17/11/2023
BOOK REVIEW FOR READER'S FAVORITE NON FICTION SILVER AWARD WINNING BOOK SASSY FOOD
Reviewed by Asher Syed
Sassy Food by Ja-ne de Abreu is a self-help guide for those who are ready to begin or want to learn more about “How to Grow Food with Your Own 'Farm" Any Size Anywhere/Any Time of Year with Any Budget and How to Cook It”. Ja-ne uses her vast experience as a photographer to create a pictorial book that would be at home on a coffee table with full color, glossy images of the Hawaiian landscape, plentiful harvests, and a variety of women of all ages clothed only in the earth's bounty. Alongside the photography is a comprehensive tutorial on all things gardening, complete with instructions on different sizes and types, environment, timeframes, hydroponics, cultivating, harvesting, and recipes, among many, many other things.
I went into Sassy Food thinking that, despite the 'any size anywhere,' a shoebox home in central London was probably not what Ja-ne de Abreu had in mind. I was proven wrong, and a micro-tent with potted herbs is currently housed on my 3ft terrace. Ja-ne gifts us with such an incredible wealth of information and does this with a palpable sensitivity to compassion, love, and oneness. In the chapter covering Peaceful Pest & Disease Control, she describes a heartbreaking loss after months of care, stating, “I lost a quick battle of disease with my Kajari melon. It felt like a real death.” The photography is raw and moving, without the use of manipulation to really show the landscape and the women who grace it in gorgeous, realistic imagery. This is a book that nurtures the heart and soul of a reader in the same way Ja-ne teaches us to care for the bounty. Very highly recommended.
