Garlic, Mint, & Sweet Basil by Jean-Claude Izzo: book review

Garlic, Mint, & Basil: Essays on Marseilles, Mediterranean Cuisine, and Noir Fiction (2013) a very short book on food writer Jean-Claude Izzo’s three loves: his home, the sea, and noir literature. Here he refers to Mediterranean noir fiction and not the traditional French noir fiction. Med noir is ‘to tell stories with a wide swath; to recount great transformations; to denounce but at the same time to propose the culture of solidarity as an alternative.’

Jean-Claude Izzo (1945-2000) was a French poet, playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and food writer, most noted for his ‘Solea, The Marseille Trilogy.’ This is a collection of Izzo’s writing.

He begins with Mediterranean noir and the possibilities for happiness. In his case, it the the geography of possibilities for happiness. He writes of the senses of his home town and the region—the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures: blue bays, sea sounds, garlic and mint and basil, and their textures on his tongue. He is a Mediterranean man.

His list of noir fiction writers is short but interesting, beginning with James M. Cain’s ‘The Postman Always Rings Twice’ – the influence for Albert Camus’s ‘The Outsider.’

But it’s the food that he writes of the most—of its origins and specialities … ‘That was how bouillabaisse was born: out of the ugly looking, inedible, unsellable scorpion fish … A poor man’s cuisine, yes, but one whose genius stil delights us, even if these days people argue over the thousand and one ways to prepare bouillabaisse. In order not to upset anyone, I’ll only say that it’s best to prepare it yourself. But it’s the same with all … dishes of the Mediterranean: couscous, tagine, paella, or a simpe pasta with meatballs and slices of veal … eating is a celebration.’

His descriptions of food and places are the best parts of the book. They are evocative and written with love and warmth that go beyond hot air and spices.

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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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