Just the Facts: Book Discussion Recap from December 18

Five people took a break from tree trimming, gift wrapping, candle lighting and general holiday frolicking to attend this month's book discussion. Many thanks, as always, for their attendance.

Out book last night was The Telling Room: a tale of love, betrayal, revenge, and the world’s greatest piece of cheese by Michael Paterniti. There is a growing movement in this country and the rest of the world for slow cooking, artisanal food products and meat from free-range animals. The media is filled with stories of local small batch chocolates, hand crafted beer, exotic and hand-made salts, organic herbs and artisanal breads. Farmer’s markets all around us are packed and growing. The book is the story of a Castilian farmer, Ambrosio Molinas de las Heras, who is living that life and never lived any other way. He raises his own chickens, goats and sheep, grows his own vegetables and grains and has a vineyard from which he produces his own wine. He lives as his ancestors did for hundreds of years. But the recipe for the family cheese has been lost and Ambrosio vows to rediscover it. He succeeds, and that’s when things get interesting. His cheese, Paramo de Guzman, is an immediate, worldwide hit, winning awards and finding its way to the tables of kings, presidents and bishops. The demand is great, but Ambrosio can’t meet it. He goes into partnership with trusted friends who take his cheese and betray him. Or did they? The book is a combination of Zorba the Greek and the Japanese film Roshomon. Our conversation was interesting and covered slow cooking and artisan foods, generational living, problems with the Internet age, Velveeta and much more.

Our next meeting will be January 22, 2015. The book to be discussed, The Age of Gold: the California Gold Rush and the new American dream by H. W. Brands, is available at the Circulation Desk. All are welcome.

Season’s greetings to all.