“Take M. F. K. Fisher’s sublimely sensual writings on food, add a liberal dose of testosterone and a dollop of twisted humor, and you’ve got a good idea of the quirky style of Bob Shacochis’s delicious Domesticity…. It is more than just the record of a passionate cook’s culinary adventures. Mr. Shacochis uses food as a medium to investigate all sorts of human appetites, inventions and connections. He ponders the history of breakfast, the social significance of ice cream, the relative value of table manners and the pleasures of the dinner party…. Domesticity nourishes the senses and the soul.”
— New York Times Book Review
“By turns doting, curative, seductive…. Its celebration of the cook’s greatest need—the significant eater—rings sweetly true.”
— Washington Post
“Shacochis follows his nose to investigate such ‘gastronomic riddles’ as the nomenclature of pâtés and terrines and the aphrodisiac reputations of various foods…. Shacochis is literate, tough, romantic and the master of his kitchen.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Domesticity is about the voluptuous pleasures of cooking for, and eating with, someone you love, about making meals a participatory rather than spectator sport. It is about excess and obsession…. Shacochis intends to reinvent our relationship to food—in much the same way that he has worked, over [the] years, to reinvent the notion of romance.”
— Los Angeles Times
“The value of Shacochis’ book rests in the best of its artful telling. When he describes food as ‘one of the ways we have of locating ourselves, of telling ourselves where we are, both physically and emotionally,’ the reader suspects that this is the secret key to his far-ranging essays.”
— Chicago Tribune
“A modern autobiographical cookbook … Dedicated to the principle that the head, heart, and taste buds are all interwoven, the recipes go well beyond formulas—they are instead expressions of mood, setting, and lifestyle. A versatile addition to most collections, this book could just as easily be shelved next to Calvin Trillin as Julia Child.”
— Library Journal
“Food, sex, and other thoughts…. The writing—polished, clever, and aptly targeted.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Scoundrels make good subjects, and though at times you might want to reach across the page and cuff Shacochis, you can’t help but forgive him, and continue feasting on the light but well-seasoned fare he has to offer.”
— San Francisco Review of Books
“These vibrant, offbeat, and sensual essays on the importance of food in the daily affairs of interesting, idiosyncratic men and women who know their way around kitchens combine an enthusiastic storyteller’s love of narrative with an enthusiastic cook’s love of fresh ingredients.”
— Entertainment Weekly