It looks, from the excerpts and the reviews, like a book for people who like to see the mighty brought low. Not really a genre I'm fond of. I'm mildly curious what he has to say about chefs I actually respect (e.g. Blumenthal, Keller, Adria) rather than Food TV celebrities.
Heston Blumenthal, for example, is one of the most knowledgable people I know on the subject of food chemistry and taste (and how to turn it into amazing delicious food) however he also has his... how shall we say? "quirks." I admire Heston's willingness to experiment with combining sensory modes (taste and smell, taste and hearing) more than I admire the actual results. I am willing to forgive him his quirks given his obvious genius. He derides food as "not art" and "at best craftsmanship" which is fine, except that I personally think that craft, perfectly executed, rises to the level of art. I'm thinking particularly of Japanese wooden joinery for example, or tea ceremony ceramics. Anyway, populist take-downs as a genre aren't really my thing. They appeal to the same sort of people who enjoy watching "America's Funniest Home Videos" - people who enjoy seeing someone else made to look foolish. -- Charles On Wed, May 15, 2013 at 1:15 PM, Srini RamaKrishnan <[email protected]>wrote: > The gourmands on the list (I'm thinking Charles and Gautam chiefly, > but also several others) will probably be interested in Steven Poole's > new book, You aren't what you eat (2012) > http://stevenpoole.net/you-arent-what-you-eat/ > > Guardian's review: > http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/oct/21/what-eat-steven-poole-review > > <quote> > The chef Anthony Bourdain writes of the chef Thomas Keller: "You > haven't seen how he handles fish, gently laying it down on the board > and caressing it, approaching it warily, respectfully, as if > communicating with an old friend." The old friend, should we not have > noticed, is dead. Are we to suppose that Keller is a medium? Or is he > a necrophiliac fish-fiddler, a Jimmy Savile of the deep? > </> > > The blurb: > > "Why is everyone so obsessed with food? How did chefs come to be the > gurus of the age? And what’s with serving chips in a beaker and > slivers of vegetable on hot stones? This polemic against “foodies” and > their oral fixation pits Jamie Oliver against Jacques Derrida, and > sees the author eating a nitro-frozen bolus of olive oil, marvelling > at food fashion, and descending into the ninth circle of foodist hell > at MasterChef Live." > > > Interview: (53 mins) > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G1DcoLxQpY > >
