Cooking, Under Advisement, with Fernet Branca

We at Cook the Books are currently reading Cooking With Fernet Branca, hosted by our own Simona of Briciole.  The title, by the way, is not referring to a person, but a little known (where I live anyway) Italian aperitivo. Written strictly tongue in cheek, and pretty silly at times.  

"If you have ever wondered what the 'extra' in 'extra virgin olive oil' really means then this is the book for you. Set in Tuscany it features a series of comic misunderstandings between two warring neighbours. They take turns to tell the story and you will soon learn not to trust either of them completely!"  Whichbook

 From the Publishers:

Gerald Samper, an effete English snob, has his own private hilltop in Tuscany where he whiles away his time working as a ghostwriter for celebrities and inventing wholly original culinary concoctions―including ice cream made with garlic and the bitter, herb-based liqueur known as Fernet Branca. But Gerald’s idyll is about to be shattered by the arrival of Marta, on the run from a crime-riddled former Soviet republic, as a series of misunderstandings brings this odd couple into ever closer and more disastrous proximity . . .

And, “A very funny sendup of Italian-cooking-holiday-romance novels” (Publishers Weekly).

Both the neighbors are continually underestimating and making erroneous assumptions about one another, which is a source of some of the humor, in just how far off they both are. I had many actual laugh out loud moments going through this humorous and satirical novel, usually due to the unexpected, totally deadpan delivery.

Fairy Cakes for the Mad Hatter's Tea Party

The current read for our Cook the Books Club is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, selected for us and hosted by Debra of Eliot's Eats.   My special vintage edition, beautifully illustrated with paintings by Angel Dominguez, was found online through Etsy.  If you'd like to read (or re-read) this old classic, and join the party, you have until the end of September.  What we do is read the selected book, get inspired by something in it to cook, then post our food and thoughts.

Sweet Potatoes and Salad

Right now I'm in a sort of sweet potato, yam planting frenzy. Maybe frenzy is too frenzied a word though. And we do need to harvest what we've got, from two varieties of sweet potatoes, before the pigs get in and eat them first. It was only recently I even heard of ube yams.  Oh joy, they had some plants for sale at our natural foods store! That wild and crazy purple one they use in the Philippines for desserts, and it has now been planted.  The infamous Ghana yam plantings are doing very well.  And, BTW, the lovely fish bowl is by a local artist, Esther Szegedy.

The End of the Tour with Tony Bourdain

Our June/July Cook the Books selection has been A Cook's Tour, Global Adventures in Extreme Cooking, aka In Search of the Perfect Meal, by Anthony Bourdain, and what an extreme tour it's been!  

From the Publishers and other Reviews:

'It works extremely well. In large part because Bourdain is a very funny writer; sharp, honest and with a beguiling mix of belligerence and sensitivity' Sunday Telegraph

'Brilliantly written up in a raw, stylish gonzo prose, with pitch-black humour and a devilish turn of phrase' Evening Standard
____________________
Anthony Bourdain, life-long line cook and bestselling author of Kitchen Confidential, sets off to eat his way around the world.

But being Anthony Bourdain, this was never going to be a conventional culinary tour. Bourdain heads out to Saigon where he eats the still-beating heart of a live cobra, and travels deep into landmined Khmer Rouge territory to find the rumoured Wild West of Cambodia (Pailin).

Other stops include dining with gangsters in Russia, a medieval pig slaughter and feast in northern Portugal, the Basque All Male Gastronomique Society in Saint Sebastian, rural Mexico with his Mexican sous-chef, a pilgrimage to the French Laundry in the Napa Valley and a return to his roots in the tiny fishing village of La Teste, where he first ate an oyster as a child.

Gravlax - A New Salmon Experience

Well, new for me at any rate.  I was doing that thing Foodies do, whilst reading a book.  Some intriguing food is mentioned, a light bulb then goes off, research is done on the handy smart phone, and a recipe appears. The book in question was The Body in the Kelp, one in a series by Katherine Hall Page. The protagonist, Faith Fairchild, is a caterer and of course, part time sleuth. The books are fun, light reading. With the added inducement of delicious food mentions.

Faith was busy planning a meal for some incoming guests, her sister (whom she characterizes as someone whose culinary skills are knowing the right numbers to dial) and brother-in-law.  Well, she is busy making Salmon Gravlax.  And so on and so forth. Of course, after finding out what the heck it was, I realized that 2 big fillets of salmon had just taken up residence in my fridge.  Nicely defrosted now and ready for whatever.  Bob had been given them by a customer visiting from Alaska.  Talk about perfect timing!  

Lots to Taste with Stanley Tucci

Our Cook the Books Club current selection, Stanley Tucci - Taste My Life Through Food, presents us with a memoir full of opinion, memories, travel and the connections between his growing up in a close knit Italian American family, in film, writing, travel, and through it all the backdrop and importance of food in his life.  This round is hosted by fellow Hawaiian blogger, Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

Tucci's mother was a wonderful cook, and he writes: "It should be obvious by now that when I was young my mother spent most of her waking time in the kitchen, and she still does to this day.  Cooking for her is at once a creative outlet and a way of feeding her family well.  Her cooking, like that of any great cook or chef, is proof that culinary creativity may be the most perfect art form."

What an enjoyable read!  And especially for us book foodies, with so many suggestions, memorable meals, recipes encountered in his full and sometimes even tragic life.  I felt as though I had met and come to know the man, with his sense of humor, conversations on whatever was happening, and sometimes rather dogmatic views, as per the one on NOT EVER cutting your spaghetti. And, not combining the wrong pasta and sauce.  I'm sure I do that on a regular basis.  Occasionally even cut my spaghetti.  OMG!

Red Sparrow and a Ukrainian Dish in Protest

Our current Cook the Books Club selection, hosted by Simona of Bricole, has been Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews.  According to the Publishers:

"In contemporary Russia, state intelligence officer Dominika Egorova has been drafted to become a “Sparrow”—a spy trained in the art of seduction to elicit information from their marks. She’s been assigned to Nathaniel Nash, a CIA officer who handles the organization’s most sensitive penetration of Russian intelligence. The two young intelligence officers, trained in their respective spy schools, collide in a charged atmosphere of tradecraft, deception and, inevitably, a forbidden spiral of carnal attraction that threatens their careers and the security of America’s valuable mole in Moscow" .... The Publishers' rant also called the novel an "electrifying modern spy thriller", however stupefying might be a better adjective.

"The art of seduction" i.e trained and systematicaly degraded, prostitute spies.  Sadly, I was unable to finish this book, couldn't identify with the lead characters at all, aside from pity, and would agree with one reviewer, admittedly in the minority, of mostly sycophant mainstream voices, who said in part:

"If this was a novel about old spies in suits, I’D BE SO HAPPY.

Ahi in a Creamy Mushroom White Wine Sauce Despite The Body in the Piazza

I just finished The Body in the Piazza, by Katherine Hall Page.  This book should really be on our next Cook the Books list!  So much tempting food here. Page has an ongoing mystery series I've somehow missed out on (well, along with who knows how many other fine series missed up to now) this one featuring Faith Fairchild is actually the twenty-first.  Usually I try to start with the first, but I read a good review and it was available on Kindle from the library, good since I haven't had my cataract surgery yet.  Also I read a good review, though some of her earlier works didn't fare so well.  Aside from all of that, this one was very well written, and completely stand alone.  Not to mention the many delicious meal descriptions, cooked up and served both at the cooking school as well as in local restaurants and homes.   From the Publisher's Summary:

"The twenty-first Faith Fairchild mystery takes Faith and her husband, the Reverend Tom Fairchild, to Italy, where murder and mayhem mix with pecorino, panna cotta, and prosecco. To celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary, amateur sleuth Faith Fairchild and her husband, the Reverend Tom Fairchild, leave placid New England behind for a week of romance and fine food in Italy. The bruschetta, the biscotti, the Chianti--Faith can't wait! She's also looking forward to seeing her former assistant Francesca, and take a class at her new cooking school in Florence.  But on their very first night, a travel writer Faith meets in their Roman hotel turns up dead. Then, in their cooking class in Florence, they find themselves surrounded by a number of suspiciously familiar faces they recognize from Rome. Someone is cooking up some unsavory business, including sabotaging Francesca's school. To save her anniversary vacation and protect her friend, Faith must follow a twisting trail of clues to unmask a killer--while learning to master a mean Spaghetti a la Foriana, too!"

Expect the Unexpected from Filipinx

You might call this a cookbook for the bold and adventurous, Filipinx, Heritage Recipes from the Diaspora, by Angela Dimayuga and Ligaya Mishan.  What do I say?  The book beats definition!  Not strictly cuisine from the Philippines, but a second generation update and amalgamation.  I want to try too many of those recipes in the library time remaining, with no renewal possible, so in a fit of let's go for it, another purchase!  Just couldn't resist.

I won't be adding pork blood to the fridge or attempting to make my own fermented shrimp paste, but still... I do want to try the Spicy Banana Ketchup, the green papaya table pickle and many other of her interesting concoctions, particularly the many enticingly unique (if you're not Asian) desserts, drinks, and condiments.

From the Publishers:
"In her debut cookbook, acclaimed chef Angela Dimayuga shares her passion for Filipino food with home cooks.

Filipinx offers 100 deeply personal recipes—many of them dishes that define home for Angela Dimayuga and the more than four million people of Filipino descent in the United States. The book tells the story of how Dimayuga grew up in an immigrant family in northern California, trained in restaurant kitchens in New York City—learning to make everything from bistro fare to Asian-American cuisine—then returned to her roots, discovering in her family’s home cooking the same intense attention to detail and technique she’d found in fine dining."

Molten Chocolate-Caramel Cakes and The Paris Library

 Though I certainly don't post reviews with recipes for all the books I read, sometimes the urge comes when a novel is particularly appealing.  For instance, The Paris Library, by Janet Skeslien Charles, another of the many WWII novels written since those war years, but with some differences.  Through her various characters, we see our own human tendency to judge others, to hold resentment, with often tragic repercussions, and the importance of forgiveness.  As it has been written, "Look after each other so that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many."

We see this very clearly in Odile, an intelligent, helpful and charming, though imperfect leading lady, during those war years in Paris, and later as an old woman in America, wiser and able to mentor Lily, a young woman making and about to make similar mistakes in her life.  They form a precious intergenerational friendship, which is encouraging and important to them both.

From the Publishers:               

"An instant New York Times, Washington Post, and USA TODAY bestseller—based on the true story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris during World War II—The Paris Library is a moving and unforgettable “ode to the importance of libraries, books, and the human connections we find within both” (Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author).

Paris, 1939: Young and ambitious Odile Souchet seems to have the perfect life with her handsome police officer beau and a dream job at the American Library in Paris. When the Nazis march into the city, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear, including her beloved library. Together with her fellow librarians, Odile joins the Resistance with the best weapons she has: books. But when the war finally ends, instead of freedom, Odile tastes the bitter sting of unspeakable betrayal.

Montana, 1983: Lily is a lonely teenager looking for adventure in small-town Montana. Her interest is piqued by her solitary, elderly neighbor. As Lily uncovers more about her neighbor’s mysterious past, she finds that they share a love of language, the same longings, and the same intense jealousy, never suspecting that a dark secret from the past connects them."