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A Story of an Unexpected Friendship
by Isabel Vincent
Book Reviewed by:A nonagenarian and a recently divorced reporter meet weekly for dinner, and the discussion ranges from the importance of beauty, to living after loss, to the power of love to redeem and renew, to how to make a succulent duck breast.
When Isabel meets Edward, both are at a crossroads: he wants to follow his late wife to the grave, and she is ready to give up on love. Thinking she is merely helping Edward's daughter - who lives far away and asked her to check in on her nonagenarian dad in New York - Isabel has no idea that the man in the kitchen baking the sublime roast chicken and light-as-air apricot soufflé will end up changing her life.
As Edward and Isabel meet weekly for the glorious dinners that Edward prepares, he shares so much more than his recipes for apple galette or the perfect martini, or even his tips for deboning poultry. Edward is teaching Isabel the luxury of slowing down and taking the time to think through everything she does, to deconstruct her own life, cutting it back to the bone and examining the guts, no matter how messy that proves to be.
Dinner with Edward is a book about sorrow and joy, love and nourishment, and about how dinner with a friend can, in the words of M. F. K. Fisher, "sustain us against the hungers of the world."
Despite each chapter opening with a menu, there are no recipes here per se, just a few pointers regarding pastry and scrambled eggs. This is a bit of a disappointment given that "foodoirs" (memoirs about food, especially ones that include recipes) are among my favorite things to read. I also wish the book could have been a little bit longer. Still, it is a delightful blend of memoir, biography, food writing, and life lessons. Like Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie, it's a book that makes you think about the things that matter in life: love, family, and making the most of the time you have...continued
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(Reviewed by Rebecca Foster).
In Dinner with Edward, Isabel Vincent's memoir, Edward's two tricks for making a perfect pastry crust are crushed ice and a mixture of grated butter and fresh lard (from his Queens butcher), all kept as cold as possible. What are other chefs' top tips? The choice of fat(s) and their proportions are the main differences.
Julia Child's shortcrust pastry recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking suggests butter to (vegetable) lard in a ratio of 3:1. One should use chilled butter and cold water and work as quickly as possible. "The mixing of pastry should be accomplished rapidly, particularly if your kitchen is warm, so that the butter will soften as little as possible."
The Betty Crocker cookbook (2000 edition) calls for ...
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If you liked Dinner with Edward, try these:
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George Hodgman, New York Times bestselling author of Bettyville: A Memoir
Although the food (I am partial to the roast chicken, lovingly described) is excellent, it is the charming, sweet, and effortlessly wise company that makes this sweet read a charming way to pass a day.
