I had a vague assumption of what the book would be like going in from the blurb on the front - it seemed like a typical murder mystery / serial killer novel. This is not a genre I am particularly interested in, despite going through a phase many years ago where I binged the first 3 seasons of Criminal Minds (I couldn't stick around without Gideon). But I picked this book up from the library because the cover design was good and I am shallow.
Fortunately, my assumption was wrong and I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. This seems to be the opposite opinion of most people because they were also expecting (and wanting) a crime thriller. Yes, the characters are flawed and while I didn't particularly like any one of them, I enjoyed reading about them. Their problems are not unique but these problems exist in real life nonetheless, and they will continue to exist because there is not necessarily one satisfactory solution.
The book is definitely long-winded and overly descriptive. However, the food descriptions were apparently effective because I made rice and butter as soon as I finished the first chapter. After this, I made it a personal goal to make the different dishes Rika cooked as I read along (within reason).
I ended up having to buy more butter.
Chapter 1: Butter and Rice (and Soy Sauce)
It was late at night when Rika first made butter and rice and she ended up eating the whole pot. However, I am not a fictional character and did not want to sleep on a full stomach so I made a small bowl. I liked that this dish is so simple that it's practically inviting the reader to join Rika and make some rice with butter as well - which is the first step to getting immersed in Kajii's world.
Chapter 2: Tarako Pasta
I followed how Rika made tarako pasta in the book, except I couldn't find fresh shiso leaves so I just put on parsley for some mandatory greenery. Luckily I was able to find the most essential ingredient: salted cod roe. It makes a simple, tasty pasta. I'll probably make some for my parents whenever they visit me next, but I'll try to make the sauce with cream like I've seen in online recipes. I'm going to see if the weekend farmer's market has some shiso leaves.
Chapter 6: Quatre Quarts
In the book, the recipe is 150g of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour with some lemon zest mixed in. I used the same ratios but 113g of each because I only had one stick of butter. This led to a smaller and less impressive cake, but it was tasty nonetheless. I like how incredibly easy this recipe is. I've been looking up variations of this recipes online and found some helpful tips to improve my cake for next time - I might try orange zest next, instead of lemon. Or I'll add a glaze.
Chapter 11: Macaroni Gratin
I generally don't bother buying alcohol so I didn't have white wine to cook the prawns. This is not due to abstinence but rather sheer lack of interest - I don't want to have a bottle of wine that will then sit in my fridge for an indeterminate amount of time. Also, wine is costly. I made a few other ingredient substitutions so this dish is not faithful to what Rika made in the book, but overall I rate it as edible. I appreciate that this recipe made me go outside of my usual repertoire - I like cooking but I hate everything else that comes along with it (mostly the cleaning), so I often default to a few easy recipes with minimal set-up and clean-up. Unless I'm feeling energetic and hopeful.
Chapter 16: Roast Turkey
Yeah, I'm not doing that.
I can understand why this book is polarizing but I enjoyed it. While I do not agree with the protagonist all the time, I found it easy to follow her train of thought as I am also a female in her 30s with an awareness of the misogyny that pervades society. The specific brand of misogyny may differ since I do not live in Japan but it exists nonetheless. Just like in the book, most of the women I know are aware of this and are just trying to find a way to exist.
