Alejandro Ospina Ospina itibaren Barla Chora, Rajasthan, India
I couldn't make it all the way in this. . . some interesting characters, but such problems, and I found myself not caring enough. Nice style, though.
One of my new favorites, I picked it up because I am a fan of Hugh Laurie's television work. He's actually a very good fiction writer, and was able to keep up the suspense as Thomas Lang delves deeper into the quagmire he's found himself in. An an explosive climax, a rewarding mystery, and a signature sense of humor keep your interest and reward you for reading. I'm eager to read his next novel.
It is rare when a cookbook conveys not only recipe and technique but soul and humor as well. Many have recipes that we enjoy making but that we wished had more of the author's reflections on the subject at hand. Even more are long on 'personality' and short on interesting and functional recipes. Screen Doors and Sweet Tea by Martha Hall Foose (Clarkson Potter/Crown) smacks of great recipes you willwant to make more than once and stories you will want read aloud while making them. The trail of a chef can seem like tracing the steps of a child set loose on a spring day; roving in no particular pattern as one thing or another is discovered, cherished, discarded or often eaten. Foose is no exception to the allegory; her dervish-path from Mississippi to France, Los Angeles, New Orleans and back again to the Delta is sprinkled here in there in her writing. It shows up in the flavors of her recipes that are recognizably southern and yet not solely of the South and in the techniques and stories that accompany each. Of particular delight is her story of how grits saved upon upon first arriving in France for culinary training; it is told with an honesty proving that some of the most provoking parts of life cannot be made up. Recipes run from what would seem to be mundane southern fare suchas fried okra to more challenging bits of our culinary repetoire such as turtle soup (complete with tongue-in-cheek directions on how to shell a turtle). Screen Doors and Sweet Tea speaks well of the cuisine and the character of the South. It will prove to be a trusty guide along your own culinary trail - with or without the grass stains. (This review originally appeared in edible Memphis, Spring 2008)