her zester the way some women do about a pair of spiky red shoes-a frivolous splurge, good only for parties, but oh so lovely. The day Lillian had found the little utensil at a garage sale a year before, she had brought it to Abuelita, face shining. She didn't even know what it was for back then, she just knew she loved its slim stainless-steel handle, the fanciful bit of metal at the working end with it's five demure little holes, the edges scalloped around the openings like frills on a petticoat. There were so few occasions for a zester, using it felt like a holiday."
Who among the lovers of cooking don't smile to themselves and feel a tug to the kitchen after reading that paragraph? The way Bauermeister writes is full...and descriptive...and comes together like a really good recipe. It touched me and, like a great recipe, I want to share it with all my friends!
This review was posted happily for
MomCentral.com (MotherTalk Reviews)
