Feel good and foodie books – The School of Essential Ingredients and The Lost Art of Mixing by Erica Bauermeister

Published between: October 18 2010 and January 29 2013

By: Putnam

Average number of pages: 264

Reading attempt: 1 per book

Average reading time: 2 days per book

Rating: «««

Advice: Light reading. Perfect for a rainy day or a vacation

Also available in French as: “L’École des Saveurs”, the second title is yet to come

The context

Have you ever had a week, or even a day, where you feel like total crap?  A moment where you hate your job and wish you’d have chosen a different career?  An instant where you’re under the impression that your life as no meaning whatsoever, where you feel utterly alone?

I believe we all go through a phase like this sometimes.  As a matter of fact, this is probably what pushed me towards Erica Bauermeister’s books in the first place.  My first encounter with her was last January while I was stuck at home on sick leave. Talk about feeling like crap!!!!!  

While surfing on the net, I received a notice from Indigo (yet again) concerning the arrival in store of “The Lost Art of Mixing”.  Reading the synopsis instantly made me smile: a foodie book!!!!!!!  What else could bring me more pleasure than this?  I ordered the first book “The School of Secret Ingredients”, and then its sequel... and the rest is history J

The story

Both books are built in a similar fashion: a collection of characters gravitate around a restaurant, its owner (Lilian) and the way she is able to touch people through her food.  Each section addresses a more specific character through a decisive moment in his or her life, his or her relationship to Lilian and how it came to be.

In “The School of Secret Ingredients” the characters are Lilian’s eight cooking students.  Each of them have their own lives and have come to the restaurant seeking a specific recipe for something beyond the kitchen.

In “The Lost Art of Mixing”, some of the original characters are back as their lives collide and mix with those around them.  Others are there to join them as they create a family of their own, one that is chosen, not given.

The common review

The author has chosen here a winning style where the background story moves forward through the eyes of the different characters that make it.  The result is reader friendly and relatively light, exactly what you need when you’re feeling blue.

As those books are mainly about the people that make them, Erica Bauermeister is quite gifted at quickly drawing us in with each character portrait.  For even though the time spent with each one may seem short, the author has a way of packing it with as much details about their situation as possible without making the book appear too dense.  She is able to give us just the right amount so that we don’t lose interest or feel like something is missing.

Last but not least, this is not solely a book about its characters; it is also a book about food.  It is a celebration of the love many of us have for food and how it affects every single one of our senses.  I for one found my stomach growling and my dinner menu plans changing many times a day while reading about some of the food that is prepared.  Just speaking of it right now, makes me want to change my dinner plan for tonight... again!!!!!

As always, keep reading all of you bookworms and book lovers out there.  Let me know what you’re reading or how you found it.  Who knows, you might inspire me my next great read J

Until next time

Ladybug