This was the May pick of the Slow Food Chicago book club, one of the four (five?) book clubs that I am in. I sometimes lament that I have given away some choice in my reading to these clubs. Luckily this book was one I wouldn’t have picked up on my own, and I found it both interesting and inspiring. That is what I call a resounding success in the world of book clubs.
This is a equal parts cookbook, historical text, and flavor bible. It’s a little hard to explain, so I’ll let the authors words from page 3 speak for themselves. This first excerpt differentiates it from a typical cookbook. “Most cookbooks are collections of recipes, little more. They tell you what to put together, but not why. They are, in effect, the footprints of their authors’ process of creating, and there’s much to be learned from repeating the recipes in them. But they don’t leave you equipped to go on your own way.” And here, they show what they aim to do in this text. “We aim to teach you to become a creative, confident cook who knows how to think about and respond to the ingredients available to you in ways that result in delicious memorable food.”
In my opinion, they were largely successful. I enjoyed that they maintained a good balance between the historical and the practical. I got a fuller understanding of how current trends in food and flavor came to be, and learned a lot along the way which has already changed how I cook. The only downside to this book, and this is less a critique of the novel, but more the concept, is that it made me feel incredibly self-indulgent. As in, how lucky am I that I can read books about how to impart better flavor in my cooking, when there are people that don’t have access to fresh vegetables? But I digress.
As a book club book it didn’t foster a lot of conversation, not just because most people present didn’t read the book, but also because this book didn’t have any controversy or conflict. The best book club books are polarizing, with divergent opinions on the author and content, but this was really just a “like it or didn’t” sort of situation. Still, as it exposed Slow Food members to new ways of thinking about food, it served its purpose.
This looks amazing and I want it. I’ve got Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat on my list to start after I finish Kindred. I love reading about cooking.
Well then this is definitely up your alley! Someone in the book club meeting recommended “Salt, Fat, Acid” as a must read if you were into Art of Flavor. In conjunction of course with the Netflix series “Cooked.”
Is it weird that with the exception of the original Iron Chef and Great British Bake-off, I don’t like to watch cooking shows?
Um…no. I know of Cooked but have watched, um, like 2 episodes? When I had cable I watched a heckin’ lot of Food Network, but it all became like 70% reality TV and 30% cooking so meh. I watched a good bit of Bourdain’s No Reservations, but that is less a cooking show and moreso a food-focused travel show.
FWIW I did watch whatever season of Master Chef is on Hulu at present a few weeks ago and it was pretty okay. Somehow it felt like it was still 70% reality TV but at the same time 50% cooking, so I was okay with it.
Wow, I’ve never heard of a book club for cookbooks before.
The book itself sounds fascinating. My favourite kinds of cookbooks are usually ones like this that get into the science of cooking.
Or the Two Fat Ladies.
This isn’t a book club for cookbooks per say, but rather the monthly pick for the Slow Food Chicago book club. If you aren’t familiar with the slow food movement (a non-profit principally concerned with food access and ensuring that food is good, clean and fair, not to mention preserving food cultural traditions) then check out the Slow Food USA site here – https://www.slowfoodusa.org/
We have also read novels, books about skin care, it varies. But all related to the principles of slow food.