Publication Date: June 4, 2013
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
A gripping adventure, a seaborne romance, and a twist on the tale of
Scheherazade—with the best food ever served aboard a pirate’s ship
The year is 1819, and the renowned chef Owen Wedgwood has been kidnapped by the ruthless pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot. He will be spared, she tells him, as long as he puts exquisite food in front of her every Sunday without fail.
To appease the red-haired captain, Wedgwood gets cracking with the meager supplies on board. His first triumph at sea is actual bread, made from a sourdough starter that he leavens in a tin under his shirt throughout a roaring battle, as men are cutlassed all around him. Soon he’s making tea-smoked eel and brewing pineapple-banana cider.
But Mabbot—who exerts a curious draw on the chef—is under siege. Hunted by a deadly privateer and plagued by a saboteur hidden on her ship, she pushes her crew past exhaustion in her search for the notorious Brass Fox. As Wedgwood begins to sense a method to Mabbot’s madness, he must rely on the bizarre crewmembers he once feared: Mr. Apples, the fearsome giant who loves to knit; Feng and Bai, martial arts masters sworn to defend their captain; and Joshua, the deaf cabin boy who becomes the son Wedgwood never had.
Cinnamon and Gunpowder is a swashbuckling epicure’s adventure simmered over a surprisingly touching love story—with a dash of the strangest, most delightful cookbook never written. Eli Brown has crafted a uniquely entertaining novel full of adventure: the Scheherazade story turned on its head, at sea, with food.
The year is 1819, and the renowned chef Owen Wedgwood has been kidnapped by the ruthless pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot. He will be spared, she tells him, as long as he puts exquisite food in front of her every Sunday without fail.
To appease the red-haired captain, Wedgwood gets cracking with the meager supplies on board. His first triumph at sea is actual bread, made from a sourdough starter that he leavens in a tin under his shirt throughout a roaring battle, as men are cutlassed all around him. Soon he’s making tea-smoked eel and brewing pineapple-banana cider.
But Mabbot—who exerts a curious draw on the chef—is under siege. Hunted by a deadly privateer and plagued by a saboteur hidden on her ship, she pushes her crew past exhaustion in her search for the notorious Brass Fox. As Wedgwood begins to sense a method to Mabbot’s madness, he must rely on the bizarre crewmembers he once feared: Mr. Apples, the fearsome giant who loves to knit; Feng and Bai, martial arts masters sworn to defend their captain; and Joshua, the deaf cabin boy who becomes the son Wedgwood never had.
Cinnamon and Gunpowder is a swashbuckling epicure’s adventure simmered over a surprisingly touching love story—with a dash of the strangest, most delightful cookbook never written. Eli Brown has crafted a uniquely entertaining novel full of adventure: the Scheherazade story turned on its head, at sea, with food.
The devil himself whispers in her ear, I’d wager.
Welcome to the Flying Rose. I
hope you have settled to sea comfortably. Your lot may improve in direct
proportion to your willingness. I do look forward to more of your fare. Let me
lay out my proposal: You will, of a Sunday, cook for me, and me alone, the
finest supper. You will neither repeat a dish nor serve foods that are in the
slightest degree mundane. In return I will continue to keep you alive and well,
and we may discuss an improvement of your quarters after a time. Should you
balk in any fashion you will find yourself swimming home, whole or in pieces,
depending upon the severity of my disappointment. How does this strike you?
In
anticipation,
Capt.
Hannah Mabbot
Owen Wedgewood is a world-renowned chef whose life changing abruptly when he meets Mad Hannah Mabbot on the high seas. He is taken captive on her ship called The Flying Rose, and in order to stay alive Mad Mabbot bargains with him. She tells him that he has to cook for her, and her alone, every Sunday. Not only must he prepare the finest meals he knows, they must all be different. Not to mention he is in the middle of the deep, blue sea and his pillage is limited. Owen obliges and accepts the deal in order to save his own skin. He has no idea just how this will play out, but he hopes to have a plan of escape concocted before too long. Mad Mabbot is not quite your average pirate, however, and Owen begins to learn more about her than he cares to know.
What a unique and original telling of what is, in some ways, a very typical swashbuckling adventure. Chef Owen Wedgewood's transformation from an arrogant, obnoxious fellow to a part of the pirate crew in search of the dastardly Brass Fox is a fun, easy read, full of adventure. The hook, however, is the way in which we slowly learn about the pirate crew along with Wedgewood. So much of interest here- social and political dynamics, love, and the art of dining on a pirate ship! Recommended to anyone who is intrigued by the cover and the concept, and anyone who enjoys a character-driven story.
ReplyDeleteIrene (Pay Dirt)