From Scratch by Tembi Locke

Friends and loved ones often say I have too many books. I still love these clueless souls, but they don’t understand. It’s not that I have too many books, it’s that these books are quite happy on my shelves, just waiting for me to find them.

Such was the case with From Scratch. A friend gave me this book and because we have different tastes in reading, it has languished in my ‘maybe I’ll read, maybe I won’t’ section. Rattling around the house on a rainy afternoon, I picked it up and decided to give it a try. I didn’t have any idea what I was getting into when I started this book, but before long I was deeply entangled in a beautiful story of love and loss, and all that comes with it.

“In Sicily, every story begins with a marriage or a death. In my case it’s both. And so it was that I found myself driving a rusted Fiat through a winding country road on the outskirts of Alimunusa, a small Sicilian village, with my husband’s ashes in a small wooden box tucked between my legs.”

So begins this luscious memoir by Tembi Locke (that word luscious will be back). Tembi is an American television and film actress and she recounts her college semester abroad in Florence where she meets Saro, a chef. At first, Tembi is not interested in a relationship. But, for Saro, it’s love at first sight. She tries to discourage him, but he doesn’t give up. He makes her amazing romantic meals in his restaurant, he brings her flowers, in short, he woos her until she falls for him too.

When the semester ends and Tembi goes back to California, Saro eventually comes to the US where their relationship blossoms. They marry in Florence several years later. They build a happy life in Los Angeles, with fulfilling careers, luscious meals, deep friendships and the love of their lives: a baby girl they adopt at birth.

Don’t leave me now folks, there’s so much more.

There are gorgeous food descriptions and beautiful Sicilian countryside. There are cultural and family dramas to work through when Saro’s Italian family rejects Tembi because she is black. They navigate their way through two clashing cultures and eventually create their own.

Saro develops cancer and they struggle through ten years of his sickness …and as we know from the first paragraph, sadly he dies. Yes, From Scratch is sad (have tissues nearby) but it is also a fascinatingly upbeat tale, that once I was 50 pages in, I had to give it my complete attention.

Saro’s death changes Tembi’s relationship with his family. After his death, Tembi returns to Saro’s family home every summer with their daughter. And, against the backdrop of Sicilian culture & countryside — they heal and cook together – a new relationship and mutual appreciation develops. They connect as a family and Saro’s family lay aside their previous rejection of both the marriage and her. Tembi and her daughter soon also accept and understand the Sicilian culture:

I was witnessing another example of the way community functioned so tightly here, for better or for worse. Each of the women on this street will be called upon and expected to participate in the illness or death of the others. They held one another up, it was a custom as ancient and alive as the ruins of Sicily’s Harrah temple.

From Scratch shines with the food –there are luscious (there’s that word again) descriptions of food and how it bridged relationships, how it can be both comforting and sensual, but mostly it’s shows food’s significance to every family and culture.

Tembi tells of the Sicilian homemade tomato sauce, fresh made pasta, olive oil made from olives grown on the family’s land, fresh bread, lemons, herbs, and bonus — there is a collection of these family recipes at the end of the book — many of which I’ve marked to try.

This beautiful reflection on grief and healing is sometimes overly dramatic, but the majority of the writing is poetic, warm and heartfelt. This memoir is an age-old story of love, loss, reconciliation and belonging. Yes, it’s sad but yet also joyful. The food, the language, the love, the families– all of it — well just luscious.

From Scratch was a captivating read. I’m glad I found it on my happily-waiting book shelves.

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After I closed the book, I made Husband his favorite pasta sauce and hugged him close and tight.