The Gastronomy of Marriage: A Memoir of Food and Love

I rarely write book reviews unless I really loved the book and want to spend the time :). I bought this on the day of my wedding in a Santa Barbara B & Noble and finished it a couple of weeks later.....I loved how this is so true to life. My eating life has changed so much and in so many ways after I started living together with the guy and this book captured the spirit of it so well. And so different the regular chick lit genre (ugh)...Please read if you want to read an intelligent, well written book....

This is the perfect book for food aficionados in love... Michelle pours all of her hopes and worries about engagement, marriage and beyond into a sweet and touching book that you'll no doubt re-read a few times and not just for the mouth watering recipes. This book sits in my kitchen, on hand in case of an impromptu dinner party.

Full disclosure: I happen to know the author and her husband. Not well, but enough that you should take this review with a pinch of salt. Preferably French sea salt harvested from pristine Atlantic seawater and dried under an early summer sun. So the book is Rich. And about his marriage to Michelle. It is also tasty, satisfying, hearty, sweet but not cloying, nourishing but not heavy. It is definitely food for thought and reflection, especially if you are considering marriage or that fourth bowl of pork fried rice. It is a book to be read with a full heart, but not an empty stomach. The inspired recipes and thoughtful commentary will leave you grinning - but starving. Who should read this book? Food lovers. Lovers in general. Anyone who salivates while reading the following words: sriracha, anisette, prosciutto, soba, profiteroles, pappardelle, scallions, rabbit ragu, pasta e fagioli. Sidenote - if you love New York City or have dreamed of living there, this book will give you insight in a context you've probably never considered. You know when you're sitting at a restaurant, staring blankly at the menu, trying to decide between the house special or the one scrawled in chalk out front? This is that moment. Go with the easy, the reliable, the tried and true? No, be adventurous! This is the one - fresh, new, delicious. Don't look back. Get it and revel in your choice, savor every morsel. Drink it in. Slurp it down. And then rave about it to all of your friends. *urp*

The Gastronomy of Marriage is fantastic! It takes you through the journey of two people from diverse cultures with different backgrounds falling in love and uncovering commonalities through food, laughter, and love. It is descriptive, making you feel as if you are standing in the kitchen stirring, adding spices, cooking, smelling, feeling the same way as the author portrays it. I will definitely try out some of the recipes included throughout the book. An inspiring, enlightening story that you can relate to in many instances. Two thumbs up!

This is a beautiful, sweet, funny yet somehow also deep story about romantic love (with thoughts about a "modern marriage" and shared domestic duties circling through the author's head), a love for food and cooking, friendships, and reflections on parental love and influences. The writing is lovely and clever and a pleasure to read. Throughout the book I smiled, I cried, I pondered, and I wanted to go to New York... And despite not at all being a foodie it inspired me to cook! Recipes are incorporated in to the story, and you might just get inspired as well...