The School of Essential Ingredients

The School of Essential Ingredients
ISBN: 9780732288679
Publication Date: 1 April 2009

An unusual cooking class helps eight very different people discover the essential ingredients of life.

'The dining room stood ready, a quiet field of tables under starched white linen, napkins folded into sharp triangles at each place. But no one would use the dining room tonight. All that mattered was the kitchen.'

Every Monday night eight people from different walks of life gather for a cooking class taught by a chef whose alchemy in the kitchen is legendary. However, it soon becomes clear that each student has come seeking a recipe for something beyond the kitchen and Lillian is no ordinary teacher. Rather than sharing recipes, Lillian shows them how to appreciate the power of the sensations and memories cooking evokes.

One by one, her charges are transformed by the aromas, flavours and textures of what they create: a man learns about love while creating tiramisu, a white-on-white cake prompts wistful reflections on the sweet fragility of marriage and a peppery heirloom tomato sauce sparks one romance but ends another.

Slowly but surely, the essence of Lillian's cooking wafts beyond the restaurant and into the secret corners of her students' lives. Friendships are formed, romances are kindled and lives changed forever as Lillian and her students each discover their own essential ingredients.

About the Author

Erica Bauermeister fell in love with slow food and the slow life while living in northern Italy with her family. She has taught literature and creative writing at the University of Washington and lives in Seattle. This is her first novel.