Sanctuary from The Mad World
Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch. - Orson Welles

Amid tree-wasting cookbooks strewn on the floor of Gramedia, a local Indonesian bookstore chain, this handsome and charismatic hardcover attracted me. I flipped the pages and was intrigued further when I realized the book contains a selected recipe from Ibu Kartini’s family.

Ibu Kartini is an Indonesian women-lib icon. We, especially the girls, was brain-washed to recognize that she was solely responsible for our being in that classroom but I didn’t know she cooked! Anyway, the recipes are interesting as they’re classic Indonesian with Javanese tones and Dutch influence. I hoped this book would be more substantial and well-researched than the books on the floor and coughed up the money for its steep price. (continue…)

by Eric Schlossher

I could easily give this book a 5 for its well-researched and informative content, its engaging pacing, its excellent mix of dry facts and gossipy tone. I literally couldn’t put the book down since I picked it up from my sister’s bookshelf.

I started reading with high hopes. I heard so much about the book and how it changes people’s perception on fast food. I do not eat a lot of fast food but I enjoy my occasional burgers from Burger King, crave Chicken McNuggets from time to time and adore KFC with heaps of fries, rice and ketchup.

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by Michael Ruhlman

I’ve heard about Ruhlman many times from trusted sources so I was rather disappointed about this book which is so full of name dropping I was drowning.

by Ruth Reichl

Tender at The Bone is a hilarious, light-hearted account of Ruth Reichl’s living with a manic-depressive mother, dealing with low self-confidence, and getting to know food. It is the first of the series, published in 1999. Comfort Me with Apples, the second installation published in 2002, provides a more honest, open and personal story. Some parts, particularly during her affairs and breakdown of her marriage, are actually so sensually graphic and personal they probably belong more to a harlequin novels than a memoir of a living public person.  (continue…)

by Julian Barnes

I guess the new kid in literary town currently is food writing. Used to be chick lit a few years back after the success of “Bridget Jones Diary” but now everyone is into writing about food and cooking. I was surprised when I read that Julian Barnes wrote about food. Even more amazed when, while browsing Amazon.com, I saw a recipe collection by Pat Conroy of “The Prince of Tides” fame. Now we have it all: literary writer cum food writer, lawyer cum food columnist, cook cum writer, captain cum restaurant reviewer.
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