The United States of Arugula: The Sun Dried, Cold Pressed, Dark Roasted, Extra Virgin Story of the American Food Revolution (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: food press, New York, Chez Panisse, Los Angeles (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“With the sweep of an epic novel, David Kamp takes us behind the scenes and into the sweaty, wacky, weird trenches of the Great American Food Revolution. His reporting is solid, his storytelling magnificent, and his good humor is seemingly inexhaustible . . . . a terrific book.” —Molly O’Neill

“Culturally aware and cleverly written, this anatomy of the French-fried versus sun-dried tension at the heart of American gastronomy is refreshingly non-snooty.”
—Atlantic Monthly

"A page-turner filled with fascinating footnotes, a delicious dish about bold-faced names, and an in-depth look at the ways in which a series of food pioneers touched off a revolution." —USA Today

“Juicy, irreverent, and full of bite.” —Gael Greene

Product Description

The wickedly entertaining, hunger-inducing, behind-the-scenes story of the revolution in American food that has made exotic ingredients, celebrity chefs, rarefied cooking tools, and destination restaurants familiar aspects of our everyday lives.

Amazingly enough, just twenty years ago eating sushi was a daring novelty and many Americans had never even heard of salsa. Today, we don't bat an eye at a construction worker dipping a croissant into robust specialty coffee, city dwellers buying just-picked farmstand produce, or suburbanites stocking up on artisanal cheeses and extra virgin oils at supermarkets. The United States of Arugula is a rollicking, revealing stew of culinary innovation, food politics, and kitchen confidences chronicling how gourmet eating in America went from obscure to pervasive—and became the cultural success story of our era.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Broadway (July 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767915801
• ISBN-13: 978-0767915809
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #123,666 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars absolutely worth it, August 13, 2007

By	Michael White - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I came to this book from an angle that many potential readers possibly share--I'm interested in food but am not a hard core "foodie"; I enjoy revelatory profiles of people but am not a gossip maven; I know some but by no means all of the characters, events, restaurants and so on addressed in this book. "Arugula", for me, is a compelling, spirited, and illuminating story, which Kamp tells with an eye ever on the parallel unfolding of the American character throughout the 20th century. Specific decades and regions are brought to life in ways not accessible to the survey of music or politics. What should be a dizzying amount of detail is delivered with a clarity and judiciousness that propel the tale forward. I came away from this book surprised and grateful that it had never been written before.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A mix of "good, bad and ugly", July 31, 2007

By	M. J. Smith (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

On the positive side: Kamp provides a focused account of fine dining and cooking in America - World War II to present. He keeps the "story-line" moving by concentrating on interesting and influential characters rather than trying to cover the whole scene. One follows the Euro-centric cooking (Europe consisting of France and later Italy) through it's transformation to Ameri-centric cooking - local, natural, organic ingredients. This history is traced primarily through New York City and California chefs and restaraunts.

In the negative, this simplification of culinary history ignores the culinary practices in the hinterlands - growing up in rural Eastern Washington in the 1950's I was familiar with roasting your own coffee beans, salmon sold from the back of cars 3-4 hours from the river, raising my own basil from seeds from the local hardware store, ... Sushi entered my vocabulary in 1970. While Kamp correctly attributes much of the Americanazion of ingredients to James Beard, he fails to recognize that Beard's culinary education at Portland's Farmers' Market was repeated on a small scale in all the roadside fruit and vegetable stands throughout the region. History as described by David Kamp may be accurate regarding the urban fine-dining scene but is not representative of the "total American scene."

The ugly - while it is useful for Kamp to provide insight into the personalities and ideological tensions among the various key players in the evolution of American taste, knowing who slept with whom and who engaged in crude and/or psychotic behavior doesn't particularly interest me nor does it add essential information for following the historical changes.

However, with the exception of the attempt to summarize the future in the final chapter, the book is a fascinating read. It provides a useful overview in which to see one's personal culinary experiences. Recommended with reservations.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delish!, November 24, 2007

By	K.A. Scott (Seattle) - See all my reviews

Wow! I'm surprised that other reviewers found this book to be so gossipy. I enjoyed the little bits of personal info included throughout...helped bring it all to life for me. 'Arugula' is really well written...so dense with information yet doesn't get pedantic. One reason for this is Kamp's use of footnotes at the bottom of many pages with interesting asides. I work in the culinary arena and am somewhat familiar with our food heritage but this book took my knowledge to a more comprehensive level and entertained me in the process. (I'm still wondering how he researched this bad boy...no easy task!) Anyway, loved the book and highly recommend it...a very tasty read.