Cara Nicoletti

Books and food -- a classic combination -- both suggesting purposeful consumption and digestion. Cara Nicoletti -- writer, chef, butcher, baker and keeper of the blog yummy-foods.com compiles a memoir-type look at some of her favorite books and the foods they evoke. I must say I have not paid attention to the meals and dishes mentioned in the reads we have in common, so it is interesting to see the lens she has used to peruse. Nicoletti has divided the book into Childhood, Adolescence, and Adulthood, and revisits books she has read with a short memoir-type essay of their importance or role in her life, then pairs it with a recipe for food mentioned in or inspired by the story. Some are very precise to the narrative (breakfast sausage from Little House on the Prairie -- all I remember is head cheese- ugh!) and some are more tongue-in-cheek (is that a food pun?) like Porchetta di Testa (pig's head!) for Lord of the Flies. While some recipes sound delicious and tempting, (Biscuits with Molasses Butter -- To Kill a Mockingbird; Cherry Pie -- In Cold Blood; Oysters and Cucumber Mignonette -- Anna Karenina) most are beyond my scope and skill as Nicoletti is a completely from scratch (and sometimes from the farm) chef. She does simplify for the masses and her friendly non-pretentious tone is encouraging, but my typical book-food pairing is M&Ms or Cheetos -- bad habits from childhood. Recalled here, Virginia Woolf said "One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." Nicoletti's collection has reminded me of favorite books, introduced some I'd like to read, and has made me hungry for her sumptious recipes -- if I could only find someone to make them for me!… (altro)

I received this book as part of a Goodreads Giveaway. Voracious consists of essays where the author talks about a book she's read, how that book affected her as a person, what was going on in her life when she read it and a food from the book that really spoke to her. She then provides a recipe for that food.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It brought back warm memories of reading some many of the same iconic titles as a kid or watching the movies. The essay on witches reminded me of watching Witches with my dad and being so traumatized by Anjelica Huston's portrayal of the lead witch that I never read the book; convinced it would be way too scary. I like that she provides context like that in her essays; like who gave her the book and why and how it made her feel. Her explanations of why the titles appealed to her have given me the impetus to try some books that I had always totally dismissed as being completely not for me before.

The food all sounds amazing (minus some of the meaty things but that is a reflection on my not eating meat not on the writer's recipes.) She provides vegetarian substitutions when she can/it's necessary and I cannot wait to try making some of these things; especially Where the Red Fern Grows Skillet Cornbread with honey butter and The Aenid Honey Poppy seed cake. I'm a little bit intimidated but her directions are pretty explicit so I feel like I got this.

I will also admit to having been stupidly excited upon reading the acknowledgements to see that the writer spent some time writing at The Anchored Inn in Brooklyn, where I spend most of my Sunday afternoons after practice. I love the food at the Anchored and it kind of just gave me an extra warm fuzzy.… (altro)