This is the first novel of Erica Bauermeister that I have ever read. First times normally means no expectations for me and boy was I surprised with the way she cooked a full course meal of people's lives beautifully interwoven with the feel, smell, sight and of course, the taste, of food.
This delightful novel is the story of the magical or shall I say mouth watering cooking lessons taught by Lillian who fell in love with food when she was young but initially used it as a means to rebel. Her students are varied like the ingredients she uses; Carl and Helen are a married couple that exudes marital bliss but really went through struggles of their own; Chloe, busses tables and lives in with her boyfriend who she used to work with before; Antonia, olive skinned and has that sexy accent works designs kitchens and adapts to her new life in America; Tom, overturned with sorrow and grief for what he lost; Ian, the software engineer who discovered a whole new world of life in his taste buds;and Isabelle, the gray haired lady dealing with memory lost and those she still has.
The School of Essential Ingredients paints an exquisite picture of how food can change lives for the better. That sometimes cooking is not merely a task but an adventure to a world unknown, to our inner self, to memories lost, found, and created.
4 STARS
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