The Amateur Gourmet

Several well known blogs have resulted in popular books and Adam Roberts' The Amateur Gourmet: How to Shop, Chop and Table-Hop Like a Pro (Almost) is one of them. The book was born from his well known blog at http://www.amateurgourmet.com/. In the book, Roberts recounts how his family ate out more often than eating in, which instilled in him an appreciation of homemade meals and the desire to create easy but delicious food. The book is more of a narrative, rather than instructional, as the title led me to believe. I thought there might be diagrams on proper cutting techniques, but he simply describes how to cut an onion, which does nothing for me without the pictures. But his point on the importance of using a sharp knife in the chapter Fear Not the Knife, is well taken. In the chapter Master the Market, he talks about how to shop for fresh foods at the local farmers market, which we've all been hearing about lately. The chapter Expand Your Palate seems a little out of place-I guess his point is to try new things, but it really seems to be stories about him trying to get his friends to try foods they hate. He then talks about cooking for a date and cooking for your family. Again, these are more personal stories of his experiences, rather than how-to's, although he does include a few recipes (which come from well known chefs, not his own). I did really like his chapter Fine Dine Like a Professional where he had lunch with food critic Ruth Reichl and got tips for making the most of your dining experience. Reichl suggests picking a few restaurants that you enjoy and becoming a regular; asking the chef what is especially good that day; order what you want; share your food and eat only until you are full-although these seem like common sense tips to me. He ends the book with a chapter on how to do dishes. Seriously. If you don't know how to do dishes, you've got bigger problems than not knowing how to cook. I suppose this would be a good book for a young person who is out on their own for the first time and has never even made spaghetti for themselves. Even so, there are better cookbooks for first-timers. And Julie Powell's Julie and Julia: 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen : how one girl risked her marriage, her job and her sanity to master the art of living is a much better read if you are interested in a cooking narrative. For the most part, if you've been reading the popular cookbooks, watching the Food Network, and can manage the basics, there really isn't anything new here.