I was drawn to it because in the spring I'll be doing a workshop at Isothermal College and my subject is the use of food to enhance one's prose. (Think of the eating scene in Tom Jones--or the antebellum sumptuous meals of Gone With the Wind reduced to Scarlett's postbellum gnawing on a raw turnip--or was it a carrot or a radish? I can't remember and my online sources don't agree. Anyway, you get the point.*)
Dryzal hit upon a wonderful structure for her memoir--twenty-six vignettes about different foods, arranged chronologically and alphabetically.
From Al Dente in which we learn about her Italian grandmother and the importance of family rituals; through Nova, the story of her summer as the lone Catholic at a Jewish camp, her first kiss (at this same camp) and her on-going preference for Jewish men; to Zucchini Blossoms (fried) where we come full circle back to her grandmother and her grandfather-- the gardener who grew the zucchini. And a small reflection on the ineffable sense memories stored in these twenty-six vignettes.
Drzal serves forth an absolutely delicious memoir-- well stirred and seasoned with wit, wisdom, and nostalgia.
*It was a radish -- I checked.
3 comments:
In Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series they are always at the Bistro and I crave snacks. She doesn't go deeply into describing the dishes, however.
I agree with Anvilcloud. Louise Penny does some wonderful descriptions of food at the Bistro as well as neighborhood gatherings in her Chief Inspector Gamache series. She even made the simple food at a monastry - homemade vegetables, soup, and bread so tempting one could almost smell the aroma. And then they had chocolate-covered fresh blueberries from the garden.
Another interesting book to add to my list. And I agree about the Penny books...may have gained a few pounds reading each of them. Have to get the latest soon!
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