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oyceterMore talk about food! I found it very comforting to read this after the rather painful Appetites. Wah. I like food. I find food comforting. I find the idea of people starving themselves and deliberately not eating food extremely disquieting.
Reichl luckily has a very similar attitude toward food, at least in this book, which details her start as a restaurant critic and goes through several romances, hardships and other such things in life. And through it all, food is always a joy and a comfort to her; eating seems to make her feel very alive, makes her pay attention to all her senses. She mostly describes the good meals, so although sometimes it is odd to continually hear her describe absolutely breath-taking things to eat, on the other hand.... *drools*
There just seem to be so many occasions when she is stressed, or nervous, or tired, or sad, and then she comes across a wonderful meal, or cooks, or something, and the food is good enough to momentarily transcend the bad emotions and to make everything right with the world again. I grok this. And I don't mean eating as self-medicating, but rather, eating as an experience in and of itself, of being completely immersed in the sensory world of food. I also like how she doesn't just talk about how everything tastes; she notices what it looks like and what it smells like, how it sounds when she's chewing on it, and of course, the texture of the food. I of course like this because it's something I notice, and it makes what she's describing that much more real to me. Plus, there are so many fun textures! I like the strange sort of rubbery crunch of jellyfish, how garlic softens when it's roasted, the heavy richness of good chicken stock.
Of course, her forays into the world of restaurant criticism throws her into the world of the culinary profession, which did sort of weird me out. Somehow, seeing the behind-the-scenes of Wolfgang Puck opening his second restaurant is very strange. I actually wasn't quite as interested in that; I wish she had gone more into the details of the actual food preparation than the higher concepts of restaurants, but it was interesting. And she talks about things like food fads (apparently goat cheese was the thing for early '80s Californian cuisine... no clue), which is very interesting! Part of me felt a little sad that the focus was on the culinary world and, as such, grand restaurants. Not that grand restaurants aren't good, and not that I wouldn't give an awful lot to get to eat all the things she did, but I missed stories of home-cooked food, of street food and little hole in the wall places, although she does cover those a little as well. I'm wondering if the bits on home-cooked food is in her previous book, given that that is more on her relationship with her mother.
Reichl goes through several romantic ups and downs in the book, and while it's interesting reading, I was rather put off by it because of my romantic triangle squick. Plus, food more interesting ;).
I really want to pick up her other books now, particularly Garlic and Sapphires, on her experience as a restaurant critic (this interests me because I used to sort of wait tables and I like reading about the behind the scenes in a kitchen and how restaurants run), how diners are generally treated and restaurant culture. And I am just glad to read someone who loves food the way Reichl does. She loves food like Dirda loves books, and her joy in it shines through and makes me very happy just reading about it.
Reichl luckily has a very similar attitude toward food, at least in this book, which details her start as a restaurant critic and goes through several romances, hardships and other such things in life. And through it all, food is always a joy and a comfort to her; eating seems to make her feel very alive, makes her pay attention to all her senses. She mostly describes the good meals, so although sometimes it is odd to continually hear her describe absolutely breath-taking things to eat, on the other hand.... *drools*
There just seem to be so many occasions when she is stressed, or nervous, or tired, or sad, and then she comes across a wonderful meal, or cooks, or something, and the food is good enough to momentarily transcend the bad emotions and to make everything right with the world again. I grok this. And I don't mean eating as self-medicating, but rather, eating as an experience in and of itself, of being completely immersed in the sensory world of food. I also like how she doesn't just talk about how everything tastes; she notices what it looks like and what it smells like, how it sounds when she's chewing on it, and of course, the texture of the food. I of course like this because it's something I notice, and it makes what she's describing that much more real to me. Plus, there are so many fun textures! I like the strange sort of rubbery crunch of jellyfish, how garlic softens when it's roasted, the heavy richness of good chicken stock.
Of course, her forays into the world of restaurant criticism throws her into the world of the culinary profession, which did sort of weird me out. Somehow, seeing the behind-the-scenes of Wolfgang Puck opening his second restaurant is very strange. I actually wasn't quite as interested in that; I wish she had gone more into the details of the actual food preparation than the higher concepts of restaurants, but it was interesting. And she talks about things like food fads (apparently goat cheese was the thing for early '80s Californian cuisine... no clue), which is very interesting! Part of me felt a little sad that the focus was on the culinary world and, as such, grand restaurants. Not that grand restaurants aren't good, and not that I wouldn't give an awful lot to get to eat all the things she did, but I missed stories of home-cooked food, of street food and little hole in the wall places, although she does cover those a little as well. I'm wondering if the bits on home-cooked food is in her previous book, given that that is more on her relationship with her mother.
Reichl goes through several romantic ups and downs in the book, and while it's interesting reading, I was rather put off by it because of my romantic triangle squick. Plus, food more interesting ;).
I really want to pick up her other books now, particularly Garlic and Sapphires, on her experience as a restaurant critic (this interests me because I used to sort of wait tables and I like reading about the behind the scenes in a kitchen and how restaurants run), how diners are generally treated and restaurant culture. And I am just glad to read someone who loves food the way Reichl does. She loves food like Dirda loves books, and her joy in it shines through and makes me very happy just reading about it.
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Thu, Jul. 14th, 2005 10:18 pm (UTC)Some links: http://www.mfkfisher.net/, nytimes.com links, (http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/01/18/home/fisher.html) biography (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0865475628/ref=pd_sxp_elt_l1/103-5793468-9481434) (rather unsympathetic)
(no subject)
Thu, Jul. 14th, 2005 10:36 pm (UTC)You should definitely read Tender at the Bone. It's about her education as a foodie, and the childhood sections, which are about the various people who, in one way or another, taught her to appreciate food, are especially compelling. Her mother, by the way, was a world-class horrible cook who frequently gave guests food poisoning. The bit where she throws a party had me on the floor.
I should pay more attention to the texture of food when I describe it; you're absolutely right that it's an important part of the experience.
(no subject)
Fri, Jul. 15th, 2005 09:13 pm (UTC)I find I really like certain food textures... pudding and really chewy things and the just-right almost bouncy texture of really good ramen.
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Fri, Jul. 15th, 2005 09:11 pm (UTC)