Tasty memories

Relish is this awesome graphic novel + recipe book hybrid by Lucy Knisley. She details her love for food with illustrated stories from her childhood. Her mom is a chef while her dad’s a gourmet foodie. Together, they expose her to culinary delights from birth as she tags along to restaurant kitchens and gatherings of her mom’s food scene pals. Even though her parents divorce, they continue to impart their own culinary wisdom to their daughter.Each chapter ends with a personal recipe from that particular era of her life. Her dad stays in NY as he’s a total food connoisseur of fine dining. Her mom moves to the Hudson River Valley before the farm to table food craze. Lucy learns how to milk cows and sell vegetables at markets. Besides her upbringing in New York, her parents frequently take her on foreign trips. This allow for a variety of recipes to included like how to make inexpensive sushi and proper Mexican huevos rancheros. The book follows her into adulthood where she attends art school in Chicago and later becomes a second generation cheesemonger (like her Mom).

One of my favourite chapters was JUNK where she confesses her illicit love affair with processed foods. Her unique food pyramid was delightful range of basil, restaurant specials to burritos and McDonalds. All the illustrations are tiny windows into her memory with her humorous enthusiasm for all things food. She also perfectly captures the personality of her family with her drawings. I especially liked her description of her mom’s boyfriend who is vegetarian and doesn’t appreciate her mom’s food. “He had a recurring nightmare where he stood before an animal tribunal” which she illustrates for the reader. The recipes are very easy to follow with precise drawings of the ingredients and comments on when to not taste the food early (even if it’s tempting!). The book closes with a great quote from my favorite author of all time, Ray Bradbury. :)

I rented this from the library, but definitely will add to my permanent collection just for the recipes as I love to cook for people. I recommend this book for fans of more personable graphic novels and of course foodies!

Read my other reviews on my blog.