The Book Lover's Cookbook

October 1, 2003
For anyone who has ever wanted to taste the food that plays a role in their favorite books, this charming volume provides the recipes. Wenger and Jensen, both chefs and avid readers, have pored over volumes from Little Women to The Importance of Being Earnest, found food-related passages and devised recipes for each. For example, Catch 'Em to Eat 'Em Chicken and Dumplings was inspired by this passage from Frannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe:"Even at 11, they say she could make the most delicious biscuits and gravy, cobbler, fried chicken, turnip greens, and black-eyed peas. And her dumplings were so light they would float in the air and you'd have to catch 'em to eat 'em." Scattered between recipes and passages are quotations from authors about food and writing. At times, Wenger and Jensen may stretch to link some of their recipes to literature--Baked Stuffed Mushrooms follows a passage from Alice and Wonderland--which seems rather unnecessary given that there are so many books with appropriate food descriptions. Nonetheless, their volume provides a fun read for any bibliophile-cum-foodie.