Comfort Me with Apples ends with Ruth Reichl’s saying she took her title from Song of Solomon. Also significant is what comes just before “comfort me with apples”: “He has taken me to his banqueting table, and his banner over me is love.” [Song of Solomon 2:4]
Reichl’s memoir of her early days as a food writer is truly a love story and a banquet. I enjoyed her candor in describing the men she loves during the years covered in Comfort Me with Apples, as well as how she lovingly manages her mother’s irritating idiosyncrasies. But her love for food completely captivated me. What a refined palate she has! And I could almost see, smell, and taste the food from Reichl’s sensual descriptions. Here are three examples:
“I stuck my nose in the glass and the light scent of spring flowers came drifting up.” [p.201]
“… as he set one [bowl of soup] before me the steam wafted up, bathing my face in warm fragrance. I leaned into it, liking the feeling, and saw pale cubes of foie gras floating languidly in the broth. I fished one out. As my mouth closed over it a small explosion occurred: The foie gras had dissolved, leaving only its melted center. The richness flooded down my throat and I thought what an astonishing sensation it was, to see solid and sense liquid.” [p.58]
“The crust was flaky but once I got through, I hit the truffle, which tasted the way a forest smells in autumn when the leaves are turning colors and someone, far off, is burning them.” [p.44]
Oh, and Reichl introduces readers to Alice Waters, Wolfgang Puck, and other famous chefs, as well as some of their restaurant struggles; and she includes recipes. I found this memoir fascinating.
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