“Butter,” the 2017 bestseller by Asako Yuzuki released earlier this year in English, is a work of fiction, but it’s inspired by the very real “Konkatsu Killer” or “marriage-hunting” case of 2012.
The timely book is a disquieting diatribe against misogyny and body shaming in Japan through the lens of food fetishization. While it’s not a cookbook, it counterintuitively made me want to cook, well, with butter.
This is not my first time crossing over into the world of literary fiction. Some may remember my Latvian stew adaptation inspired by Amor Towles’s “A Gentleman in Moscow.” This time again, in staying spoiler-free, I chose a dish that was not a pivotal plot point. What it is, though, is simple and delicious.