Although Ruth Reichl is a New York Times best-selling author for her cookbooks, this is her debut novel, and it is a good one! Attention all you foodies, you will love this book!
Billie Breslin has an unusual gift, the perfect palate. She can taste a morsel of food and pick out each and every spice used to make that food. She and her sister, Genie, started their own bakery when Billie was only 10-years-old. They were famous for their wedding cakes, Genie would design them and Billie would create the recipes. But tragedy strikes and Billie loses the desire to cook. Instead, she travels to New York to work for the food magazine, "Delicious!", an iconic food magazine. Billie mans the guarantee hot line. Delicious! guarantees all their recipes and Billie must decide what ingredients the caller left out or added that ruined the dish. This book is full of the delightful New York characters Billie meets, but the best part of this story is the hidden room in the magazine's library, full of letters written during WWII by 12-year-old Lulu Swan to legendary chef James Beard. While discussing recipes and the challenges of cooking when important ingredients are rationed, Lula also shares her fears and troubles. It is a first-hand look at surviving on the home front while her father is MIA. There are so many delightful things about this book, so many quirky characters, so much mystery and discovery. The only disappointment was there were not enough recipes included! I guess I will have to find the author's cookbooks for that. Definitely a recommended read!
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