Food is the talisman, the metaphor, and the basic aroma of this voluptuous novel, told in the voice of Wes Hingler. He comes of age in the kitchen of his mother's Old World catering service, filled with the flavors, mostly Italian, of her heritage. Downstairs, his father, who grew up in New Mexico, runs the Tsil Cafe. Named for the kachina Tsil, who fills mouths with chile, the cafe brings the intense flavors of New World ingredients to Kansas City. From his childhood through college, Wes explores his family's relationships to each other and to food, uncovering the secrets all families keep from each other. The tale is full of recipes, some on the very edge of bizarre but all bursting with flavor and history. Definitions of New World foods, from maple syrup to pawpaws, are included, and Averill has managed to integrate both recipes and definitions into his richly unfolding story--no mean feat. If the narrative bobbles a bit at the end, the feel of the tale in our mouths makes up for it. GraceAnne DeCandido
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Review
... a flavorful concoction of a story. -- Lawrence Journal-World
... a spicy coming-of-age story combined with mouth-watering recipes for New World cuisine. -- Topeka Capital-Journal
...delicious, fully drawn. -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch
...tantalizing recipes...A lovingly written coming-of-age gem. -- Library Journal
A tour de force of the palette. -- Wichita Eagle
Averill...blends savory, but spicy recipes into this novel of a hot-blooded family with two battling kitchens. -- Bookpage
Hot stuff: it is completely satisfying food fiction. -- Calgary Herald
[a] voluptuous novel....The tale is full of recipes, some on the very edge of bizarre but all bursting with flavor and history. -- Booklist
From the Author
In the middle of writing Secrets of the Tsil Cafe, I celebrated my 50th birthday. Knowing that my restaurateur, Robert Hingler, would make his 50th an extravagant experiment in culinary pleasure and odd appetite, my agent suggested I do something similar for myself. I did. My self-indulgence was to pretend Hingler's Tsil Cafe was catering my birthday dinner. I invited nearly twenty friends and family members to a dinner selected from that menu. My wife thought it odd that I wanted to spend my birthday cooking a five-course dinner for twenty, but I called it a "gift" to both myself and my work-in-progress novel.
Our invitation included the dinner menu: Black Bean & Gooseberry Enchiladas and Chips with Sweet Habanero Salsa for appetizers; then Potato and Green Chile Soup; then the salad course, Watercress with Roasted Sunflower Dressing; and finally the main dish--Buffalo Tongue with Chipotle Barbecue Sauce--and sides, Quinoa and Squash. My wife catered the dessert, a non-Tsil Lemon Meringue Pie. I organized, shopped, cooked happily for an entire day, and we all ate well.
By putting myself in Hingler's shoes for a day, I learned something of exotic appetites. I received both compliments and occasional silence depending on the tastes of my guests. Most of all I had the best gift this novelist could receive: a deeper well for writing Secrets of the Tsil Cafe.
About the Author
Thomas Fox Averill has published two story collections, Passes at the Moon and Seeing Mona Naked. In addition, he is the editor of the anthology, What Kansas Means to Me and author of Oleander's Guide to Kansas: How to Know When You're Here, a collection of radio commentaries gleaned from his ten plus years as a Kansas commentator on public radio.
Mr. Averill earned both his BA and MA in English at the University of Kansas. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and an O. Henry Award winner, he is writer-in-residence and a professor of English at Washburn University. AUTHCOMMENTS: In the middle of writing Secrets of the Tsil Cafe, I celebrated my 50th birthday. Knowing that my restaurateur, Robert Hingler, would make his 50th an extravagant experiment in culinary pleasure and odd appetite, my agent suggested I do something similar for myself. I did. My self-indulgence was to pretend Hingler's Tsil Cafe was catering my birthday dinner. I invited nearly twenty friends and family members to a dinner selected from that menu. My wife thought it odd that I wanted to spend my birthday cooking a five-course dinner for twenty, but I called it a "gift" to both myself and my work-in-progress novel.
Our invitation included the dinner menu: Black Bean & Gooseberry Enchiladas and Chips with Sweet Habanero Salsa for appetizers; then Potato and Green Chile Soup; then the salad course, Watercress with Roasted Sunflower Dressing; and finally the main dish--Buffalo Tongue with Chipotle Barbecue Sauce--and sides, Quinoa and Squash. My wife catered the dessert, a non-Tsil Lemon Meringue Pie. I organized, shopped, cooked happily for an entire day, and we all ate well.
By putting myself in Hingler's shoes for a day, I learned something of exotic appetites. I received both compliments and occasional silence depending on the tastes of my guests. Most of all I had the best gift this novelist could receive: a deeper well for writing Secrets of the Tsil Cafe.
