Consuming Passions: A Food-Obsessed Life

by Michael Lee West

"Every Sunday, the whole family gathered at Mama Hughes's house in Amite County, Mississippi. They were ferocious eaters and talkers, devouring rumors and innuendo with gusto. Food was their common language, and everyone understood the dialects."

-- Aunt Tempe, reminiscing about family dinners

From Michael Lee West, author of the acclaimed "American Pie, She Flew the Coop, and "Crazy Ladies, comes a delightfully quirky memoir of an adventurous food-obsessed life, laced with delicious secret recipes passed from generation to generation. Wonderfully presented and thoroughly entertaining, this warm and witty work unites West's evocative voice and humor with the uniquely American form of kitchen tales in the tradition of Laurie Colwin.

West lends her distinctive humor and often hilarious insights to stories about her trials and tribulations as a Southern woman who became an "accidental gourmet." In this irresistible memoir mothers swing from chandeliers, elderly aunts brew love potions, a South American nymphomaniac stirs up trouble at a Louisiana barbecue joint, Margaret Mitchell's bed is discovered during a routine antique hunt, a cabbage-eating ghost haunts relatives, mother and daughter peek under fig leaves on statues, and bees attack--all in pursuit of good food.

By watching a multitude of relatives cook, squabble, and carry on tradition, Michael Lee West went from a noncooking student to a full-on gourmet of food and words. Using her own experience and the witticisms of relatives, or clever inspirations overheard in parking lots on the way to the mayor's funeral, West fills these pages with insights suchas:

"Potato salad is our friend. It will never let you down. It's a shame we have to eat it, but that's life" and "Live and learn. Die and get food. That's the Southern way." Often bawdy and always entertaining, West is wonderfully outrageous, charming, and delightful. "Anybody can cook. But it takes a special person to feed the souls of her guests."

-- Miss Johnnie, sitting in a rocking chair, musing about hospitality, 1979

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Memoir, Foodie, Cooking, Southern, Food Writing

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Michael Lee West grew up on the Gulf Coast with a wild tribe of Southern cooks. She lives on a farm near Nashville with her family. Michael is the author of Crazy Ladies, Mad Girls in Love, She Flew the Coop, American Pie, Mad Girls in Love, Mermaids in the Basement, Consuming Passions, and Gone With a Handsomer Man. Her new novel, A Teeny Bit of Trouble, is the second installment in the Teeny Templeton series and will be published on April 10, 2012.

Reviews

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I might have to buy this one for the recipes. The essays are entertaining, and there were some great bits, but since I already know and trust the chocolate sheet cake recipe, I figure the others are worth trying as well. It certainly makes me hungry - I read it mostly while eating.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of my all-time favorites. I love travel writing, and I love food writing, and this book combines some of the best of both. There are parts that are laugh-out-loud funny, and others that just make great anecdotes to pass off as your own. This book inspired me to try a home shrimp boil (mostly successful), though the corn boil was less well-advised. It's an unlikely title, but I highly recommend it!

[Shelby *trains flying monkeys* · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me this book was a wonderful trip down southern memories..makes you crave sweet tea and good mayonaise along with being a kid on a summer night..lovely.

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this a long time ago, probably when it came out, certainly before I was on GoodReads. Michael Lee West has personable, funny, warm essays about family, cooking and growing up in the Deep South. I love meeting her family, reading about her life, and ... most of all ... the food talk. Also, there are some recipes. So it's pretty much the perfect book that way ... if that's the kind of book you like.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not that I disliked this book, I didn't. I just felt it was incredibly uneven. The chapters that dealt with a family story, combined with a food story and relevant recipes are the ones that shone, quite charming. The chapters where she had a recipe but no story to go with it I found boring, especially since she tried to give them substance by drowning them in heavy metaphors. The chapters where she had a family story that really didn't have anything to do with food just felt shoehorned in and terribly out of place. In all, the 1st half of the book was MUCH better than the 2nd half. If I was just rating the 1st half, I'd give it 3 stars, but even with 2 stars there still many recipes and tips I'd like to try so it was worth reading.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book club pick for April at my house. Second read starts today - menu selection to follow !

I loved this book the first time I read it, and I had to come back for more. A quick read really, but one does get stuck on the luscious recipes.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book so much I bought the hard back copy for my own personal library, which I don't do very often. It was excellent.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s not often that I do the following:

- want to cook every single thing in a cook book*
– read aloud every single food description to whoever happens to be sitting next to me
– finish a book and move it from my bedside table to my cookery book shelf
– dream about potato salad

I did all of those things recently and all can be attributed to Michael Lee West’s memoir, Consuming Passions.

In brief, Consuming Passions centres around food and family. Stories of West’s mother and mad aunts (because it’s all about the aunts) and their egg salad, coconut cake and fried chicken are interwoven with how West herself ‘went from non-cook to Southern gourmet’. Of her mother she says –

“She was a fearless fryer; it seemed incredible that she’d given birth to a child like me. A Southerner who could not fry and egg, much less chicken, was a disappointment and a disgrace… Other family members spoke up. “You’ll be an old maid,” said Sharon Sue, one of the churchy cousins. “You can’t have a marriage without fried food.””

It’s a real-life Steel Magnolias or Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, with recipes. There’s drama – fires, family feuds and swinging from chandeliers – and food that sounds just so goddamn good – gumbo, key lime pie, lemon chess pie, jalapeno potatoes and Uncle Bun’s Barbecue Sauce. And did I mention that West can write?

“I gazed out the curved rear window, watching the pine trees give way to cypress. The car seemed to travel at a slant, into a fermented zone where banana trees and mosquitoes thrived, where the damp atmosphere held sway over meringue and praline. Imagine living in a place where the humidity could wreck a dessert. It didn’t matter. I adored everything about it.”

4/5 Made me hungry.

* except the ‘Cocktail Franks in Grape Sauce’ because cocktail franks – blurgh. And hot fruit – blurgh.

See recipe extract here: https://booksaremyfavouriteandbest.wo...

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is described in one word, HILARIOUS!!! Scanning the summary, I thought it would be a cookbook filled with Southern recipes. As I'm slowly (but surely!) adding to my collection, I decided to give this book a shot and see what kind of recipes one of my favorite authors could think of. Not only were there delicious recipes, but the essays and background information behind each recipe seemed like something out of a hilarious sitcom! This is one of those rare books where as you're reading, you create a picture/video in your head of what the author is talking about and I absolutely loved it. My all time favorite character would have to be Mama. I wish I could meet her and spend 10 minutes talking with her and asking her about life. She is the most hilarious, sassy, down to earth, sweet Southern lady I have ever read about. Ms. West, your mother is my new role model!! The other characters in this book are absolutely delightful and at times I found myself bursting out laughing at their antics. The recipes are to die for! It's tradition Southern cooking (most of it's homemade) at its finest. I could read this book again and again.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is part memoir, part family history, part cookbook, from Southern writer Michael Lee West. The chapters are charming, funny, and insightful all in one, giving a picture of the importance of food and family in the Southern tradition. Her fears of frying, particularly fried chicken are charmingly portrayed as are some of the family quirks. While I may not try out every recipe in the book, there are plenty that piqued my interest and I look forward to experimenting with them. There is plenty of Southern charm and you see how the author has infused her fiction novels with her heritage and humor. This was a great addition to her novels.

[Joanne Clarke Gunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having grown up in the south, I enjoyed reading about the preparation of these family recipes many of which are staples at most southern social functions. Dishes like southern fried chicken, collard greens, egg salad, corn bread, Key lime pie, sweet tea, and lemon chess pie all brought back vivid memories of many southern gatherings that I have attended and of food that I love. What I didn't enjoy reading about so much were the antics of the author's family, some of it cringe worthy. If you are interested in southern food, read it for the recipes.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was in heaven with this book. I cannot wait to try the recipes. To be able to write a chapter about seasoning a cast iron skillet without it being boring demonstrates her great writing style. The stories about family members were very entertaining. Would love to be a part of one of those gatherings. Michael Lee West is a very good storyteller. First up, gumbo but without the oysters. Is that a sin??

[Bonny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am always searching for a book that rates 10 stars like Laurie Colwin's "Home Cooking" & "More Home Cooking", and this book comes close. It's a wonderful mixture of stories about food, family, love, and recipes. I'm not a southerner, but reading this made me thirsty for iced tea from a cut glass pitcher and hungry for some good fried chicken & potato salad. West's stories about the food we prepare for the family we love are almost as good as the food itself.

[Chris Rocca · Rating 4 out of 5]

West shows how food played a huge part of her upbringing in New Orleans and Mississippi; and she does it in such an engaging way - by sharing the recipes and stories! I didn't have this kind of childhood, but I hazard a guess that my husband did in his Italian family. Will have to buy this one 'cause I loved all the recipes!

[Genine Franklin-Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read, interspersed with recipes. I'm a California native, and find southern culture strange and exotic. Some of the recipes sound worth a try; many do not. I've been brain-washed and really do love fresh veggies, broiled fish, and healthy stuff like that. BUT I do not hate butter and cream and have been known to boil up a pot of beans with a smoked ham hock.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stories from the author's life including recipes that look amazing. I will be copying and trying them. Southern family, all gatherings revolving around food. This entertained me and made me hungry at the same time.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun foodie book! I first read Micheal Lee west years ago with the book, crazy ladies and I have read most all of her books, well..I have a few I have not gotten around to reading yet, but when I do I know I will be thoroughly entertained!

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michael Lee West is one of my favorite authors (I do love southern fiction), and when I saw that she had written a book of family stories & family recipes back in 1999, I just had to read it. Very enjoyable.

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not like this book. Have read other Michael Lee West, fiction, and found it much more pleasurable. This is like a family recipe book/memoir that should be handed down to future generations, not published for the masses.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an account of the good cooking and funny exploits involving food of the author's extended family, complete with recipes that had me salivating. I have to try some of them. Yumm.

[Debra Hale-Shelton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book combines my love of food and my attachment to the South. Take a healthy dose of humor, add lots of good Southern recipes, and mix well for a fun read.

[Barb Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://dogearedandunderlined.blogspot...

[Stephie Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was an amusing food writing autobiography. It made me laugh out loud, with stories and reflections on food and family relations

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't keep me that interested...

[John Burst · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good recipes though such as Pineapple upside down cake.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for anyone who has liked books by Ruth Reichl (Tender at the Bone, Garlic & Sapphires, et al)

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me really miss my Southern family reunions... the great Southern family cooks in our family!!

[Rosie · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it

[Marti · Rating 4 out of 5]

yummy! essays about food and family with recipes! makes you want to fry some chicken!

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars for the recipes! The book was charming but not an especially great read. The recipes however...I'm just itching to start baking.