Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder

by Asako Yuzuki

Until not long ago, she’d had no idea what it was that she wanted to eat, but since she’d begun using her kitchen, she was becoming able to picture, albeit vaguely, the objects of her desires.

It struck Rika acutely now how true luxury when it came to food demanded determination and energy, even more than it did money. You had to keep abreast of which products were in season, search out a bevy of go-to shops, and be forever researching new products and trends. You had to be perpetually asking your body, calmly, what it was craving at that particular time. In

‘There is nothing in this world so pathetic, so moronic, so meaningless as dieting.’ Damn, I’ve

Even if they were alone, even if they were eating food from the convenience store, it only took a little bit of imagination and application to transform the moment into a pleasurable one.

All you need to do is to eat as much of whatever it is you most desire at any given moment. Listen carefully to your heart and your body. Never eat anything you don’t want to. When you take the decision to live that way, both your mind and your body will commence their transformation.’

If she could hone her powers of decision-making about the rest of her life choices, was it possible that she’d find the time to cook, and read, and bake quatre quarts for fun

As you learned to cook, you became increasingly able to shut out the outside world and create a fortress within your own spirit.

‘You fry chopped onion dusted with flour in butter, and stir in the milk a little at a time. When that’s all absorbed, you add in the macaroni and broccoli boiled in salted water, and prawns simmered in white wine. Then you pour it all into the gratin tin, sprinkle it with cheese, breadcrumbs and parsley, and bake it in the oven for twenty minutes, if I recall correctly.’

‘Cooking is enjoyable, but the moment it becomes a duty, it grows boring. The same is true of sex, and fashion, and beauty. When you’re forced to do something, it becomes a chore, and the pleasure disappears.’

The only truly living person is this woman right in front of me. Which is why, as furious as everyone is with her, they can’t take their eyes off her.

It came as a shock to her that the warmer season was finally arriving, kicking away the cold, dry wind. And there she’d been, until a few minutes ago, thinking that nothing would change, that she couldn’t change a thing. Even without her lifting a finger, the world would keep on changing.

I’m not saying that women should suppress their desires. If they’re hoping to maintain superlative powers of tolerance, women can’t be holding on to stress, worries or conflict. They are goddesses, after all! Which is why I eat exactly what I want

Cleaning and cooking are much more rock and roll than I thought. What you need above all is strength . . . A fighting spirit that can withstand the tedium of everyday life without getting blunted by

The classic and the new, the bitter and the sweet, the costly and the easy-to-come-by seasonal ingredients, the soft and the hard, the powerful and the delicate – she wanted to include anything that appealed to her, trusting in her instincts as she combined things. That was the true pleasure of cooking and, it seemed to Rika, a route to enriching her life. Quite possibly, it was in this that true style, flexibility and wisdom lay.

This unfamiliar dish somehow corresponded perfectly with the features of Rika’s vision of an ideal life: a radical improvement in her cooking skills, an affluent, full life, a warm household where people came together . . . But no, what it really symbolised, she thought, was something you make on your own, and give with generosity to your loved ones – not so unlike a safe space.

‘Even if I end up dying alone, I don’t think I’ll resent people for it. I won’t sit around waiting for other people. I’ll use my own money to buy ingredients, make the food I want to eat, eat it how I like, and then