Not quite ready for the holiday bake-a-thon? Then, sit back and relax with a novel designed to make you want to get out the baking pans. ìDelicious!î by Ruth Reichl delivers a mouthwatering story, with the added bonus of a recipe for ìBillieís Gingerbread Cake.î Food is Reichlís passion. In the 1970s, she co-owned a restaurant in Berkley, California, and published a cookbook, before doing a 10-year stint as the editor-in-chief for ìGourmet Magazine.î Her next gig was as a restaurant critic for ìThe Los Angeles Timesî and ìThe New York Times;î all while writing three bestselling non-fiction books. Blending all of that experience together, as if it were the ingredients for a scrumptious dessert, she created her first novel, with Billie Breslin as the protagonist. Creating fiction based on life experience is nothing new, so readers wonít be shocked to discover the main character somewhat mirrors Reichlís life. Billie grew up in California, where she and her sister, Genie, ran a bakery called ìCake Sisters.î Now she is on her own, heading for the Big Apple after landing a position as an executive assistant at ìDelicious!,î a leading food magazine owned by Pickwick Publications. The magazine is housed in a ìgrand old mansionî that contains a test kitchen, offices, photo studio and a research library. Upon arriving, Billie is shocked to discover her job wonít be secure until she can prove to her boss, Jake Newberry, that she knows how to cook. After the kitchen staff tastes her gingerbread cake, they all wonder why she isnít pursuing a career as a chef. This becomes even more puzzling when they discover Billie can identify the ingredients in any dish after one bite, and then go on to suggest ways to improve the recipe. Reichlís knowledge of New York City becomes evident within the first 25 pages of the story, as Sal, owner of Fontanariís Deli, gives Billie a gourmet tour of the city. As they move from shop to shop, I found myself salivating. How I wished I was there to inhale the aromas of the bakeries, stop in for a sample or two from the chocolate shops and indulge in everything ìLittle Italyî has to offer. You will also find characters that fit right into a big city environment. Maggie, a hard-nose chef in charge of the magazineís kitchen, doesnít tolerate slackers or cooks who donít meet her high standards of perfection. Sammy, writer and food connoisseur who travels around the world, has a flamboyant personality. He only indulges in the very best cuisines and wines. Salís delicatessen is staffed by family members, yet he doesnít cut them any slack when it comes to keeping his customers satisfied. Even his wife, Rosalie, knows that expecting time off to celebrate their anniversary is asking a lot from Sal. One thing that sets ìDelicious!î apart from other food magazines is its ìcustomer satisfaction guarantee.î Part of Billieís job is to answer complaints from subscribers who believe there is something wrong with a recipe. Since every dish is tested in the kitchen before the magazine is published, the majority of complaints come from people who substituted one or more ingredient for another. The publishers receive the most criticism from Mrs. Cloverly. She is an elderly woman living on her own, who has more time than most people to call the magazine. She describes most of the recipes as ìsimply vile.î When asked if she followed the instructions, she always replies, ìWell, of course not!î For example, a ìScallop Mousseî dish called for fresh scallops and cream. Instead, she created it with canned clams and powdered milk. Still, Mrs. Cloverly insists she is not to blame for the totally indigestible result. By dividing this novel into three parts, Reichl transitions smoothly from a storyline about a young woman trying to ìmake it in the big cityî to a historic tale about ìmaking doî during World War II. Although the entire storyline focuses on good food, the book takes this unexpected twist when the magazine suddenly goes out of business. Billie manages to hang on to her job because Pickwick Publications has decided to continue to honor their guarantee. Now, alone in the mansion, she decides to explore the library. There, she finds correspondence dating back to World War II between James Beard and a 12-year-old girl, Lulu Swan. She became the family cook after her mother went to work in an airplane factory. At first, Lulu is complaining because many of Beardís recipes contain ingredients she finds hard to obtain, due to wartime rationing. However, as the exchange of letters continues, he becomes more than a sounding board for Luluís culinary problems. The ìfoodiesî among us will recognize Beardís name. He was indeed a famous cookbook author, writer and television personality, who dedicated his life to improving American cuisine until his death in 1985. I found this part of the book extremely interesting because it dealt with many home-front wartime issues. This story wouldnít be complete without Billie finding a soulmate, but that is only a small subplot in this tale. As Billie keeps her sister apprised of her new life through emails, the author brings the varying storylines neatly together in the conclusion. Reichlís writing style, characters and sense of place makes this a worthy novel that seems especially appropriate for the holiday season. Read ìDelicious!î Then, get off that chair and bake ìBillieís Gingerbread Cake.î It may just be the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving meal.
