Relish: My Life in the Kitchen

I think this may be the first graphic novel I've written about here. I'm not a graphic novel fanatic. I like what I like. And I find with graphic novels - that sometimes I like the art and hate the story or vice versa. And then after reading some titles, there is my occasional thought of why did they choose to make this book a graphic novel? It is a lot of work!!  Words and pictures! But sometimes those elements can be a powerful combination.

With my previous experiences in mind, I look at graphic novel memoirs with an skeptical eye. But then I discovered Lucy Knisley's latest book Relish: My Life in the Kitchen. I was immediately charmed by the art - quirky, colorful, not too stylized - so I was hopeful while flipping through the pages. And then I read her story.  She tells the tale of growing up with a foodie family in New York. Mom worked at Dean and Deluca, then went on to catering and farmer's markets. Dad was a gourmand. Food was seen as a powerful element in their family, sometimes bringing them together when other forces (time, distance, divorce) separated them.

Her chapters show various stages of her life and the food dishes that have left a place in her timeline, and she has chosen to share with us, the reader, her experiences. And some of them are awkward and funny - aren't all teenage years?

And then there are the recipes. I really thought the recipe graphics after each chapter were great - even when I knew that there was no chance I would ever make the dish. (I think that Knisley would make a great cookbook illustrator!) To me, she brought across the idea that cooking was fun.

So I love this book. But I love the art - it appeals to me, and her story is familiar to anyone who has read a few foodie memoirs. Or those who remember an awkward adolescence and trying to find your place in the world.. And then there is the Chicago angle, that was a surprise. But most important thing (to me) when reading a contemporary memoir is - are you still interested in finding out what is happening currently with that writer? Are you going to look them up? I was still interested, and I did here.

It is a fun frothy read. And I'm looking forward to her other works.

Colonial Foodies

The Founding Foodies: How Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin Revolutionized American Cuisine By Dave DeWitt


This is a great and concise title on how our founding fathers really were the first foodies in the land. Jefferson and Washington were plantation owners and experimented with crops and vegetables in their particular states. Franklin spent time in France as the U.S. ambassador and definitely enjoyed himself while there! He also was a early supporter of corn. Jefferson used his time in France to discover new plants and vegetables and had some of them brought back to Monticello.

This book goes into detail about food (and drink) during colonial times and how the tavern really helped the growth of the democracy. There is also a lengthy section with recreated recipes. There is a very detailed appendix with historic colonial foodie sites to visit. And perhaps best of all - an extremely detailed bibliography for more books both on Washington, Jefferson and Franklin, but food and living during colonial times. A fun read.

Heirloom: Notes from an Accidental Tomato Farmer

Tim Stark did not start out to become a tomato farmer. It was more of a casual obsession with growing tomatoes in his New York brownstone. It reminded him of growing up near farm land Pennsylvania. When it came time to expand his crop, that is where he headed and had to deal with the memories that he had left behind. Heirloom: Notes from an Accidental Tomato Farmer is that story.

Stark has a way with stories - each chapter takes you forward and back to his work of growing tomatoes for the Greenmarket in New York City, trying to create his business, and his memories of growing up in farm lands - but not in a farm family. And after each chapter you are eager to read more about what happened next and how his small business has had setbacks and personnel changes. As the business grows - he sells other vegetables and peppers (one of the best chapters is his story of peppers and customers at the Greenmarket) and soon his produce makes its way into some of the finest restaurant kitchens in NYC.

And if you are a tomato person - and believe that one of the best things in life is a delicious home grown tomato - this book is for you. An excellent read that I discovered while reading an exerpt from the Best Food Writing of 2009. I'm glad I took the plunge. A very good read.

The Omnivore's Dilemma

The saying is "you are what you eat." Well, apparently we, 21st century Americans, are just walking and talking bundles of corn. Corn and it's by-products are infused within a majority of the foods we consume. Oh, no you say - I stay away from high carb food. If you have consumed "citric and latic acid; glucose, fructose, malodextrin; ethanol (for alcoholic beverages as well as cars), sorbitol, mannitol, and xanthan gum, modified and unmodified starches; as well as dextrins and cyclodeztrins and MSG" you, my friend, have eaten an organic - but corn - compound. And you thought it was just corn syrup to blame!

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan brings to our attention the sprawl of the modern industrial food complex. And how it effects almost every aspect of the food we eat. Is it for the better? That is the question. The first section of the book is on corn and how it has been filtered through out lives. We eat it, feed it to our meat, drive with it, use it for other non-food (adhesives etc.) items. The ironic part of this - to get that corn, all that lovely corn, we need to use petrochemicals as fertilizer. And that is why food prices are going up with the recent rise in oil prices.

The next section is about a different kind of farm - self sustaining and more in tune with nature's cycles. Pollan spends some time seeing how this "non-industrial" farm makes it work. And in the last half of the book, he talks about forging - hunting in the woods for animals, and mushrooms.

Pollan is a writer who draws you in with his prose and practicality as he moves smoothly along from one section to the next. He definitely makes you think about your food choices. And that may bother some readers. Or be eye opening to them. But ignoring where it comes from is one of the problems. People have lost sight of how their food is made. Their health and the ecosystem are the ones that pay the cost. An excellent read.

Warning : It does have disturbing scenes of meat processing and killing animals. This may not be for everyone - but we watch thousands of people being murdered and dissected on CSI and other cop shows all the time - so why should this bother you?

Something to think about:
"The longer the ingredient label on a food, the more fractions of corn and soybeans you will find in it. They supply the essential building blocks, and from those two plants (plus a handful of synthetic additives) a food scientist can construct just about any processed food he or she can dream up."

Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.

Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto is almost a continuation of what he started in the The Omnivore's Dilemma. But here he goes further and takes on the nutrition "industry". You know who they are - the folks that keep telling you that you need to eat more of this or that, but don't eat THAT - cause that will kill you. But then the next month - somebody else does a food study that totally negates what the previous one did. And that, he points out is part of the problem - just who is doing the study, who is paying for the study, and why? He goes into the background of the rise in these health studies. And it is very interesting to see what is "behind the curtain."

His mantra is fairly simple in the end : "Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants." And he goes on to explain it within detail. Will this book change your diet? Maybe. Maybe not. But it will definitely awaken your eyes to the nutrition industry and have you studying your plate a little closer. And perhaps you will be paying a little more attention to the fuel your body craves. Everything in moderation! A very good read.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver (with Stephen L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver) is a book about family: her family, the farming and agricultural family, and the family of men. (And it is written with her family - her daughter provides the recipes and nutrition segments, her husband, the food industry issues.) Can one family of four sustain themselves on locally grown food for a year? That is the question that Kingsolver and her family attempt to solve. It helps that they live on a farm in southwest Virginia, but they "survive" by growing and raising their own food, going to local farmer's markets and seeing where items are grown in their local stores. Her segment on turkey reproduction is very funny and scary. Funny - from her descriptions - scary, when you realize that certain breeds no longer reproduce naturally at all - it is bred out of the birds.


Do they make - sure. Is it easy? Not so much, but the tone in which Kingsolver writes just guides you through the seasons. She does not have the stridency of a convert, for she writes about their dilemmas and "must have" items (coffee for the adults, mac and cheese for the kids and their friends) with candidness. But she gives the reader hope that the food environment is changing-back to food grown in healthy ways for both the farmer and pickers and the eaters. And she provides resources and recipes to help the average folk contribute along their path. As someone who grew up with a large vegetable garden and canning, I really liked how she handled the whole topic of raising your own food. I was very impressed by her writing - I think I need to try one of her other writings. A great thoughtful read.