Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2013), Epub, 336 pages
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Thriller. Historical Fiction. HTML: Eli Brown's Cinnamon and Gunpowder is a gripping adventure, a seaborne romance, and a twist on the tale of Scheherazade�??with the best food ever served aboard a pirate's ship. The year is 1819, and the renowned chef Owen Wedgwood has been kidnapped by the ruthless pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot. He will be spared, she tells him, as long as he puts exquisite food in front of her every Sunday without fail. To appease the red-haired captain, Wedgwood gets cracking with the meager supplies on board. His first triumph at sea is actual bread, made from a sourdough starter that he leavens in a tin under his shirt throughout a roaring battle, as men are cutlassed all around him. Soon he's making tea-smoked eel and brewing pineapple-banana cider. But Mabbot�??who exerts a curious draw on the chef�??is under siege. Hunted by a deadly privateer and plagued by a saboteur hidden on her ship, she pushes her crew past exhaustion in her search for the notorious Brass Fox. As Wedgwood begins to sense a method to Mabbot's madness, he must rely on the bizarre crewmembers he once feared: Mr. Apples, the fearsome giant who loves to knit; Feng and Bai, martial arts masters sworn to defend their captain; and Joshua, the deaf cabin boy who becomes the son Wedgwood never had. Cinnamon and Gunpowder is a swashbuckling epicure's adventure simmered over a surprisingly touching love story�??with a dash of the strangest, most delightful cookbook never written. Eli Brown has crafted a uniquely entertaining novel full of adventure: the Scheherazade story turned on its head, at sea, with food. An NPR Best Book of the Year (20… (more)
Media reviews
"..perfect mixture of classic piracy and food snobbery.."
User reviews
LibraryThing member trinker
What a lucky find this was! A male chef is kidnapped by a female pirate captain and forced to cook a meal for the captain every Sunday using only what he can find in the provisions on the ship to save his life. I was moved to tears by the writing more than once and laughed out loud.
LibraryThing member Hbeck
I normally don't read or review books of this genre but Eli Brown has written an adventure anyone who loves food, adventure, love and a little bit of murder will enjoy and I couldn't put it down.
The story begins in 1819 and Owen Wedgwood, a renown chef is kidnapped by Hannah Mabbot after she kills
The way Owen views food and his descriptions will leave anyones mouth watering. I enjoyed getting to know these characters even though you could meet a guy in one chapter and never hear about him again just as easily. This could be that many man are lost turing battles and no one is sure what happens to them, but the ones that stay with you pull the story together. Brown describes the tea and silver trading that also leads to England becoming rich because of opium. Now, everyone is going to have different views on any political topic whether it's a present topic or historical, But if you look at the over all story I think that anyone could enjoy this book.
From the beginning of the book I liked Hannahs character and as the story develops I grew to like her even more she has a wit about her and she can control a ship of mostly man pirates. She may act like one of the guys but she is also a women with a heart.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves food and pirate adventures.
I received this book form the publisher for my honest review.
The story begins in 1819 and Owen Wedgwood, a renown chef is kidnapped by Hannah Mabbot after she kills
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employer. Wedgwood is forced to cook a gourmet meal for Mabbot every Sunday with whatever is available on a pirate ship. In return Owen is allowed to live and stay on the ship. Throughout the journey Wedgwood develops relationships with other members on the ship and learns why Mabbot is so set on taking down the Pentelton Trading Company. Through intimate conversations and multiple failed attempts to escapes Owen learns there is more to Mad Hannah Mabbot then the stories he has heard.The way Owen views food and his descriptions will leave anyones mouth watering. I enjoyed getting to know these characters even though you could meet a guy in one chapter and never hear about him again just as easily. This could be that many man are lost turing battles and no one is sure what happens to them, but the ones that stay with you pull the story together. Brown describes the tea and silver trading that also leads to England becoming rich because of opium. Now, everyone is going to have different views on any political topic whether it's a present topic or historical, But if you look at the over all story I think that anyone could enjoy this book.
From the beginning of the book I liked Hannahs character and as the story develops I grew to like her even more she has a wit about her and she can control a ship of mostly man pirates. She may act like one of the guys but she is also a women with a heart.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves food and pirate adventures.
I received this book form the publisher for my honest review.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Beamis12
This extremely inventive novel takes place in 1819 on the high seas, when Owen Wedgewood, chef to Lord Ramsey, is kidnapped by the notorious pirate Hannah Mabbot. After killing Lord Ramsey, who was at dinner, Mabbot eats some of the food on the table and falls in love with the cooking skills of
So what follows is a grand adventure, yes there is killing, this is a pirate ship after all but there is a purpose and reason behind Mabbot's sailing of the seas. As Wedgewood cooks for her, and the details of these dinners are amazing, they talk and learn things that leads them to a tentative trust. This is such a book of contrasts, we have a pirate ship with the regular salty characters of lore contrasted with Wedgewood and his impeccable speech and dry wit. We have rats and bugs in the flour and other disgusting tales of food goods and then once again there is Wedgewood cooking sumptuous food that he manages to get food for. I also love that the pirate is a woman and one I was willing to follow from the English Coast through the Sunda strait to China.
ARC from NetGalley.
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Wedgewood. It is his narration we follow and a well written one it is, in short Wedgewood is a wordsmith, his prose is a wonder. Mabbot promises not to kill him if he makes her a sumptuous dinner every Sunday. This is a little hard to do as the provisions on a pirates ship are not exactly meant for the gourmand. So what follows is a grand adventure, yes there is killing, this is a pirate ship after all but there is a purpose and reason behind Mabbot's sailing of the seas. As Wedgewood cooks for her, and the details of these dinners are amazing, they talk and learn things that leads them to a tentative trust. This is such a book of contrasts, we have a pirate ship with the regular salty characters of lore contrasted with Wedgewood and his impeccable speech and dry wit. We have rats and bugs in the flour and other disgusting tales of food goods and then once again there is Wedgewood cooking sumptuous food that he manages to get food for. I also love that the pirate is a woman and one I was willing to follow from the English Coast through the Sunda strait to China.
ARC from NetGalley.
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LibraryThing member kellifrobinson
If you enjoy pirate stories for foodies, with a subtle romance thrown in for good measure, this is the book for you. Not sure that I can name another book like it. My reading challenge was the incredibly unusual vocabulary of author Eli Brown coupled with my dire lack of seafaring knowledge (i.e.,
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mizzen, bulwark, forecastle, windlass). With that said, Julie Powell's endorsement describes this book as a "great beach read," and I agree that the tone is light and airy despite the swashbuckling violence peppered throughout. Not only was the action packed, but the author fully developed his main characters: Owen Wedgwood and Mad Hannah Mabbot. Great names, huh? At times, this book felt akin to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies - a bit of a parody of the pirate life - but, then again, who takes pirate stories too seriously anyway. Fun read for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member eenerd
Exciting, rollicking sea story of a pirate queen who is determined to rid the world of the scourge of opium and, worse yet, her pirate son. Told from the viewpoint of her prisoner/chef, a bloke kidnapped from a manor house in England, this is a wicked fun story of adventure on the high seas, good
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food, and surprisingly enough social justice. Mad Hannah Mabbot is a badass punk of a pirate queen and I *loved* her. Eli Brown writes a heck of a good yarn, with just just enough romance and humor to balance it out nicely. Show Less
LibraryThing member scote23
Pirates and delicious food descriptions. What more do you need?
LibraryThing member gbelik
This is quite a fun romp with a group of pirates led by a female captain, Mad Hannah Maggot, who is out to destroy the opium trade perpetrated by a British combine. In the course of this, she captures Owen Wedgewood, who had worked for the British company owner as a chef. As her prisioner, he must
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cook her weekly gourmet meals with the meager fare found in the hold of the ship or other items he can obtain. He does manage to create culinary delights. Many other complications ensue. The cast of characters are well developed and the prose was mostly a joy to read. It failed to rise about the adventure story genre, but why should it, I suppose. Show Less
LibraryThing member cransell
The pirate tale you never knew you wanted - kickass female pirate captain with a social justice mission and a penchant for fine food kidnaps a chef. Great fun.
LibraryThing member kjgormley
A rollicking piratical tale that also makes your mouth water, your heart ache, and your sense of injustice twang. Owen Wedgewood, a chef of no-little-skill, is taken captive by the best damn pirate you've seen in awhile: Mad Hannah Maggot. With her crew that's straight out of a circus-novel and
These are the pirates you're looking for.
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twice as armed with cutlasses and aggrieved anger at the British Tea Empire, the rest of the book is one adventure after another, punctuated by Owen's weekly Scherezade-like dinners in the captain's cabin. Want a nuanced and strong female character? Want food descriptions that are dripping from the bone? Want a twisting plot and circles back on itself? Want ingenious devices, keel-hauling, and how to make cake without eggs or butter on the high seas?These are the pirates you're looking for.
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LibraryThing member fbswss
Fabulous! Didn't want to skip ahead ever, wanted to savor every word, as Capt Mabbot savored every bite of Wedge's cooking! Some passages I read again because they were so well written.
LibraryThing member wannabelibrarian1
I enjoyed this book thoroughly. It was a bit slow in spots, but it was a fun, easy summer read with a lot to like.
LibraryThing member wannabelibrarian1
I enjoyed this book thoroughly. It was a bit slow in spots, but it was a fun, easy summer read with a lot to like.
LibraryThing member wannabelibrarian1
I enjoyed this book thoroughly. It was a bit slow in spots, but it was a fun, easy summer read with a lot to like.
LibraryThing member les121
Cinnamon and Gunpowder was so much fun! The descriptions of Wedgwood’s meals are heavenly, almost magical, and the human drama that plays out against the unusual backdrop of piracy + fine food is compelling. I enjoyed the relationships between the characters as well as Wedgwood’s gradual
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evolution. Some parts are tremendously sad (I cried) and others extremely humorous. But overall, this was totally a feel-good story, at least until the last few pages. I would have easily given this book five stars if it weren’t for that ending. Even so, I would highly recommend Cinnamon and Gunpowder for foodies and basically everyone who loves great storytelling. Show Less
LibraryThing member Hbeck
I normally don't read or review books of this genre but Eli Brown has written an adventure anyone who loves food, adventure, love and a little bit of murder will enjoy and I couldn't put it down.
The story begins in 1819 and Owen Wedgwood, a renown chef is kidnapped by Hannah Mabbot after she kills
The way Owen views food and his descriptions will leave anyones mouth watering. I enjoyed getting to know these characters even though you could meet a guy in one chapter and never hear about him again just as easily. This could be that many man are lost turing battles and no one is sure what happens to them, but the ones that stay with you pull the story together. Brown describes the tea and silver trading that also leads to England becoming rich because of opium. Now, everyone is going to have different views on any political topic whether it's a present topic or historical, But if you look at the over all story I think that anyone could enjoy this book.
From the beginning of the book I liked Hannahs character and as the story develops I grew to like her even more she has a wit about her and she can control a ship of mostly man pirates. She may act like one of the guys but she is also a women with a heart.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves food and pirate adventures.
I received this book form the publisher for my honest review.
The story begins in 1819 and Owen Wedgwood, a renown chef is kidnapped by Hannah Mabbot after she kills
Show More
employer. Wedgwood is forced to cook a gourmet meal for Mabbot every Sunday with whatever is available on a pirate ship. In return Owen is allowed to live and stay on the ship. Throughout the journey Wedgwood develops relationships with other members on the ship and learns why Mabbot is so set on taking down the Pentelton Trading Company. Through intimate conversations and multiple failed attempts to escapes Owen learns there is more to Mad Hannah Mabbot then the stories he has heard.The way Owen views food and his descriptions will leave anyones mouth watering. I enjoyed getting to know these characters even though you could meet a guy in one chapter and never hear about him again just as easily. This could be that many man are lost turing battles and no one is sure what happens to them, but the ones that stay with you pull the story together. Brown describes the tea and silver trading that also leads to England becoming rich because of opium. Now, everyone is going to have different views on any political topic whether it's a present topic or historical, But if you look at the over all story I think that anyone could enjoy this book.
From the beginning of the book I liked Hannahs character and as the story develops I grew to like her even more she has a wit about her and she can control a ship of mostly man pirates. She may act like one of the guys but she is also a women with a heart.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves food and pirate adventures.
I received this book form the publisher for my honest review.
Show Less
LibraryThing member melissarochelle
Read from August 01 to 18, 2013
It was a slow start, but I liked the combination of adventure, food, and the merging of history and fantasy. About halfway through, I started to connect a little with the characters. By the end, I was teary-eyed. Not at all what I expected, but a fun read. Perfect for
It was a slow start, but I liked the combination of adventure, food, and the merging of history and fantasy. About halfway through, I started to connect a little with the characters. By the end, I was teary-eyed. Not at all what I expected, but a fun read. Perfect for
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summer (and especially appropriate if you have the opportunity to read it on a boat). Show Less
LibraryThing member beckyhaase
CINNAMON AND GUNPOWDER by Eli Brown
Food and pirates works surprisingly well in this sometimes funny, sometimes scary, sometimes poignant tale of a kidnapped chef and the female pirate who keeps him ala Scherazade until he can no longer make a meal that tantalizes her taste buds. Of course the
The plot also concerns the opium trade with China and the scoundrel British captains who control it. The enemy pirate – The Fox – turns out to be related to Hannah in more ways than one. The final battles are tense with the final ‘winner” difficult to guess.
A good outing for a debut author. I look forward to his next book.
4 of 5 stars
Food and pirates works surprisingly well in this sometimes funny, sometimes scary, sometimes poignant tale of a kidnapped chef and the female pirate who keeps him ala Scherazade until he can no longer make a meal that tantalizes her taste buds. Of course the
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problem of missing ingredients (what pirate ship carries fresh herbs and truffles?) and a cramped and skimpy kitchen make his dilemma interesting. Chef Owen and Pirate Hannah are clearly drawn characters you will like. The supporting pirate crew is equally well drawn. Life aboard ship is made plain.The plot also concerns the opium trade with China and the scoundrel British captains who control it. The enemy pirate – The Fox – turns out to be related to Hannah in more ways than one. The final battles are tense with the final ‘winner” difficult to guess.
A good outing for a debut author. I look forward to his next book.
4 of 5 stars
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LibraryThing member whitreidtan
There's just something about pirates, you know? Not the pirates from today, but the ones from the 18th and 19th centuries. In reality they were probably just as bloodthirsty, ruthless, and terrible in their time as today's pirates are in ours but looking back at them there's something inescapably
Owen Wedgwood is a talented chef for Lord Ramsey, one of the major shareholders in the successful Pendleton Trading Company. Wedgwood is kidnapped when a dinner party to which Ramsey had been invited and to which he took Wedgwood in the capacity of chef de cuisine, is interrupted by the appearance of Mad Hannah Mabbot, a feared and fearsome pirate captain. Mabbot dispatches Ramsey to the devil and after tasting the meal, decides to make off with the cook for her own benefit. Wedgwood is horrified by his fate as a prisoner on the pirate ship as it heads off into the deep blue sea; he thinks of his late wife and his late employer, and tries to come up with a plan to escape these murderous rogues. When he is summoned to Mad Hannah's presence, he finds out the terms of his survival. Just as Westley in The Princess Bride is told that the Dread Pirate Roberts will "most likely kill you in the morning," our pudgy, prudish, and rather bumbling chef is told that he must create a unique and exquisite meal, concocted almost entirely from the meager stores aboard ship, for the captain once a week or he will suffer her wrath and face a long swim home, either whole or in pieces depending on the depth of her disappointment. Aside from having no choice whatsoever, Owen has his professional pride at stake and he agrees to the devil's bargain.
Wedge, as he comes to be called, tells of his incarceration on the ship, his attempts to coax something edible from the hard tack and weevil-ridden flour stores, his culinary creativity, and his dawning realization that there is more to the flame haired captain and her zeal in hunting down and destroying the Pendleton ships than he ever imagined in the splotched and hidden journal in which he confides most nights. As time passes, his first impressions of the crew and her captain are softened and humanized and he finds his own feelings about the raids on the Pendleton ships doing a volte face once he understands the reasons better. There is a fair bit of rollicking fun to be had in the adventures of the Flying Rose and her crew. There's also murder and plotting, high seas treachery, a saboteur, eccentric crew members, chasing after an elusive pirate called the Brass Fox, a jail break, trying to elude the notice of Laroche and his diabolically clever inventions, and over the top entertaining romps through the oceans of the world. In short, this is a perfect pirate tale.
But it is the something more than a pirate tale here that really elevates the novel. Brown touches on the history of the British tea trade and the effects that the forced introduction of opium has on the Chinese. There are the politics of social justice and the importance of family loyalty included as well. The characters are wonderfully fleshed out and quirky. With a passionate, determined, and charismatic female captain and a perpetually disapproving, tight-laced, often incompetent male chef, Brown has inverted the expected roles for men and women with the former in the role of nurturer and the latter in the role of adventurer. The slow revelation of Mabbot's motivations, her true character, and her deep-seated integrity don't mitigate her unforgiving vigilante justice or compensate for the gritty and terrible bloodbaths but they do add a dimension not often seen with respect to pirates or ascribed to women, especially those in 1819. Brown describes the meals that Wedge creates for the lady pirate as both exotic and in lushly sexual terms. And even though there is a slow developing romance involved, the larger part of the novel is over the top and humorous even as it touches on politics and morality. These are pirates (and a chef) like you've never seen before and the novel is a fun and fabulous read.
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appealing and even romantic about them. Take the outlaw life, put it on a ship, and float it in an ocean (or the Great Lakes, I'm not picky) and I will have a hard time keeping my hands off the book. Add in a talented chef and a commanding, intimidating female pirate captain and you have a kooky premise that just begs to be read. This was indeed the case with Eli Brown's swashbuckling, highly entertaining, and surprisingly concerned with social justice adventure novel, Cinnamon and Gunpowder. Owen Wedgwood is a talented chef for Lord Ramsey, one of the major shareholders in the successful Pendleton Trading Company. Wedgwood is kidnapped when a dinner party to which Ramsey had been invited and to which he took Wedgwood in the capacity of chef de cuisine, is interrupted by the appearance of Mad Hannah Mabbot, a feared and fearsome pirate captain. Mabbot dispatches Ramsey to the devil and after tasting the meal, decides to make off with the cook for her own benefit. Wedgwood is horrified by his fate as a prisoner on the pirate ship as it heads off into the deep blue sea; he thinks of his late wife and his late employer, and tries to come up with a plan to escape these murderous rogues. When he is summoned to Mad Hannah's presence, he finds out the terms of his survival. Just as Westley in The Princess Bride is told that the Dread Pirate Roberts will "most likely kill you in the morning," our pudgy, prudish, and rather bumbling chef is told that he must create a unique and exquisite meal, concocted almost entirely from the meager stores aboard ship, for the captain once a week or he will suffer her wrath and face a long swim home, either whole or in pieces depending on the depth of her disappointment. Aside from having no choice whatsoever, Owen has his professional pride at stake and he agrees to the devil's bargain.
Wedge, as he comes to be called, tells of his incarceration on the ship, his attempts to coax something edible from the hard tack and weevil-ridden flour stores, his culinary creativity, and his dawning realization that there is more to the flame haired captain and her zeal in hunting down and destroying the Pendleton ships than he ever imagined in the splotched and hidden journal in which he confides most nights. As time passes, his first impressions of the crew and her captain are softened and humanized and he finds his own feelings about the raids on the Pendleton ships doing a volte face once he understands the reasons better. There is a fair bit of rollicking fun to be had in the adventures of the Flying Rose and her crew. There's also murder and plotting, high seas treachery, a saboteur, eccentric crew members, chasing after an elusive pirate called the Brass Fox, a jail break, trying to elude the notice of Laroche and his diabolically clever inventions, and over the top entertaining romps through the oceans of the world. In short, this is a perfect pirate tale.
But it is the something more than a pirate tale here that really elevates the novel. Brown touches on the history of the British tea trade and the effects that the forced introduction of opium has on the Chinese. There are the politics of social justice and the importance of family loyalty included as well. The characters are wonderfully fleshed out and quirky. With a passionate, determined, and charismatic female captain and a perpetually disapproving, tight-laced, often incompetent male chef, Brown has inverted the expected roles for men and women with the former in the role of nurturer and the latter in the role of adventurer. The slow revelation of Mabbot's motivations, her true character, and her deep-seated integrity don't mitigate her unforgiving vigilante justice or compensate for the gritty and terrible bloodbaths but they do add a dimension not often seen with respect to pirates or ascribed to women, especially those in 1819. Brown describes the meals that Wedge creates for the lady pirate as both exotic and in lushly sexual terms. And even though there is a slow developing romance involved, the larger part of the novel is over the top and humorous even as it touches on politics and morality. These are pirates (and a chef) like you've never seen before and the novel is a fun and fabulous read.
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LibraryThing member Maydacat
Chef Owen Wegwood has a pretty easy life cooking gourmet meals, until his benefactor gets killed and Owen gets kidnapped by pirates. Now, compelled by Mad Hannah Mabbot to make gourmet meals for her, Owens cooking talents and his survival instincts are pushed to their limits. Two very different
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story lines are cleverly woven together in this adventure tale on the high seas. An intricate plot peopled with likable characters – yes, pirates can be likable – make this an entertaining novel you don’t want to miss. Show Less
LibraryThing member gilroy
This book definitely isn't my usual fare. Sometimes, however, long car rides call for literary exploration. I'm glad I did.
This is a unique tale, told as journal entries from our intrepid chef during his capture at the hands of the Mad Captain Mabbot. One of my bigger chuckles came at the expense
It deals with historical times during the opium trade, running things from China and the East to England and the west. It also shows the ruthlessness some businessmen's dealings showed during that time.
It's a fun little romp, but definitely not a brain chewer. The food descriptions go a little overboard, so to speak, but since we have a chef main character, I suppose that stays in the right POV.
For a fun read, I'd pick this one up.
This is a unique tale, told as journal entries from our intrepid chef during his capture at the hands of the Mad Captain Mabbot. One of my bigger chuckles came at the expense
Show More
of the favored pet: Mabbot's Rabbit.It deals with historical times during the opium trade, running things from China and the East to England and the west. It also shows the ruthlessness some businessmen's dealings showed during that time.
It's a fun little romp, but definitely not a brain chewer. The food descriptions go a little overboard, so to speak, but since we have a chef main character, I suppose that stays in the right POV.
For a fun read, I'd pick this one up.
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LibraryThing member ErickaS
I loved this book because it was SO MUCH FUN.
Crazy pirate Mad Hannah Mabbott captures and kidnaps chef Owen Wedgwood. “Wedge” is now a prisoner aboard The Flying Rose, and if he wants to remain aboard and not become fish food, he must prepare an exquisite meal for the red-haired pirate captain
The conflicts abound: Captain Mabbott’s quixotic hunt for her nemesis, The Brass Fox; Wedge’s panicked scrounging for decent provisions, which imagination leads him to use scraped barnacles, stolen pineapples, and a sourdough starter made from feeble yeast and coconut water; and countless encounters with other pirates where Wedge must dodge cutlasses while trying to keep his pans on the stove. There are escape attempts, underwater excursions, pirate raids, and haute cuisine.
Other swashbucklers aboard include: Mr. Apples, Mabbott’s first mate, a swarthy pirate with a predilection for knitting; twin Chinese bodyguards; and Joshua, a deaf cabin boy who proves to be a competent sous-chef.
What I loved about this book is not only is it adventurous fun, but it has an underlying current of heartbreak: the mother’s loss of her child, a man overcoming the death of his wife, a boy intent to return home, and the fight for triumph of good over evil. Above all, love trumps greed, and loyalty is more precious than gold.
Cinnamon and Gunpowder appeals to all five senses. Wedge’s cuisine patched together from rancid ingredients and seasoned with spices purloined from bowls of potpourri crushed with a cannon ball are nothing short of genius. The characters are multi-faceted, and no one can be taken at face value. Adventure on the high seas, indeed, replete with danger and a tender love story. What more could a reader ask for?
Crazy pirate Mad Hannah Mabbott captures and kidnaps chef Owen Wedgwood. “Wedge” is now a prisoner aboard The Flying Rose, and if he wants to remain aboard and not become fish food, he must prepare an exquisite meal for the red-haired pirate captain
Show More
every Sunday.The conflicts abound: Captain Mabbott’s quixotic hunt for her nemesis, The Brass Fox; Wedge’s panicked scrounging for decent provisions, which imagination leads him to use scraped barnacles, stolen pineapples, and a sourdough starter made from feeble yeast and coconut water; and countless encounters with other pirates where Wedge must dodge cutlasses while trying to keep his pans on the stove. There are escape attempts, underwater excursions, pirate raids, and haute cuisine.
Other swashbucklers aboard include: Mr. Apples, Mabbott’s first mate, a swarthy pirate with a predilection for knitting; twin Chinese bodyguards; and Joshua, a deaf cabin boy who proves to be a competent sous-chef.
What I loved about this book is not only is it adventurous fun, but it has an underlying current of heartbreak: the mother’s loss of her child, a man overcoming the death of his wife, a boy intent to return home, and the fight for triumph of good over evil. Above all, love trumps greed, and loyalty is more precious than gold.
Cinnamon and Gunpowder appeals to all five senses. Wedge’s cuisine patched together from rancid ingredients and seasoned with spices purloined from bowls of potpourri crushed with a cannon ball are nothing short of genius. The characters are multi-faceted, and no one can be taken at face value. Adventure on the high seas, indeed, replete with danger and a tender love story. What more could a reader ask for?
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LibraryThing member virginiahomeschooler
Do you ever hear about a book, and everyone is just raving about it, and you read it and just feel meh? That's this book for me. It wasn't awful, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what everyone else sees in it. Which makes me feel like I missed some sort of greatness. Maybe if I'd read
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it instead of listened, but the narration was fine. But by the last two hours of the book, I found myself setting it to 1.5 speed just to get it over sooner. Show Less
LibraryThing member MaggieFlo
Gunpowder and cinnamon
This is a very readable swashbuckling tale of kidnapping, smuggling, combat, cuisine and romance on the high seas during the Opium wars between England and China. The main character is Owen Wedgwood, a widower and chef to Lord Ramsay. During a battle at Ramsay’s manor,
This is a very readable swashbuckling tale of kidnapping, smuggling, combat, cuisine and romance on the high seas during the Opium wars between England and China. The main character is Owen Wedgwood, a widower and chef to Lord Ramsay. During a battle at Ramsay’s manor,
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Wedgwood is kidnapped while Ramsay is murdered by Hannah Mabbop, a notorious pirate and Captain of the Rose. In order to survive, Wedgwood has to prepare a meal every Sunday for the Captain. The background story of the trade wars over tea and opium and the fascinating characters occupying the ships at sea and at battle make for a very good book. Wedgwood’s ability to scrape together delicious meals with scarce ingredients is a culinary bonus. Show Less
LibraryThing member bragan
Owen Wedgewood is a fancy chef whose life is disrupted severely when his employer is killed by Mad Hannah Mabbot, a ruthless but principled pirate captain who then kidnaps Wedgewood onto her ship and demands that, once a week, he serve her a gourmet meal made with whatever poor ingredients he can
The story of Wedgewood's captivity and Mabbot's causes and vendettas is interesting enough, even if some of the details stretch the suspension of disbelief pretty far. And there were bits of the novel I found myself nicely caught up in. But I have to say, for the most part it just didn't grip me nearly as much as I was hoping it would. I'm not at all sure if that's the book's fault, or if I somehow just wasn't in quite the right mood for it. I do suspect, though, that if I were more of a foodie, I'd be a lot more charmed by all the passages about cooking and eating.
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find on board.The story of Wedgewood's captivity and Mabbot's causes and vendettas is interesting enough, even if some of the details stretch the suspension of disbelief pretty far. And there were bits of the novel I found myself nicely caught up in. But I have to say, for the most part it just didn't grip me nearly as much as I was hoping it would. I'm not at all sure if that's the book's fault, or if I somehow just wasn't in quite the right mood for it. I do suspect, though, that if I were more of a foodie, I'd be a lot more charmed by all the passages about cooking and eating.
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LibraryThing member mahsdad
"The year is 1819, and the renowned chef Owen Wedgwood has been kidnapped by the ruthless pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot. He will be spared, she tells him, as long as he puts exquisite food in front of her every Sunday without fail." But how do you make a gormet meal on a pirate ship with no kitchen, and
Shaking, I said, "I will not take insults." "Take? Not take, that would make a pirate of you. No, they are given freely. In your company, I find I am positively wealthy with insults, and I don't mind lavishing them upon you."
What skills I learned I used to the benefit of England. And besides, though despots may whip the world to war, a brioche did not sail against Trafalgar. Cathedrals were never shelled with chevre. The one exception to this rule is the boiled cabbage I encountered in the monasteries, which is a weapon in a bowl. The proper way to treat a cabbage leaf, of course, is to blanch it ever so briefly, wrap it around a piece of thinly sliced ham, and dip it in hollandaise.
Mr. Apples ... hurled a basket onto the deck of Laroche's ship, where it broke open, dark clumps scattered like quicksilver. I saw that the contents were alive, and I recognized then the scuttle of his pet scorpions. At the time I thought it was a ridiculous attack, but as I write this, I understand that this was not a weapon of battle as much as of vengeance and the sowing of fright. The creatures sped for the cover of shadow and small places, the ship would be haunted for weeks by venomous beasts hiding in the murky nooks and crevices that ships are comprised of.
9/10
S: 2/27/19 - 3/9/19 (11 Days)
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practically no food. That, in itself, is an intriguing thread in this fun narritive, but then tack on that Hannah is chasing, and being chased by another notorious pirate; The Brass Fox, as well as menacing the Pendleton Trading Company (think Dutch East India Company) and its flotilla of cargo and war ships. A really fun read that kept the excitement up for both the planning of incredible meals and staying alive thru incredible sea battles.Shaking, I said, "I will not take insults." "Take? Not take, that would make a pirate of you. No, they are given freely. In your company, I find I am positively wealthy with insults, and I don't mind lavishing them upon you."
What skills I learned I used to the benefit of England. And besides, though despots may whip the world to war, a brioche did not sail against Trafalgar. Cathedrals were never shelled with chevre. The one exception to this rule is the boiled cabbage I encountered in the monasteries, which is a weapon in a bowl. The proper way to treat a cabbage leaf, of course, is to blanch it ever so briefly, wrap it around a piece of thinly sliced ham, and dip it in hollandaise.
Mr. Apples ... hurled a basket onto the deck of Laroche's ship, where it broke open, dark clumps scattered like quicksilver. I saw that the contents were alive, and I recognized then the scuttle of his pet scorpions. At the time I thought it was a ridiculous attack, but as I write this, I understand that this was not a weapon of battle as much as of vengeance and the sowing of fright. The creatures sped for the cover of shadow and small places, the ship would be haunted for weeks by venomous beasts hiding in the murky nooks and crevices that ships are comprised of.
9/10
S: 2/27/19 - 3/9/19 (11 Days)
Show Less
Awards
Commonwealth Club of California Book Awards (Finalist — Fiction — 2013)
Maine Readers' Choice Award (Longlist — 2014)
NPR: Books We Love (2013)
Language
Original publication date
2013-06-04
Physical description
336 p.; 9.24 inches
Local notes
The year is 1819, and the renowned chef Owen Wedgwood has been kidnapped by the ruthless pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot. He will be spared, she tells him, as long as he puts exquisite food in front of her every Sunday without fail.