Relish by Lucy Knisley

A food memoir in graphic novel format. So fun! This book was recommended as a pairing with Mastering the Art of French Eating by Ann Mah and I’m thankful to the Modern Mrs. Darcy (online) Book Club for both of the recommendations. They were a delicious beginning to the new year.

In Relish, artist Lucy Knisley tells stories of growing up around food. A child of two foodies, she spent the first several years of her life in NYC - eating a variety of different foods, playing in the kitchens of various restaurants where her mom worked, enjoying potluck dinners with her parents’ chef friends, and exploring her uncle’s gourmet food shop. When her parents divorced, she got a whole new collection of food experiences. Lucy and her mother moved to the countryside in upstate NY where Mom planted and tended to a huge garden and sold their spoils at the weekly, local farmer’s market. Lucy enjoyed farm to table food (though she really wasn’t a fan of tending to and then killing the chickens). She had some opportunities to travel, which expanded her palate even further. And because her dad still lived in NYC and only ate at the best restaurants, she was still able to partake in its food scene.

Lucy’s words and drawings show her love and appreciation for her chef mom and her admiration for food and its power to bring people together. My favorite thing about the book is that Lucy ends each chapter with a visual recipe that represents one of her food experiences. I’m definitely going to try a few of them. This graphic novel left me wanting to read more of Lucy Knisley’s work and I’m looking forward to doing so!