#8: Cooking with Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson

In this satire, Hamilton-Paterson combines some of my favorite subjects: food, music, pop culture, and wine. Fernet Branca is subtly witty in its telling of two neighbors who have a series of mishaps.  Gerald and Marta live quite close and continually misjudge one another due to language barriers and the continual drink. Gerald is a ghostwriter for celebrity biographies and Marta is a musical composer for a brash Italian film. The book introduces some fantastic supporting characters who also make for a riot of a time on the Tuscan countryside where this takes place. Needless to say, all of the comedic tension and horrid recipies (Rabbit in Cep Custard, anyone?) make these two a pretty fun pair to follow.

I should mention that a Barnes and Noble employee was the instigator of this read. He asked if I was looking for anything specific and when a negative reply was received, the man simply said, “read this”. So, I said “ok” and that was that. Of course I didn’t know anything about the book, but it’s always a fun experience to not ask questions and dive into someone else’s recommendation. I think it’s fun to shuffle up the to-read pile everyone in awhile just to see what surprises come up.