The School of Essential Ingredients

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More About This Book

Overview

A "heartbreakingly delicious" national bestseller about a chef, her students, and the evocative lessons that food teaches about life

Once a month, eight students gather in Lillian's restaurant for a cooking class. Among them is Claire, a young woman coming to terms with her new identity as a mother; Tom, a lawyer whose life has been overturned by loss; Antonia, an Italian kitchen designer adapting to life in America; and Carl and Helen, a long-married couple whose union contains surprises the rest of the class would never suspect...

The students have come to learn the art behind Lillian's soulful dishes, but it soon becomes clear that each seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen. And soon they are transformed by the aromas, flavors, and textures of what they create.

Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble
A Selection of Barnes & Noble Recommends
An elegant debut novel that serves up an epicurean concoction as memorable as Like Water for Chocolate.

Every Monday evening, eight men and women come to Lillian's Restaurant to learn cooking and, perhaps, also find a healing recipe for the very diverse problems in their own lives. Lillian, a master chef in more ways than one, knows that she teaches lessons more subtle and far-reaching than chopping or blending or achieving the ideal texture. In her classes, she imparts wisdom through the essential ingredients that she combines and shapes into aromatic, delectable treats.
Library Journal
If the connected stories of Holly's students and the magic of cooking are what captured your readers, then Bauermeister's lush and evocative story should make a great next read. Ever since Lillian was a little girl, she has understood the power of food to fulfill the heart's desire. As a successful restaurant chef, she now hosts a cooking school, helping others explore the magic ingredients that their lives are missing. Told in a series of character studies, the novel illuminates the lives of Claire, a young mother overwhelmed with her new role; Carl and Helen, a long-married couple with a complicated history; and a handful of others (including a Lillian herself). Each finds hope and solace in this novel that unfolds in a pace similar to Senate's and with the same attention to detail and description. — Neal Wyatt, "RA Crossroads," Booksmack! 2/3/11
More Reviews (1) Fewer Reviews
Publishers Weekly

In this remarkable debut, Bauermeister creates a captivating world where the pleasures and particulars of sophisticated food come to mean much more than simple epicurean indulgence. Respected chef and restaurateur Lillian has spent much of her 30-something years in the kitchen, looking for meaning and satisfaction in evocative, delicious combinations of ingredients. Endeavoring to instill that love and know-how in others, Lillian holds a season of Monday evening cooking classes in her restaurant. The novel takes up the story of each of her students, navigating readers through the personal dramas, memories and musings stirred up as the characters handle, slice, chop, blend, smell and taste. Each student's affecting story-painful transitions, difficult choices-is rendered in vivid prose and woven together with confidence. Delivering memorable story lines and characters while seducing the senses, Bauermeister's tale of food and hope is certain to satisfy. (Jan.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780425232095
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
  • Publication date: 1/5/2010
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 272
  • Sales rank: 68,877
  • Product dimensions: 5.50 (w) x 8.10 (h) x 0.80 (d)

Meet the Author

Erica Bauermeister
Erica Bauermeister

Erica Bauermeister’s love of slow food and slow life was cemented by her two years living in northern Italy with her husband and children. She has taught literature and creative writing at the University of Washington and currently lives in Seattle with her family. The School of Essential Ingredients is her first novel.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 287 )

Rating Distribution

5 Star

(121)

4 Star

(109)

3 Star

(40)

2 Star

(12)

1 Star

(5)

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 287 Customer Reviews

  • Posted March 5, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    9781416589631 9780399155345

    Just read it!

    This book was wonderful. Makes you want to take the class or start one of your own. My hope is that she will write another book with a new class.
    Her descriptions of aromas and tastes are phenomenal. Make your mouth water and the way she brings it to a conclusion in such a short time is a wonder.
    Enjoy the book then go cook up a great, slow meal.

    8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted November 2, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    9780345477002 9781440140747 9780982175620 9781616875176

    I could smell the aromas wafting from the kitchen!

    The endearing characters meet in cooking class where meals are not only prepared but are a healing mechanism to heal the inner spirit. Appetites are connected to the eight students aspirations and soothe the heart and soul. The chapters are told from each student's perspectve in flashback. This is a beautiful in-depth character study that will warm your heart! Wonderful!

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 6, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    9780553805499 9780553385885

    A feast of a book

    This beautifully written novel really makes you more aware of the little miracles in life and appreciate them in a whole new way. I am a sucker for anything with magical realism and this book is no different. The sensual and joyful celebration of food carries over to other aspects of life easily. It stands out, ezpecially during this time in our lives where the simple things mean the most to us.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted February 1, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    A Hymn to Food and Friendship!

    Lillian's mother escapes the devastation of her husband's abandonment by reading, silently and out loud during times of rest, meals, even while shopping. Striving to reach through the neutralizing dead zone of this wall of oblivion, Lillian strives to reach her mother and finally succeeds after numerous failed experiments, through the power of food. Yes, food, Lillian comes to understand, literally and figuratively gives life to all who partake.

    Quite naturally, Lillian learns to cook on her own and through experience eventually opens a restaurant and offers cooking classes with a two-fold purpose. It is her dream to share that same connection with life imparted to her mother through food. Now, however, she won't know who is coming to her classes but learn she will and be the conduit of teaching how nourishment, healing and love are guaranteed for those who respect the ingredients and process of food preparation.

    Lesson One is about interrupting a life process and creating a new one, a tintillating suggestion to Claire, who has lost her identity to the role of mother, who begins to sense a change as she fully engages her appreciation of a live and cooked crab. Then the reader relishes how the act of baking a structurally balanced cake touches Carl and Helen, a loving couple moving beyond hurtful betrayal. Again and again, new recipes address individual stories weaving through different and similar ingredients for a Thanksgiving feast (differnt from what the reader expects for sure), a course of beauty, an immersion into sensual appreciation v. efficiency of food preparation, and so, so much more.

    In The School of Essential Ingredients, the reader's own appreciation and love of life grows so much larger because of these endearing, real life characters and the succulent presentations, explanations and depictions of food experienced from a wholly new perspective. Whether you like to cook or eat food, this reviewer guarantees that every reader of this superbly written novel will savor every page, think of it long after the first and second reading, return to its celebration of characters who grow while attending this momentous class, and vicariously taste, feel and embrace this most delicious menu of culinary possibilities!

    Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on February 1, 2009

    3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 28, 2010

    Would make a great movie

    I enjoyed this story a lot, even though it was a bit predictable at times. The stories describing the individual characters seemed genuine and made the characters interesting. I would have wanted more details on their lives. The main tie, the cooking school through the seasons, is original and tight. It is a feel-good story with a resounding note of realism. I look forward to this author's next book.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted June 15, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    LOVED this book!!!!

    This wasn't a book I would normally read, but I bought it for book club at my local BNN, and I completely LOVED it! The story, the characters, the everything was so wonderful, just like a great meal. I highly recommend this book for anyone, whether you like to cook or not. And if you don't like to cook...you will!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 25, 2010

    Now I want to go to cooking school!

    I loved this book! It was a truly beautiful story. Even though each character only got a chapter, I felt like I knew and understood each one. It was very easy to see how each of their stories would connect them in the end. Lillian is the only character that I wish was developed a little more. She has such a powerful impact on each of the students in her class, I wish I connected a little more with her background. Each time I thought a character was a favorite, I started a new chapter. The book and each individual story was resolved perfectly. The imagery was amazing. I could easily see everyone and everything in the kitchen and the restaurant and I could smell and taste everything they were cooking. I have been inspired to go to cooking school. The book was DELICIOUS!
    I also think it would make an incredible series. Each book could have a new group of students (characters) with their own stories.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 30, 2009

    Enjoyable read

    I liked this book. It was a pleasant, entertaining, and easy read. The end gave me the impression that there may be more to come. I hope so. The ingenuity in the dishes they prepared in class were inspiring to my own culinary creations.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 26, 2009

    A beautiful, warm-hearted book that is perfect for getting through to dark days of winter!

    This is a beautiful, warm-hearted book that is perfect for getting through to dark days of winter! Its the story of a Monday night cooking class presided over by Lillian the chef of a romantic little restaurant. Lillian knows that each of her students come for a different reason. Some come for confidence, some for adventure, and some for comfort, but each will leave with wisdom and passion they never expected to find.
    Erica Bauermeister writes about food with impressive detail and feeling. This is a book that will leave you hungry for lovingly prepared, delicious food! Her writing style reminds me of Maeve Binchy. She weaves together the stories of fascinating, sympathetic characters. You will fall in love with them! Like a big bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup on a cold January night this book will leaave you warm and satisfied. I only hope that Erica is hard at work on her next novel!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 23, 2009

    Warm, wise, and eloquent

    The School of Essential Ingredients is a warm and compelling read. The students at the cooking school learn much more than how to cook: the teacher uses cooking as a strategy by which to address spiritual issues within her students. Bauermeister¿s eye for vivid detail and engaging voice will make you want to cook, eat, and read her next novel.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted February 7, 2012

    Wonderful People Book

    This book is easy to read. The characters are many and there may be one that the reader can relate too. When reading about the class is cooking it made me want to experiment with new & ole foods. Enjoyable read that is great to take on a vacation, if you go on a vacation to read! :^)

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 29, 2012

    Highly rexommended

    I loved it! I wanted to sign up for a cooking class after I read this book not for the cooking but ecerything else! It is a must read?

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  • Posted January 25, 2012

    Great Book

    If you love food and good characters then you'll love this book.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 17, 2012

    Delicious!

    A book club selection~a wonderful way to look at food and cooking, and how opening yourself to new things can heal and comfort.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 14, 2012

    Terrific!!

    I bought several because it is a wonderful Book Club selection!!

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  • Posted January 7, 2012

    Fun to Read, Very Enjoyable

    I read this book in a few hours because it was hard to put down, except to get some food. This book is inspiring and makes you hungry at the same time. Beautifully written, I highly recommend you read this book as well as her newest book, Joy for Beginners. Both are very fun and easy to read.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 5, 2012

    So delicious you'll want to start cooking

    The School of Essential Ingredients is a foodie's wet dream - the descriptions will make your mouth water. I wanted to be in the class. The author takes you through the lives of a restaurateur and a class of her cooking school students by treating each as an ingredient and offering insight into each one. One is garlic, another lavender, yet another is tomato. The students include a long married couple, a young woman starting out in the world, an Italian woman who designs kitchens. And each month focuses on an ingredient and a student's story and how they intertwine. Similar in style to "The Christmas Cookie Club" by Ann Pearlman, with more breadth and no actual recipes.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 3, 2011

    Horrible

    Eww i hated this book soo much

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 19, 2011

    Good

    Nice story

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted September 28, 2011

    Silvia

    Good book

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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