Ayla Marika

A deceptively simple idea for a book but translated very effectively into a useful text. I really enjoyed reading it. I guess one should have a reasonable idea about how your food is prepared.....especially heavily processed food. And I've been through the odd factory production line in various countries. But Ayla really brings the processes to life with her deceptively simple flow diagrams. She seems to have captured the main steps and covers a huge range of subjects from bacon to whisky and tofu. Even for something that I thought I knew quite a bit about: rice....I learned that brown rice is actually polished with abrasives to get the white rice. (I can see why brown rice is so much better for us than the pure white stuff). Sure it's oversimplification and not all rice (eg upland rice) is grown under irrigation.
I think the quality of the thinking and the actual delivery might be too quickly written-off as something for kids. That would be a serious mistake. I think it's a great piece of work and I'm as impressed with her scholarship as I am with her art work. Though I started off my working life in the cold rooms at the Homebush abattoir .......packing livers and ox-tails......and I didn't see this side of the business reflected in her work. There are some sides to the food industry that are not attractive! I also have it on very good authority from a friend in the meat industry that not all seafood sticks are produced the way Alya suggests...that is, made from fish. Apparently most of the "seafood sticks" are being made from tripe....suitably ground up and flavoured.
Anyway, bottom line, I think this is a great book and full marks to Alya for both her text and her drawings ....I hope she continues producing works like this. Five stars from me.… (mehr)