Freedom Fries and Café Crème is a compilation of 12 short stories.
Each story deals with a couple, and sometimes other characters, who live in France or East Coast America. The story themes centre on the characters’ relationships with each other, and their connection to food. Cultural differences between the various characters permeate all the stories, and these differences, rather than being a burden, or divisive, are shown to bring enrichment. The stories also delve into the difficulty experienced by many of the characters in social interaction in today’s complex, fast-paced, ever-changing world.
Relationships, whether between family, friends or lovers can be tricky, and this is examined in the stories. Another theme is the difficulty of meeting people to form a romantic attachment to, and of maintaining a relationship. I have observed that so many of our day-to-day interactions take place around the table – sometimes at home, in a café or pub, or at a five-star restaurant – and it is always interesting to see how people approach food when they are from different cultural and social backgrounds and how food and drink can serve as a dramatic foil for human relationships.
Food today can be seen on different levels. It is very rarely if ever a factor for survival in our Western consumerist societies where virtually any sort of food is available and in quantity. However, some people still consider food as little more than a kind of fuel without considering the aspects of aesthetics or pleasure related to food that generally come from a person’s education or cultural background. There are also people who are obsessed with healthy food and others who become obsessed by the complexity and extravagance of haute cuisine and are therefore no longer able to appreciate simple, authentic tastes.
Another key theme that permeates these stories is today’s focus on consumerism in a world where people always seem to want more and more things and find themselves surrounded by a variety of technological gadgets. These trendy, ultra-connected people are sometimes unable to physically talk face to face with a fellow human being. They also don’t know how to be happy with simple things, or to appreciate one of the basic pleasures of life – sitting down at a table to have a meal or drink with others, and appreciating their surroundings.
If there are occasional clichés in these stories, that is because they are unavoidable when writing about everyday situations. But I have tried to consider them with humour and detachment.
Each of the 12 stories is followed by a few recipes that are based on food that was included in the preceding narrative. All of the recipes are my own creation, and all are an integral part of the related story.
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Whether in Boston or Burgundy, Paris or New York, most of the characters in this edible story collection are looking for love, even if some of them don’t know it.
But what they do all share is a delight in great food, which they know can feed the soul and bring joy to life – often more so than love.
There’s a story for every month of the year, and if your mouth starts watering as you read, Jocelyne Rapinac has included the recipe for every dish mentioned. Enjoy!
Read the story – try the recipes!
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