Saturday, July 30, 2011

Book Review and Simul-blog: James Hamilton-Paterson's Cooking with Fernet Branca

Take a snarky British gourmand; mix with a bohemian composer of Eastern European extraction; add a self-important British pop star and an aging Italian movie director, each with delusions of grandeur; ply with a seemingly unending supply of an obscure liqueur; place on the top of an Italian mountain and watch what happens next! This recipe for disaster is the essence of James Hamilton-Paterson’s Cooking with Fernet Branca.

Cooking with Fernet Branca is the funniest thing I have read in a long time. So funny that I wound up with tears running down my face. So funny I gasped while trying to read passages aloud to explain said tears. Not to be maudlin or anything, but ever since Douglas Adams left this world far too young, I have honestly believed no novel could ever make me laugh that hard again. It was a delight to find out how very wrong I was.

Of course, the problem with humor is that it is so darn personal – why did Gerald Samper and his former-soviet nemesis Marta crack me up so? In my case, it all comes down to a subtle, sarcastic and deadpan writing style that only a few writers can deliver on. And almost all of them are British. At one point, Marta describes the take over of her home (and her neighbor’s yard) by an Italian film crew:

And all the time there came suggestive sounds from outside and glimpses through the window of poor Gerry’s fence being forcefully dealt with. There were some loud splintering noises which did not at all imply intactness. There were also some blasphemies new to me – the men were all-too-clearly native Tuscans – the gist being that the Madonna was unpopular for having yielded her virginity to a series of farmyard animals and the absent Gerry for having used a nail gun instead of an ordinary hammer. p. 182

James Hamilton-Paterson wrote Cooking with Fernet Branca with alternating narration between “Gerry” and Marta. Amazingly, both “voices” are hilarious, barreling along the path to what they believe can only be glory, Marta through her dissonant musicality and Gerald through his bizarre gustatory endeavors.

Hamilton-Paterson is obviously a great observer of contemporary culture, and he skewers a number of trends in this book – particularly fusion cooking. What else to make of recipes like Garlic and Fernet Branca Ice Cream, Mussels in Chocolate and Otter with Lobster Sauce? But it’s Gerald Samper’s self-seriousness that takes it from ludicrous to comic genius. And that’s what makes James Hamilton-Paterson such a fabulous writer.

This was my first book for the Europa Challenge, but it is already making me rethink my list. I don’t know if I can wait to read Hamilton-Paterson’s follow-up titles, Amazing Disgrace and Rancid Pansies. This book is absolutely recommended for lovers of British humor – if The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is your idea of a great time, read this book!

I am simul-blogging today! Both Jess at Desperado Penguin and Colleen at Books in the City read this book with me, as part of the Europa Challenge. I can’t wait to see their take on Gerald and Marta.

Oops! Forgot to put this book into one sentence: Bitter liquor makes strange bedfellows.




Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. Thanks to Beth Fish Reads for hosting!

18 comments:

  1. I could use a good laugh right about now so I'm off to check thi one out. How nice that your first experience with the Europa challenge turned out so well :)

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  2. Have you read EF Benson's Lucia and then Lucia and Mapp books? You'd probably love them as much as I do.

    I must get a copy of this. My kind of humor, my kind of book.

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  3. Oh, British humor. I may have to go for this when I finally finish Watching the English.

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  4. How great that a book gave you so much pleasure. I love it when that happens. I'm adding this to my list as well.

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  5. Sounds right up my alley, cooking with humor! Adding it to my list, thanks!

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  6. Cooking and humor..two of my favorite things. I'll check this title out.

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  7. I've never heard of this, and it sounds really good. Thanks!

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  8. I was thisclose to checking the very same book out last week!! I forced myself to put it back because my shelves are groaning with owned-and-unread books. After I read a few more of my own books, I'll have to read this one. It sounds exactly like the sort of thing I would love.

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  9. You've convinced me that I need to get hold of this book!

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  10. I know I already said this on the Europa blog, but I can't wait to read this!

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  11. I really found it hard to believe I hadn't heard about this title myself -- it's so very much the kind of thing I love. I'm glad I found it thanks to the Europa Challenge, and hope others will enjoy it too! I can't wait to see your reviews :-)

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  12. @BethF -- I have not heard of the Lucia books, but I am about to find out! Thanks for the suggestion.

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  13. Colleen, this one sounds awesome, and fortunately, it sits on my shelf. Great great great review.

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  14. You had me at "Europa" .... throw in a generous dose of British humor, food/beverages, and it's now on my wish list!

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  15. Great review -- I wasn't considering this read but your description of laughing so hard ala Adams sold me. I love him (and miss him!) so now I have to pick this one up!

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  16. Glad to see this book reviewed so favorably here, Col, since I seem to run into it at my local bookstore more often than usual for some reason (think it must be a "staff recommendation" or something like that). The clincher? Your happy phrasing re: that one character's "bizarre gustatory endeavors." Too funny!

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I absolutely love comments. Thanks for taking the time to share! Col