Food-obsessed caught my attention. There’s something about food that always lights me up. I can’t quite recall how my fascination about food started but eversince I was a kid, food already excited me. When girls my age were dreaming about becoming princesses and living in castles, my dreams were about living in a garden with a tree that bears different kinds of fruits! Haha…
Anyway, “Consuming Passions” is a very funny read especially if you love to eat, and it’s doubly fascinating, if you love to cook (the author shares some best-kept family recipes).
A lot of the anecdotes brought back childhood memories like West’s first time to fry as kid. She was so scared that she wore gloves (the type of white gloves you wear with a ballgown! Haha…) When I was a kid, I was also scared of frying and used the cover of the frying pan as a shield! Haha... I also thought why can’t anyone invent a spatula with extra long handle??? Ok, until now, I've to admit I'm still scared of frying! :) But as West puts it, it’s better to have fried and failed than never to have fried at all! Haha…
West also shares a lot of funny anecdotes. One of which was during a funeral of a relative and an aunt was crying hard. She tried consoling her only to find out that the reason for the deep sorrow was because the departed relative brought with her her secret recipes to the grave!
There are also some life lessons interspersed with the anecdotes, recipes and tips. Here’s one on what we can learn from fishing:
“I loved the ritual of fishing – reeling, casting, fiddling with lures, untangling lines. Daddy always said that fishing taught a child patience. You could cast into an ocean all day long, combining your best ability with your best intentions, and it was possible to come up empty-handed. But it didn’t necessarily mean you’d wasted your time.”
As for my Dad’s food-related advice to me when I was a kid? Never starve yourself. He would tell me that if I get hungry and run out of money in school, I should never get embarrassed to borrow money to buy food! And I’ve taken that to heart until today! Haha…
Photo credit: lettersfromahillfarm.blogspot.com
