Fried Butter: A Food Memoir

by Abe Opincar

"Clever and witty."— Chicago Tribune

"The writing is offbeat, achieving the trick of seeming at once grounded and untethered. . . . Elemental acuity and the burlesque combine here to delicious effect."— Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"A joyous revelry in good food even when the memories evoked are bittersweet."— USA Today

"Mixes humor and wisdom. . . . Full of piquant philosophical asides and fascinating culinary lore."— San Francisco Chronicle

"Opincar’s bites-of-passage are ruefully funny."— The New York Times Book Review

Foods, flavors, textures, aromas are like memories for Abe Opincar. He remembers leaving his wife the night he baked chicken, being criticized by French hosts for not properly eating ripe peaches with a knife and a fork, eggs sunny side up and first sex, cornmeal mush and his dotty aunt, garlic and his father’s love. We might look at a photograph or memento. Opincar’s recollections are summoned by food.

His life in California, Kyoto, Jerusalem, Paris, Istanbul and Tijuana is all called up by flavors that bring back the moments and places and people he broke bread with and loved. What’s recalled and savored is sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, or insightful and poignant, but it is always witty and penetrating and wholly beguiling. We eat what we are. Food is life, and Opincar relishes it.

Abe Opincar has published countless articles and writes for The San Diego Reader and Gourmet . He lives in Southern California and New York.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Memoir

150 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2003

Reviews

[Christopher]

I was surprised to read several reviews where people said they would not want to encounter Opincar in real life. I had the complete opposite feeling, and I thought several times how this guy would be a fascinating person to share a meal with.

I didn't think the writing was disjointed at all either. In fact, I thought it was brilliantly connected and structured for this type of book.

I was pretty much drawn in by the very simple first paragraph, and really, it gives you a good idea of how this book is going to read: "I baked a chicken the night I left my wife."

Of course, it's not all that depressing. Though some of it is MORE depressing.

[Ziv Vinokor]

Short chapters about the authors travels and how good impacts every morsel of his life.
Cute but not very cohesive.
Would not recommend.

[Patty]

A very funny and sweet food memoir set up in vignette form. Really subtly humorous and charming. A quick read.

[Zuvielekatzen]

fun read

[Slmcmahon]

This is an enjoyable telling of some of Mr. Opincar's memories and the roll food plays in one's life. Nothing over dramatic, just stories he would share with a friend or colleague. Mr. Opincar is someone I would like to have dinner & conversation with.

[Kasia]

These days everyone is in a mad rush, work, stress, trying to cook dinner in twenty minutes, back to rushing again... To me a great bite of food can slow down time forever, it can create a memory, an instant snapshot of a moment in a hectic world, speed is overrated, good food never goes out of style. As a food lover, cookbook hoarder and bookworm I was especially excited to read this, when a delicious food memoir lands in my lap I pounce at it, nothing can stop me. What a treat to get to read such intimate moments of someone's life, especially someone who has eaten some extremely good food and has a few stories to share not all of them happy but all full of reflections and life's lessons. What is most interesting is the simplicity of the food, the high points in Abe's culinary career aren't found in expensive and stuffy restaurants but close to the ground and often at some friends place: tomatoes plucked of the vine served at breakfast, lunch and dinner, taste of an orange grown in a special place, the smell and excitement of his life in France where he learned about the art of eating and manners to his years in Japan and reflections about his culture and religion which have followed his culinary journey closely.

After reading this food memoir I can see bits of Abe's life on the cover, the pan fried eggs in rich butter were the only thing that would comfort his then pregnant mother ( while she carried him) and the butter soothed and quieted the family when added to comforting foods while his father was battling cancer. Food is love, it's also memories, something that permeates the senses and grabs chunks of life and makes them stick with us forever. This was such a fast but also delectable read, books such as this one are such a treat, I shall remember it forever as I make my own culinary memories.

- Kasia S.

[Sarah]

I found Opincar's writing style to be very disjointed and abrasive. While the content was brutally honest, I found it mostly uninteresting and vague. Opincar is not a man I would ever want to encounter in this lifetime.

Putting my dislike for the author's personality aside, this was a fast, easy read and on occasion contained small morsels of fascinating food facts and history.

ETA: Well I just found out that this book was a series of essays compiled from the author's San Diego food writing column which explains the disjointedness of the writing style. That being said, I'm still not a fan.

[Beth]

The author is cynical, funny, and clever in his observations about food, cooking, meals with friends, family, and near-strangers, as well as travel, dysfunctional relationships, and religion. Not the best writer, he apparently didn't have his previously published columns from a free San Diego weekly reedited, and he didn't choose to revise them to make them flow together any better or even to have much internal consistency or connection. Entertaining, but not enthralling.

[Maria (Ri)]

While often entertaining, the chapters feel very disconnected, lacking any overall structure for the book. The descriptions are often lush and wonderful, however there is also a very arrogant tone that is quite distracting. The author doesn't seem like a person I'd want to encounter in real life, which makes reading his vignettes troublesome at times.

[Beth]

What a story teller. I loved this book. It hit the spot with laugh out loud moments.

Each chapter/essay is about the experiences he has with people in his life and about a food he associates with these people. It could be a simple ingredient, a single dish or an entire meal. This author might be up there with JR Moehringer (shockers, I know). I want more.

[Catherine]

The book is a collection of several amusing essays that originally appeared in The San Diego Reader. Some of the stories had religious features to them but not overly so. The book was worth the 50% off cover price that I spent on it. I might have been a bit disappointed had I paid full price.

[Rogue Reader]

This picaresque, episodic telling of world travels and food experiences was an enjoyable read. The opening chapter was unpleasant, describing how the author left his home and his marriage in the middle of the night and affected my reading.

[Cindywho]

It seemed like Opincar just sifted through a bunch of his writings that had anything to do with food and plopped them in a pile. Some stories were semi-interesting, but forgettable. He's been interesting places and had interesting friends, but he himself didn't seem very.

[Jenne]

For fellow San Diegans, this is the guy who writes that column in the Reader that reviews different church services.

However, this book has nothing to do with church. It's mostly about food.

[Pilar]

Too introspective by far, but I still fry eggs with turmeric. Yum.

[WisMx1821]

I really enjoyed this collection of essays. A thoughtful commentary on life and foods. Melodic and beautiful.