The figurative language of Patricia Volk…

Reading time: Less than 1 minute

I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a simile from Patricia Volk…

Food-related memoirs hold a special place in my heart, perhaps because I grew up in a “foodie” family where, after finishing Christmas dinner we would inevitably push our chairs back from the table and vigorously debate what dishes we would prepare for the next Christmas.

Of course I’ve read Ruth Reichl‘s many books and also Laurie Colwin‘s and Anthony Bourdain‘s. I’m not sure I’d include Patricia Volk (pictured above) in this holy trinity. But she’s had an interesting, food-rich life and I read her book, Stuffed: Adventures of a Restaurant Family with fascination. Volk’s family fed New York City for one hundred years, from 1888 when her great-grandfather introduced pastrami to America until 1988, when her father closed his garment center restaurant.

Here is my favourite image from Volk’s book:

Even in a restaurant family caviar is the treat of treats, a luxury rationed out on crustless toast points. I love its briny taste and the firecracker sensation as hundreds of slippery eggs from primeval sturgeon explode in my mouth. I love pressing my tongue against the roof of my mouth and feeling them pop. It’s like eating the Fourth of July.

Isn’t that a delicious turn of phrase?

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