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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining look at the reality of eating sustainably, July 4, 2010
This review is from: Eating for Beginners: An Education in the Pleasures of Food from Chefs, Farmers, and One Picky Kid (Hardcover)
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(Note: this review is based on an uncorrected copy)
For one year, author Rehak planted herself in the kitchen of applewood, a Brooklyn restaurant that uses local produce, meats and cheeses whenever possible. This book chronicles that year, where Rehak learned not only to chop, slice, grill and fry, but to witness firsthand the relationship between small farmers, growers and fishermen and the people they feed.
Though I have read many books on the subject of small vs. global farming - (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle; The Omnivore's Dilemma What Are People For; Stolen Harvest), Rehak's contribution has its place. First, her experience at applewood is a fascinating chronicle of a truly progressive foodie haven, where egos are checked at the kitchen door to make way for passionate, innovative cooking and one inexperienced author-turned-cook. Her stories from the kitchen are informative, inspiring and at times humorous.
Rehak's research doesn't stop in the kitchen, however. During her year at applewood, she visits a cheese maker, livestock farmer, fisherman, produce farmer and organic food distributor to track food from its source to the dinner table. In the end, Rehak (and the reader) gain a better understanding of the challenges and rewards of growing and eating locally.
The writing flows well and Rehak weaves a good story, with the exception of her anecdotes about her picky toddler's eating habits, which distracted me enough to make me wonder why they were included at all. Another questionable addition was the recipes at the end of chapters. In other books, such as Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life and David Lebovitz' The Sweet Life in Paris, the combination of prose and recipes relate better to one another and the recipes are incredible. Here, I'm not so inspired.
Those two points aside, it's still a good piece of writing. Well researched and written. Recommended.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Easy to Read Introduction to the Important Issue of What We Eat and Where It Comes From, August 18, 2010
This review is from: Eating for Beginners: An Education in the Pleasures of Food from Chefs, Farmers, and One Picky Kid (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Eating for Beginners: An Education in the Pleasures of Food from Chefs, Farmers, and One Picky Kid is an easy to read introduction to the issue of what we eat, where it comes from and what impact it has on the local and global environment as well as on the local economy. She addresses these important questions in a reasonable, non-preachy and often humorous manner.
As she thinks about what to feed her toddler, she considers the impact of shipping off-season fruits and vegetables across the country (and in some cases the world) on the environment. She balances this concern with her son's refusal to eat most foods (including toast) and her love of imported Austrian cookies that bring back fond memories of her childhood.
Despite a lack of any formal cooking education or experience, she takes a job in the kitchen of a local restaurant (called applewood) that serves mainly local produce and cheeses. She branches out to visit a local farm, dairy, meat co-op, and the distributor who collects those products to supply approximately 50 restaurants. She also survives a bad case of seasickness on a day trip on a fishing boat with no bathroom based out of New Jersey.
The author comes to realize how difficult it is for farmers to break even, let alone make a profit, and what the farms mean to the local communities (as far as open space, jobs, and connection to the food that sustains them).
This quote aptly demonstrates the shift in the author's thinking in the course of her experiences: "...the people and places I was visiting, applewood included, were making an intricate web of eating, environment, and community newly clear to me." She goes on to say, "And supporting them [local farmers] didn't mean I had to forgo the occasional bag of non-local carrots, which I bought when I had to because carrots were one of the few things Jules would eat. It meant making the right choice as often as possible, and accepting that that was all any of us could do."
I didn't find the description of her son's eating habits to be very interesting, but other parents might relate to her concerns about whether he was getting sustenance from the few foods he agreed to eat and her feelings of inadequacy as a mother. She reports what the children of chefs and farmers eat and is gleeful to learn that they too eat fast food and sometimes turn their noses up at vegetables.
The recipes alone are not a reason to buy this book. In order of appearance, they include:
* Candied Orange Peel
* Jicama Slaw
* Oblique-Cut Caramelized Parsnips
* Puffed Cayenne Rice
* Corn Off the Cob with Garlic
* Lucky Dog Creamed Spinach
* Easy Flip Raisin French Toast
* Not So Easy Flip Crab Cakes
* Lobster a l' Americaine a la Steve and Melanie
* Pasta with Delicata Squash, Sage, and Pine Nuts
* Brined Turkey
* Jean's Brussels Sprouts
* Pasta with Bacon, Farm-Fresh Eggs, and Cream
* Lucy's Osso Bucco
* No-grill Pork Tenderloin with Balsamic Vinegar
* Pan-Roasted Sardines with Caper Butter
* Under the Bed Almond Cookies
* Melanie's Prune Bread Pudding
If you've already read The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan, there is likely not much here for you besides a few tales of a young picky eater and a handful of unremarkable recipes. If you haven't read it, Eating for Beginners: An Education in the Pleasures of Food from Chefs, Farmers, and One Picky Kid is a good intro to an important issue. The author quotes Michael Pollan in several chapters so you'll get a feel for his writing style and philosophy which could help you decide whether to continue exploring these issues by reading his work next.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good read, but not a reference, July 11, 2010
This review is from: Eating for Beginners: An Education in the Pleasures of Food from Chefs, Farmers, and One Picky Kid (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Melanie Rehak's "Eating for Beginners" is an enjoyable read which delves into the day-to-day struggles of the modern parent trying to figure out what to eat. As the book begins, you assume that it will take a tone similar to many of Michael Pollen's books, however while there is much anecdotal storytelling sprinkled through the book about the author's personal experiences at various subsistence/organic farms, the bulk of the story leans away from the facts and figures which made most of Pollen's books informative rather than just entertaining. Whereas you might classify Pollen's work to be detailed enough to be filed in the Reference section of a local library or bookstore, Rehak's book would be solidly filed into the Non-Fiction category.
Through the book, Rehak is working as an intern at the local applewood restaurant owned by David and Laura Shea in New York City. Those hoping for the drug-addled and obscenities-filled kitchen akin to Anthony Bourdain or Gordon Ramsey's books will be sorely disappointed as applewood functions more like Thomas Keller's French Laundry or Eric Ripert's Le Bernardin - clean, respectful and civilized. Randomly through the book, Rehak takes "side trips" to various locations - such as the farms where the vegetables are grown, the ranch which supplies some of the meat, and a day trip on a fishing boat. At the same time, Rehak rotates through the positions within the kitchen, migrating from appetizers to fish to grill and eventually to desserts. From chapter to chapter are small mini-stories about her new son Jules' eating habits. I believe that the intent with the "Jules' Stories" was to try and make the reader think about how feasible eating sustainably or locally really is when confronted with real-life scenarios. Unfortunately most of the time these stories seem very detached from the main bulk of the narrative and they failed to make much of an impact on me at all.
Honestly reading through Melanie Rehak's book really won't provide you with much insight into anything. Her experience in the kitchen was just that - an experience. She did not truly live the life of a aspiring chef, but rather as a mother who didn't know what to cook who managed to get some insight from working at a kitchen for a year. Her attempt to instruct about the pro's and con's of organic/sustainable food falls short because it fails to site any references outside of personal experiences, nor does it really attempt to tackle or offer suggestions to any of the issues brought up by her sources. In fact, Rehak mentions Michael Pollen's The Omnivore's Dilemma so often, you should probably just go ahead and read his book instead if you're interested solely on that half of the story.
But why then do I give her book four stars?
Well, Rehak's narrative does well at its primary function - as entertainment. The book is an easy read with a very flowing style - the type of book where you will be surprised to find yourself 100 pages deep when you only intended on reading the first chapter. Keeping in mind that there are several books which tackle her main subject matters much more thoroughly than she did, I would still recommend "Eating for Beginners" for inclusion on the bookshelf of any self-proclaimed "Foodie."
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