Scan barcode
cloudss's review against another edition
informative
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
5.0
love this. one of the best intros to a book I’ve ever read. fire fridges pots+pans knives spoons chop sticks cooking styles manors have all shaped the modern kitchen & wilson describes them in a fascinating and entertaining way. truly a well reasoned and researched book. makes you rethink many things you take for granted in your day to day eating
mommacusses's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
mpop's review against another edition
4.0
This was pretty interesting. It was also a fairly easy and entertaining read, although I found myself putting it down and picking it up again a lot instead of plowing straight through. I learned a lot, and one of these days you can bet that I'll be putting flour in the bottom of a pan to see where the stove burner hot spots are.
The notes in the back were nice, but I prefer footnote style for references. Some of the broader arguments about why certain innovations did or didn’t happen were a little sketchy to me, and I would’ve liked to see more references directly associated with those arguments. But most of the information was believable and interesting.
It is Western-centric, mostly focused on UK/US. Early on there was a bit more discussion of China and I was hopeful for a broader discussion, but references to countries in regions outside of Europe/the US were limited.
I'd recommend it to any kitchen dork (we know who we are).
The notes in the back were nice, but I prefer footnote style for references. Some of the broader arguments about why certain innovations did or didn’t happen were a little sketchy to me, and I would’ve liked to see more references directly associated with those arguments. But most of the information was believable and interesting.
It is Western-centric, mostly focused on UK/US. Early on there was a bit more discussion of China and I was hopeful for a broader discussion, but references to countries in regions outside of Europe/the US were limited.
I'd recommend it to any kitchen dork (we know who we are).
poetkoala's review
5.0
I love histories of things that we take for granted. Impressed that this explores global kitchen utensils and culture.
weboury's review against another edition
funny
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
Great read for those interested in the history of Western cooking, mostly Britain and the USA. The author provides examples and insights from other countries (particularly China and France), but it's mostly about Britain and the USA. Very insightful book and you can tell the author is really interested and moved by what the history of these technologies means for us in the modern day. Really enjoyed it.