The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Recipe by Dave Critchley
Author
Taken from Wikipedia and his website
Born 1975, in Australia to a German father and an Austrian mother, he describes himself as an Australian - German writer.
The youngest of four children, he studied English and history at university graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma in education.
From what I’ve read, Markus Zusak wanted to be a writer from a young age, calling fiction the ‘magic act’. Reading something he knew was not real and ‘believing it anyway’.
Markus said on his website that he wanted ‘to master that magic’.
Sixteen was when he said he became aware of words and how they could turn ‘black ink on white paper into colour’.
His first book was a whopper of eight pages and Markus said it could be ‘the worst book ever written’. But it was an indication of his ability to finish the routine of completing a book.
With no secrets to his writing, other than ‘turning up’ and being consistent when working. He said doing this gave him ‘more chance of waking up and landing in that other place.’
Mark has a process to get his words in paper, and it starts with his work space.
He says that preparation is everything to help him with the writing process.
On a good day, he gets his working area organised the night before, making sure he has everything he needs and his desk is a ‘clean sheet’.
Mark likes to see his writing on a page, preferring a pen, pencil and a trusty thesaurus, making notes in margins as he goes.
Mark has six novels out in the world, including the Foodie Book Club choice, The Book Thief.
Mark Zusak
Book
The Book Thief, published 2005, became an international bestseller translated into 63 languages selling at last count, 17 million copies, and in 2013, it was releases as a film.
Set during World War ll, it follows Liesel Meminger.
With Death narrating the book, it looks at the viewpoint of many of its victims of the war.
Beginning the story in 1938 with Liesel traveling with her mother, where, because of the rise in the Nazi regime, her and her brother are being taken to a foster home.
Her brother dies during the train journey, and at his snow-covered graveside, she finds the first book she steals.
Unable to read, it doesn’t stop this book becoming the beginning of her connection to words and the art of telling a story.
Her new foster mother is strict and a little harsh, but her step father is where she finds her comfort during the years she wakes with nightmares of her brother’s death.
Together they learn to read and they share moments which bonded their closeness.
The boy from next door, Rudy Steiner, brings adventure to her life, and as they grow up they join together for pranks and mischief.
As Liesels love of books grows, she becomes hungry for more and along with the books she steals along the way, she is given access to the incredible library of the mayor and his wife.
Things change for Liesel and her foster parents when they hide a Jewish man (Max Vanderburg) in their basement.
Max and Lieslels step father fought together during World War l and as Max becomes part of their family, they grow close with a shared love of storytelling.
As the war moves forward and the brutality increases it impacts on her community, with her step parents risking their lives to project Max but to no avail, and he is later captured by the Nazis and marched to a camp.
Through the book, Liesel see the death of her foster parents and her best friend Rudy. This leaves her devastated and lost in grief.
She finds comfort in books, reading and writing, and as the war and the book comes to an end, she reflects on her life and memories of her time during the war.
Ending up in Australia, she marries and raises a family of her own.
At the end of her life, Death, the books narrator, visits her and reflects on her life and the nature of human connections.
The book has themes of mortality, language, reading, writing and love.
The Book Thief
My Thoughts
This book was outstanding.
The way Markus Zusak describes people and events, was a joy. Making his words fit into places they wouldn’t normally have been placed, brought with it a view of the books world that was unique.
The characters were rich with nuances and the contextual story brought a depth about the personal sacrifices of the history of the German people during WWll.
Each character was written with understanding, with a back story that was believable and honestly written.
Watching Liezel grow up, making connections to the other characters, Rudy, Pappa and Mamma, made me feel as if the author had an understanding of a childs mind.
As the story progressed, I looked forward to finding out more about what was coming next, and didn’t want to finish it.
It was an almost perfect combination of words and story, and moved forward at just the right pace to keep me interested and wanting more.
I would have liked the ending to be as rich with nuances and the rest of the book, but it was a good ending for Lisel
I give it a Golden 5 egg rating.
5 Golden Egg Rating
Chef
I’m bringing Chef Dave Critchley out from the Lockdown Lunches achieve this month.
Ive taken the folowoing infor from the Lockdown Lunches page ion my website.
Chef Dave Critchley Executive Chef at Lu Ban , Liverpool , is cooking for this week’s Foodie Book Clubs Lockdown Lunches, so a great big thanks to him.
Before you go on to the recipe, have a read of just some of the things Dave’s culinary journey he taken him on to up to on the road
Born in Childwall, Dave originally studied art with an emphasis on illustration and graphics degree in North Wales, but his love of food was such that he used to travel home each weekend to work in the local pub.
He decided to change his career trajectory to work in a small hotel, staying for a year and absorbing everything he could before moving to a nearby Bistro called the Neighbourhood which is where he gathered all of the necessary qualifications.
It was only at age 23 that Dave became head chef at 52 Lark Lane, a Mediterranean inspired restaurant. Even though he learnt a lot, the pressure was so intense Dave tells the tale of only having 1 day off in four months, and that day was Christmas day.
Around this time, Dave was offered a role as junior sous chef at Alma De Cuba giving him the opportunity to step back and cook. It wasn’t long before a new restaurant opened, The Noble House, an American themed restaurant with dishes such as chowders, fresh fish and great steaks. Staying with the organisation for seven years, it gave him the opportunity to open new restaurants and run them, but ever looking for new challenges, he looked around for new opportunities.
Never one to not go after what he wants, Dave set his sights on The London Carriage Works under then with head chef Paul Askew. After rigorous interview process, Dave took over as head chef and worked hard with his team to maintain and many accolades including rosettes for culinary excellence.
In 2017, Dave moved to Manchester to become operations chef for Australasia, the Living Ventures Group and in 2019, after being approached by the team behind Lu Ban, Dave became Executive head chef at Lu Ban Bar and restaurant in Liverpool.
“I love it. It’s fantastic cooking for local, tourists and celebrities alike” Chef Dave Critchley
2020 was an incredible year with Chef Dave becoming the first ever international apprentice to China’s top Masterchef.
Undergoing a symbolic tea ritual with Mentor Mr Zhengxi Wu, a national level Master Chef of China, via a video-link as part of his induction, as well as receiving an official chef’s hat.
What does this mean for our chef? He will now follow a defined path, overseen by Mr Wu, in enhancing his skills in Chinese culinary arts to reach Master Chef status from the famed Tianjin School of Cuisine. Not a small thing by any means.
What for Chef Dave Critchley now and in the future?
Well, you can see him on the new season of Great British Menu, and of course he’s a supporter of Foodie Book Club with his cook live for us. If you miss it, don’t worry! Find it to watch again on Foodie Book Club YouTube channel.
Dave loves Liverpool and isn’t planning on leaving any time soon. In fact, he’s celebrating Liverpool cooking and all the fresh produce with Global Scouse day organised by him and others in the Liverpool food scene.
I do know that the more I find out about Chef Dave Critchley, the more I admire his work and his foodie ethos, and of course his talent.
The lovely Mr G and I are adding Lu Ban to our list of places to eat and definitely Lizzie from Peachy Digital (co-founder of Lockdown Lunches) and I want to stop there on or Foodie Book Club road trip – watch this space for that!
That’s a little about this week’s Lockdown Lunches chef, now, onto the food itself.
Dave Critchely
Recipe
Egg Fried Rice
Dave has cooked up for us a dish of Egg Fried Rice , something that most of us have tried at some point in our cookery lives and a great way of using up so many things that are left in our fridges and pantries.
Dave sent me the recipes in a pretty format and i thought I’d post them just as i received them.
Egg Fried rice
=he Rice
Making the dish
