A Fine Dessert: Four Centuries, Four Families, One Delicious Treat by S. Jenkins

Abstract

Jenkins, Sophie. 2015. Illus. Sophie Blackall. A Fine Dessert: Four Centuries, Four Families, One Delicious Treat. New York: Swartz & Wade Books. Print.A Fine Dessert is about “blackberry fool” a delicious dessert made from fresh blackberries and whipped cream. The story starts out in England in 1710 when a young girl and her mother pick blackberries with their hands. They have to milk the cows to get cream and whip it by hand with bundle of soft twigs. Then we are transported to Charleston, South Carolina in 1810 when another young girl and her mother pick blackberries from the garden at a plantation. A deliveryman brings them cream by horse and buggy and they must use a metal whisk by hand to get it whipped. Then we are in Boston in 1910 and a young girl and her mother buy their blackberries from the market. The deliveryman brings them cream and they use a mechanical whisk and ice box to make their dessert. Finally we are transported to San Diego and it is 2010. A young boy and his dad go to the supermarket to buy their blackberries. They look the recipe up on the Internet and use an electric mixer and refrigerator. Through one dessert, we see cooking and family life evolve over four hundred years.The concept of A Fine Dessert is brilliant as it presents an easy activity (cooking) that is mutual to all the centuries it depicts. The illustrations by Sophie Blackall are beautiful and tell their own story alongside the text. Period details and evocative facial expressions make these historical people come alive with elegant simplicity. This book is a fantastic way to teach history to children as it shows how even a mundane task such as cooking has changed over the centuries. While the story is about making a dessert there is so much more to the story. It opens the door to discussing social status, issues like slavery and gender roles. The book includes a recipe for blackberry fool and historical notes on the author’s research.Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Hanne PearceHanne Pearce has worked at the University of Alberta Libraries since 2004. Aside from being an avid reader, she has continuing interests in writing, photography, graphic design and knitting.