El Festín De John Saturnall (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
I received this book as part of the Goodreads first-read program.There is just so much to enjoy about this book! On the surface it is an incredibly touching story of John Saturnall, an Englishman in the 17th century who grows from nothing to become a well-renowned chef who's dishes grace the palates of kitchen boys and kings alike. As a child John grows up in a small, rural, highly superstitious village and is ridiculed and feared by many due to the fact that some believe his mother to be a witch. After John and his mother are run out of their village his mother begins to teach him the secrets of an ancient feast. As his hunger for knowledge and revenge - as well as his hunger for actual food - burns within him, his mother tries to teach John about not only the history and recipes of the feast but of the need to use his knowledge and advanced skills to keep the feast for everyone. But before John has all the answers he needs and craves, his mother dies and he finds himself sent to Buckland Manor, the great house of Sir William Fremantle, and finds himself moving up the ranks of the kitchens there. As the years pass, John discovers his mother had reasons she never told him for sending him to Buckland Manor. Mixed in with his search for the past is the development of his future, one that will find him at the head of the kitchens, on the fields of war, and in the arms of Sir William Fremantle's daughter, Lucretia. As the world continually changes around him, John will learn what he must fight for and what he must let go of if he is to not only accomplish what his mother wanted for him but survive to keep the feast.John Saturnall's Feast is one of the most descriptive novels I have ever read. There are long passages dedicated to every aspect of cooking and preparing food. At times it feels like you can actually hear the crackle of various types of roasting meats as they brown on the spit and smell the delicate sugared concoctions as they cool. It is absolutely mouthwatering. Any foodie would love this book, even if they aren't that interested in the history. As the history takes a decided backseat to the food and character development, I wouldn't see this being a problem.My favorite aspect of the novel would have to be the seemingly doomed relationship between John and Lucretia. Meeting as children they instantly dislike each other. John is angry and grieving his mother and Lucretia is snooty and still grieving her own mother (or the hole her mother's death left at Buckland Manor) who died giving birth to her. As they age a tentative relationship grows into something much more. But as Lucretia's marriage is the key to keeping Buckland in the hands of the Fremantles, there is little hope for her in being able to marry a mere cook, even if he is talented beyond all others. This storyline is quite bittersweet and I enjoyed watching John and Lucretia find a small bit of happiness in a terribly violent, chaotic world, even if that happiness might not last forever.Not to be left out are the gorgeous drawings and snippets of recipes at the beginning of each chapter. I had a wonderful time looking over these and found them to add to the ancient feeling that reading about John's book of the feast gave to the story. John Saturnall's Feast is sure to please history and food lovers alike. I highly recommend it! 'Beautifully detailed' is as succinct a review as I can muster. In all honesty I continued till the end driven by my hunger/greed for Norfolk's luscious, rich and all-too-vivid descriptive language. His poetic dedication to ambrosial ecstasies/ruminations of food is enough to evoke in a reader's stomach an insisting hunger even though moments ago there had been none. The portions about war and religious cults which appeared in the middle and languished toward the end I found rather bewildering and not near half as appetising as the Norfolk's astounding attention to the workaday lives of cooks and servants. The woodcut prints and sections from Saturnall's receipt 'book' provide extra intriguing material.
What do You think about El Festín De John Saturnall (2013)?
Outstanding travels in 17th century cooking. Degrease with a hefty dose of Cromwell's zealotry.
—eloho
It was interesting, but I feel like there was something I was missing as I read it.
—Crags1981
