Book Review: The Art of Escapism Cooking by Mandy Lee

Media Type: Print Book
Title: The Art of Escapism Cooking
Author: Mandy Lee
Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks
Pages: Hardcover; 400
Release Date: October 15, 2019
Source: TLC Book Tours
Genre: Cookbooks

HDB Rating: 4*

Recommended to: Readers who love a good cookbook, with stories behind the beautiful food.

Add it on: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

In this inventive and intensely personal cookbook, the blogger behind the award-winning ladyandpups.com reveals how she cooked her way out of an untenable living situation, with more than eighty delicious Asian-inspired dishes with influences from around the world.

For Mandy Lee, moving from New York to Beijing for her husband’s work wasn’t an exotic adventure—it was an ordeal. Growing increasingly exasperated with China’s stifling political climate, its infuriating bureaucracy, and its choking pollution, she began “an unapologetically angry food blog,” LadyandPups.com, to keep herself from going mad.

Mandy cooked because it channeled her focus, helping her cope with the difficult circumstances of her new life. She filled her kitchen with warming spices and sticky sauces while she shared recipes and observations about life, food, and cooking in her blog posts. Born in Taiwan and raised in Vancouver, she came of age food-wise in New York City and now lives in Hong Kong; her food reflects the many places she’s lived. This entertaining and unusual cookbook is the story of how “escapism cooking”—using the kitchen as a refuge and ultimately creating delicious and satisfying meals—helped her crawl out of her expat limbo.

Illustrated with her own gorgeous photography, The Art of Escapism Cooking provides that comforting feeling a good meal provides. Here are dozens of innovative and often Asian-influenced recipes, divided into categories by mood and occasion, such as:

For Getting Out of Bed
Poached Eggs with Miso-Browned Butter Hollandaise
Crackling Pancake with Caramel-Clustered Blueberries and Balsamic Honey

For Slurping
Buffalo Fried Chicken Ramen
Crab Bisque Tsukemen 

For a Crowd
Cumin Lamb Rib Burger
Italian Meatballs in Taiwanese Rouzao Sauce

For Snacking
Wontons with Shrimp and Chili Coconut Oil and Herbed Yogurt
Spicy Chickpea Poppers 

For Sweets
Mochi with Peanut Brown Sugar and Ice Cream
Recycled Nuts and Caramel Apple Cake

Every dish is sublimely delicious and worth the time and attention required. Mandy also demystifies unfamiliar ingredients and where to find them, shares her favorite tools, and provides instructions for essential condiments for the pantry and fridge, such as Ramen Seasoning, Fried Chili Verde Sauce, Caramelized Onion Powder Paste, and her Ultimate Sichuan Chile Oil.

Oh, wow. That’s literally what left my lips when I opened up this cookbook to a random page before really settling down with it. The photography in this is absolutely stunning. If you, like me, have an affinity for food photos? Rest assured that even if you don’t cook a single thing from this cookbook it would be well worth your purchase. However after I really had the time to settle into this, and see the story of Lee’s food-driven life unfold, I was head over heels. This isn’t just a cookbook, it’s a work of art.

Mandy Lee has created something beautiful here. Her wit is sharp, her writing is brutally honest, and the food that she shares with the reader is genuine and comforting. I giggled more than a few times as she dropped an F-bomb, or recounted a particularly dark memory with some humor. It feels odd to say, but this cookbook actually made me feel like I knew her. There are few things more personal than food, but when you pair these gorgeous recipes with stories from her actual life it’s all the more tangible. Seeing how cooking made her whole again, how it helped her deal with depression and anger, it made me feel seen. I might not be as excellent of a cook as she is, but it reminded me how comforting it can be to turn a bunch of ingredients into something warm and nourishing.

Oh, and the recipes! Look, I’m not saying this is the easiest set of recipes you’ll ever glance through. They still feel accessible though, and if the food photography doesn’t make you drool I’ll be genuinely surprised. I can’t wait for some free time to try a few, and feel even more connected to this book. If you’re a fan of cookbooks, of beautifully honest memoirs, or even of just staring at pictures of lovely food, this is something that you’ll love.