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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
I loved this book. It really made me think about why and how our kitchens and tools for cooking and eating have developed. It sort of used the western lens as a base for the narrative, but I appreciated that it always included the other options used around the world when discussing things. Chopsticks were covered in the fork, knife, and spoon chapters because they have a special function in relation to all of these things. I recommend this for anyone who's interested in cooking or eating. It will answer questions you never knew you had!
The book is full of interesting anecdotes but the primary research supporting them is quite weak. It's difficult to take things away as facts. Regardless, it's a fun read.
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
Truly if I hadn't read this for a library challenge, I probably would have DNF pretty early on. I am thankful Wilson started with the pots & pans chapter as it was the most dull by far. That said, the only chapter I really enjoyed was fire.
I usually can't get through any history book, so I was surprised I was even able to finish this really. I think it has to do with how poor the writing is somehow. This reads more like the dialogue of a silly documentary, which I would have found more appealing than a book I think. Though there is structure in that each chapter focuses on a specific aspect of cooking, the chapters themselves are pretty haphazard.
At times, I found myself forgetting I was supposed to be reading about ice in the ice chapter as Wilson went on about something totally unrelated. Overall, this wasn't the worst book ever, but I definitely wouldn't have chosen it on my own.
I usually can't get through any history book, so I was surprised I was even able to finish this really. I think it has to do with how poor the writing is somehow. This reads more like the dialogue of a silly documentary, which I would have found more appealing than a book I think. Though there is structure in that each chapter focuses on a specific aspect of cooking, the chapters themselves are pretty haphazard.
At times, I found myself forgetting I was supposed to be reading about ice in the ice chapter as Wilson went on about something totally unrelated. Overall, this wasn't the worst book ever, but I definitely wouldn't have chosen it on my own.
Really interesting. That last chapter is so oddly placed that I wondered if the audio book got the chapters out of order. There's this perfect ending with the author and her mother and then one random chapter about coffee. I'm going to look into it.
I enjoyed reading this discussion of kitchen technology. The treatment of the subject matter is quite good. The author goes into enough detail to feel like the subject is thoroughly discussed, while not so much as to reduce it to academic-like tedium. The splashes of humour are very refreshing, and I do appreciate the good bibliography and index at the end. Now I have some interesting trivia for my next dinner party. (I say this with absolutely no sense of irony and a completely straight face)
Some things that bumped it down from a five stars: I would have liked a few more illustrations, particularly when different items were contrasted in the text. I found myself putting down the book and going to the Internet to look up the differences between Puritan and trifid spoons, or Rex and Lancashire potato peelers. Perhaps this is a flaw with the ebook and not the paper version. The last problem I had was with the book's treatment of the Chinese chef knife, what the author calls 'tou'. There is no knife by that name. I went looking for a video showing the knife in action and couldn't find reference to it anywhere. I had to resort to calling it the 'Chinese cleaver' to find any videos. Maybe it's a mis-romanization of the name.
All in all, I enjoyed it and I'm recommending it to a friend.
Some things that bumped it down from a five stars: I would have liked a few more illustrations, particularly when different items were contrasted in the text. I found myself putting down the book and going to the Internet to look up the differences between Puritan and trifid spoons, or Rex and Lancashire potato peelers. Perhaps this is a flaw with the ebook and not the paper version. The last problem I had was with the book's treatment of the Chinese chef knife, what the author calls 'tou'. There is no knife by that name. I went looking for a video showing the knife in action and couldn't find reference to it anywhere. I had to resort to calling it the 'Chinese cleaver' to find any videos. Maybe it's a mis-romanization of the name.
All in all, I enjoyed it and I'm recommending it to a friend.
This was a pleasant read although the narrative got a bit meandering at times and I found it difficult to follow some of the leaps between unrelated topics.
informative
medium-paced
Full of interesting insights on how food shaped how we lived and life shaped how we ate. It's a fascinating topic and I loved the organization of the chapters, from the mortar and plestle to the cuisinart, from the open fire to the convection oven. This is exactly the kind of knowledge I seek, so I can be in the kitchen with someone and say "actually, did you know that English cooking sucks because they simply had too much wood for making fires?" and become the most annoying person at the party.
really interesting, did make me think about utensils in a very different way!
bibliovermis.com Illustrated Review
Consider the Fork is not just a history of the kitchen. It’s an overview of human innovation, of changing cultural mores reflected in kitchen gadgets, and of the global influence of various cooking styles and techniques. With chapters nominally focusing on one…
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