Books in Canada
Austin Clarkes Love and Sweet Food is actually a reprint of a book Clarke published with Random House about five years ago under the title of Pigtails n Breadfruit. The subject is the food he ate and learned to cook while he was growing up in Barbados. Its a shame the book was underdistributed the first time around because its a great read, and Clarke knows what hes talking about. Its as much a work of cultural analysis as it is a cookbook, although the recipes are all there, and theyre not hard to follow despite Clarkes charming if occasionally annoying use of dialect.
Be forewarned. This isnt the food youll get in a Barbados 4-Star resort. Its local food, the recipes (Clarke takes great pains to explain) that sifted down to the present from the black slaves who populated the sugar and banana plantations on the island. Mostly it isnt particularly subtle food, but it is serious cuisine for all that, and the several recipes Ive tried are excellent. They didnt make me feel as if I could go outside and lift the front end of a dumptruck as Clarke suggests they would, but they were delicious, and the food did stick to my ribs as advertised.
Brian Fawcett (Books in Canada)
Product Description
From the author of the Giller Prize-winning "The Polished Hoe" comes a culinary memoir as savoury as his best fiction. In the voice of Austin Clarke the recipes of Barbados comes alive, teeming with delectable, distinctive island tastes, in the inimitable prose of one of the greatest novelists of our generation. From succulent King-Fish and White Rice to well-seasoned Pepperpot to a late-night omelette cooked for Norman Mailer, Clarke welcomes you into his Bajan kitchen for a glass of wine and an island feast as only he can prepare.