More of a memoir than the cover suggests.

Unfortunately the cover art does not match the contemporary feel or the personal nature of the work - not the fault of the author.

Hearty is a well curated essay collection about food, food culture, and growing and eating food by andrea bennett. Due out 3rd Sept 2024 from ECW Press, it's 256 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

The author has a vital, restful, interesting voice and the ruminations from the book are well written and pleasant, occasionally profound, and engaging. From making lilac syrup to real conversations about what and how we prepare food, how we take care of our community, what interpersonal relations mean in a context of food and nourishment, and even the politics/philosophy of dietary restrictions and vegetarianism.

This is not in any meaningful way a recipe/cooking book. It's worth reading, but not for the recipes. It's not an academic treatise either, but it is well annotated, and the chapter notes are likely worth the price of the book just for the links for further reading. A few of the essays included in this collection were previously published in other forms in other publications.

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 9 hours 21 minutes and is beautifully read by Panta Mosleh. She has a rich alto voice, very well modulated, and there's a contemplative, gentle cadence to the read which her voice suits very well. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.

andrea bennett was not previously on the radar, but is certainly now one to for whom to keep an eye out. They write well and perceptively.

Four and a half stars. The book would be an excellent choice for public library acquisition, home use, smallholders, gardening groups, and gifting.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Foodies tend to be obnoxious about sharing their opinions (and judgement) about others' food choices. This author is very accepting and recognizes people have all sorts of barriers to and opinions about organic, whole-food diets. It is quite refreshing, to be honest. I listened to the audiobook, and it feels like a conversation with the author/narrator about cooking and growing food, our complicated relationship with food, and how the food system does and doesn't work.

This is a good book for foodies, home gardeners, people who enjoy cooking for others, and people who enjoy looking at the big picture.

I received an advance copy in exchange for an honest review, and my honest opinion is that I really enjoyed this book.

Very good insight into the world of ingredients and where they come from. This book gives information about what considerations people make when they produce and buy ingredients.

Had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook version of Hearty narrated by Panta Mosleh. Hearty is an interesting mix of memoirs, food and non-fiction.

I enjoyed the majority of Hearty. Author andrea bennett discusses researching to know and understand when it is ok to make substitutions in a recipe. Andrea also discusses using parts of a plant that might not be perfect (due to home growing) and also using parts of a plant that might not ordinarily be used (such as broccoli leaves). Mmmm ... the chutney recipe sounds marvelous.

The author delved into the world of restaurant help as there was substantial work experience in this industry. Interesting games created when customers were scarce. I felt like I learned some things (especially my own naivety) about this industry.

The author is Canadian and I enjoyed listening about the "Toronto/Guelph, Ontario" area (as I worked in the area a little) as well as time in Montreal and the Pacific Northwest (and microclimates for growing).
 
Very unusual for an audiobook, ALL referenced links were read.
https://www.seriouseats.com/the-best-black-bean-burger-recipe
(This was about two hours of the 9hr 21min audiobook.)

Many thanks to NetGalley for introducing me to this new to me and debut author andrea bennett. Thank you to NetGalley and publisher ECW Press Audio for approving my request to listen to the advance listen version of Hearty in exchange for an honest review. Publication date is Sept 3, 2024.

The narrator did a very good job. I can see where this book might not be for everyone, but I enjoyed it very much.

Hearty is a big conversation around the topic of food, approached from many different angles. It is a mix-and-match of genres, which includes essays, recipes and journalistic pieces, with a strong auto-biographical element.
In many ways, it reads like a really big opinion piece. And what a great journey this was - the author raised many issues and introduced the reader to many topics, so that everyone would find something of interest, and, at the same time, be exposed to topics that are new to them.
It certainly provided plenty of food for thought, and opportunities to research things further.
The writing was captivating and easy to follow; I listened to the audiobook though I would have preferred to read it instead so I could spend a bit longer on the data-heavy chapters and perhaps skim through the recipes I wasn't interested in, but the narration is very good, natural-sounding and easy to follow.
The cherry on top was the bits of information dispersed throughout the book, and that one wouldn't be able to learn from a cookbook - I certainly didn't know what type of potato to use for what kind of food preparation, or that lilac could be used to make pink lemonade!
I would strongly recommend this to anyone with an interest in how food intersects with other topics, such as history, sociology, climate change, sustainability, social justice, wellbeing, mental health, cooking - truly, there is something for everyone.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Because this is an essay collection, there's something in here for everybody. I can't say I enjoyed every essay, but you never like every chocolate in the chocolate box. My interest in regenerative farming or the minutia of houseplants might be minimal, but for others, it's exactly what they want to read! Other people might not want to know about andrea's attempts to perfect an English trifle or make dozens of different varieties of ice cream - but I loved it! I'd have loved to have seen more of those essays, but hey ho. This is exactly the kind of food essay collection that I love to read - it's a collection of essays about the joy of food that aren't particularly interconnected, but excellently written.

I tried so hard to get into this book but I constantly found my mind drifting. Ended up having to stop partway though.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, for clarification, this book is by a Canadian author, not a British author of the same name. I was looking for a hard copy to order and the title has been incorrectly attributed on some commercial sites.

I have the audio version which is well narrated and I’ve enjoyed listening to it. Bennett has a unique perspective on food and the book is a series of unrelated but interconnected essays on food, our relationship with it, veganism vegetarians, commercial production, processing and growing. It’s diverse in subject matter, but each chapter takes the reader or listener on a thought provoking journey. Bennett’s relationship with food has been shaped by difficulties in her early years and right from the outset where there’s a wonderful recipe for lilac syrup, I was hooked.

This isn’t a recipe book in any way, but there are numerous ideas that will touch anyone with creative cooking spirit. Nor is it a diatribe for or against veganism (although I found the analogy with a pet cat persuasive). It’s an original and thought provoking exploration about food; preparation, eating, growing, producing and much more. There are extensive notes and, for me, this is a book I’ll be looking for in hard copy to Ollie up on some of the footnotes and bibliography. Define one of my favourite and very different non fiction titles this year.