Customer Reviews

The United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation

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The United States of Arugula is ostensibly about how America changed from a burgers and fries, Swanson TV dinner, baloney sandwich and Fritos kind of country to a sushi and edamame, Whole Foods, imported bottled water nation. What it really is though, is a collection of some of the best gossip I've read in a long time. This is quality stuff.

The stars of the story are food pioneers Craig Claiborne, James Beard, and Julia Child. Along with accounts of their careers, we learn of their various trysts and relationships. Even Julia Child, of whom there are no revelations of extra marital affairs here, comes across as rather bawdier than we are used to seeing her. Alice Waters gets the full treatment as well. What a busy bee she's been - that kitchen at Chez Panisse sure gets hot.

Author David Kamp has really done his homework. We learn how Whole Foods, Zabar's, Dean & DeLuca, and Williams Sonoma got started. We get the lowdown on how the French cooking craze that Julia Child started morphed into Nouvelle Cuisine in New York and into California Cuisine in Berkeley. Chefs Jeremiah Tower, Thomas Keller, and Wolfgang Puck make cameo appearances. Find out how Peet's Coffee in the Bay Area begat Starbuck's.

I can't think of anyone Kamp has left out of his book. Even Jane and Michael Stern, who specialize in finding the "best" greasy spoons, and The Frugal Gourmet (remember him?) are mentioned, if only in chatty and rather informative footnotes. But back to the gossip. Here you'll find out what food critic made Emeril Lagasse cry, what Alice Waters said to Rick Bayless when he appeared in Burger King commercials, and about the feud between Mexican food experts Diana Kennedy and Rick Bayless.

Of course, if you'd rather take the high road, you can join in on the debate over whether America is better off, food-wise now than we were forty years ago. Were things more natural and healthier before high fructose corn syrup and DDT and Fast Food Nation? Or are they actually better now with organic choices and farmers' markets and the Food Channel? Argue amongst yourselves. I'm going to scour the footnotes for more gossipy morsels.

David Kamp has written a terrifically entertaining account of how America went from being a nation of iceberg eaters to a culture of baby field greens connoisseurs. In this story of America's gourmet revolution (and revolution it indeed was), the author focuses on the the real-life characters behind the Big Names: Julia, Craig, James, Alice, et al come fully to life, thanks to lots of interviews and newly reported facts. Kamp brings the chefs and their passions vividly to life and shows the role each played, however unintentionally, in getting chipotle-blueberry-Ceasar dressing onto the nation's menu.
The book isn't just for foodies, although anyone who is already interested in the subject will find a lot of new details and fresh ideas here. Like all really good non-fiction books, The United States of Arugula satisfies an appetite you didn't necessarily know you had.

This is certainly a fun read for any foodie, and author David Kamp, a writer who contributes to Vanity Fair and GQ, does a terrifically entertaining job of providing both a historical perspective and a current look at the burgeoning culinary industry. He starts with the triumvirate of influencers who shaped much of what we know of cooking today from unique perspectives - Julia Child, James Beard and Craig Claiborne. Each paved the way for those who followed - Child as the early TV pioneer who made French-style cooking accessible to housewives across the country; Beard as the author of several best-selling cookbooks, some still considered definitive; and Claiborne as the first food critic for the New York Times and also a prodigious cookbook author - all redefining our views of gastronomy over the years.

In fact, Kamp's entire book is driven by the personalities that dominate the culinary world, and as such, makes an interesting companion piece to Michael Ruhlman's "The Reach of a Chef: Beyond the Kitchen". For instance, the author spends several pages on Alice Waters, the natural successor to Child, as her focus on fresh and seasonal cuisine caused a palpable shift from technique to ingredients. The revolution she started with her menus at the legendary Chez Panisse restaurant also induced a perceptual geographic shift from the East to the West Coast, where organic produce and free-range chickens entered our collective food vocabulary. From my perspective, Kamp is at his best when he makes the parallels between culinary trends and the consumerism that has evolved since WWII. He shows how the prevailing French influence was not accidental, as it came about with the influx of kitchen workers from France after the war and continues today to what kitchenware we purchase. Leveraging the writings of others who recognized aspects of the same phenomenon, the author accurately shows how food has become a status symbol on our culture for the good life to which we aspire.

In the book's final section, the advent of the Food Network is seen as a touchstone for this pervasive thinking, as a new set of celebrity chefs - Emeril Lagasse, Bobby Flay, Mario Batali and Rachael Ray among them - instruct us on what we should be doing to maximize our enjoyment of cooking in the kitchen. One in particular, Alton Brown is shown as a prime example of someone more interested in instructing us on the principles of cooking rather than the actual preparation. Perhaps the Food Network chefs cater to the most common American tastes, but Kamp convinces us that they have brought a new appreciation for quality at the dinner table. Unfortunately, the author gives short shrift to the other macro-trend occurring with fast food chains and the severely limited ability to imbue health and flavor on a broad scale in those venues. Regardless, it's a fascinating read and a culinary history well worth reviewing.

The US of Arugula closely follows the trajectory of our appreciation for fine food and its makers over the last 50 + years. The author's breadth of knowledge and understanding of these food workers who now have become like unto rock stars is nicely understated. To think: a hundred years ago, a cook was just a common household servant, or a member of the working class. Before Henri Soule, Julia Child, Alice Waters or Jeremiah Tower, one really wouldn't much consider even conversing with a chef. Now cooks are heralded like sports stars, rock stars & opera divas.

Kamp's history of this progression, and the food which accompanies these personalities is bright and treated with just the right amount of salt.
Being from Berkeley I've known some of these miscreants from Chez Panisse - and a wonderful, creative lot they are. It is fortunate to see how much the goals of these Berkeley rebels permeates current food thinking.

Kamp's writing style is both personal and objective. I only wish there were more chapters - like one on the Hawaiian fusion cuisine movement, or more on France's nouvelle cuisine, which I always attributed to the huge influx of Vietnamese cooks who came to France during & after the fall of Saigon & whose vegetable based cuisine much influenced their French bosses.

My only question to Kamp now would be: "So what will you be eating tonight?" Probably something pretty tasty!

This book is not only the perfect bed side companion on a cold night, but a great one to take on a vacation. Very well written, and very easy to read. I recommend it to all.

Rather than listing the subtitle as "How We Became a Gourmet Nation," Kamp should have explained that his book is really "A Collection of Gossip about Chefs in California and New York." While entertaining, the disjointed anecdotes read more like a Page Six column than an actual book. If you're looking for juicy details about James Beard's sex life, look no further, but if you're looking for an exploration of the American people's development of a culinary identity, don't be misled. There's little substance here, and I was bored by having to repeatedly relive the "denoument" of various "hunky" culinary geniuses.
Equally disappointing was the denial that a nation exists between the coasts; I know that New Yorkers believe that outside of their enlightened realm Americans eat Cheesy Mac and McD's, but for a journalist to fail to address the traditions and development of the palate of the majority of the nation is silly and shortsighted.

Great piece on the food revolution in America. Loved the history and it was just enough gossipy to keep me from putting it down. I would compare it to 'Pirates of Silicon Valley' in what it showed how the home computer got started, to how we became a nation of foodies. A movie version would be great or a documentry. This book was long overdue. Now we can see some history behind all those cookbooks we have been inundated with for so many years.

I just finished The U.S. of Arugula and I'm glad I read it. This subject
could be tedious, but in Kamp's expert hands, that never comes close
to happening. He keeps the action moving, keeps the history involving,
keeps the players (Alice Waters, James Beard, etc.) fascinating. I can honestly
say that, after reading this book, I will never look at pasta primavera or
a plate of field greens again. It really does make you see (and eat) food
under a new light. HIGHLY RECOMMEDED!

Nietzsche writes, "What good is a book that doesn't take you beyond all books?" David Kamp illuminates a rare but relevant subject and, wittingly or not, goes far beyond it to animate the culture of 20th century America, from which its subject springs. His book renders each of the last several decades vividly and down to astonishing detail. The buoyancy and wit of his storytelling, and the accompanying sense that you're in the good hands of a rational historian, make this book an immense pleasure to read.

David Kamp chronicles the story of how we became a nation of foodies and in the process chronicles our cultural history as well. The writer is a contributor to GQ and the writing is thoroughly GQish - full of gossip, celebrity worship, liberal politics and obsessed with the latest trend. The only thing missing are the "male models" - LOL. It's a good read if only to discover the dirt on all our culinary heroes but one must ask if we really want to know that Alice Waters' after-hours activities included drugs, drink and indiscriminate sex? Are we dying to learn of the endless gay sexcapades of Beard, Claiborne and their guy pals? All the backbiting and infighting certainly perked up the tale but was it important?

Underneath all the tackiness is a superb story. Technically, the book is serious stuff with a superb organization and structure. From the WWII exposure to Europe and France in particular, Americans became aware of a different approach to food. The Big Three, Claiborne, Child, Beard, all starting out as amateurs, singlehandedly brought about a transformation of American food attitudes - Claiborne (the literary review), Beard (American cuisine) and Child (fine dining at home). This was accomplished with endless proselytizing, networking, the advent of the celebrity cookbook and the restaurant review and most important, the television.

Food trends follow demographics. At the start of the story, the Northeast, particularly New York City, is the financial and political center of the nation. The first trends, the most important restaurants and personalities converge in the Big Apple and something wondrous, new and strange begins. The subsequent loss of population along with political and financial influence resulted in a diffused, more democratic dining experience and the creation of a truly American, though regional, cuisine. First came California (of course), then Chicago, the Southwest and today one can obtain the latest, trendy highend eats in such places as Miami, Las Vegas, Mobile, Nashville, Detroit, Des Moines...

The most important eras are covered - the beginnning, the French era, the California era and radical politics, the Italian era, the specialty store, nouvelle cuisine, quality prepared foods and finally the celebrity chef era (today). The author stresses repeatedly the connection between fine dining, fresh ingredients and quality utensils. It was the former that led to an abundance of the latter two - something we now take for granted with each visit to a supermarket or specialty food store. One oversight was the virtual absence of New Orleans, that "third center" of food. This is particularly odd considering the author's emphasis on French influence. The phenomenon of Las Vegas as an upscale dining oasis is discussed as are regional trends.

Kamp has many concerns. He condemns "fast food" but sees positive signs in the use of fresh products and healthier meals. He wonders at the incredible prices being charged at high-end places that effectively eliminate middle-class diners. He questions the politics of applying trends for academic, upscale, urban lifestyles to the nation in general. He concludes, however, that despite the grumbling about fast food, obesity and the trend toward eating out, the future of food in America is bright. The training and quality of our professionals, the availability of fresh ingredients, the quality of cooking, tidal wave of creativity and the pride we take in the culinary arts are all grounds for optimism.

This badly titled book in fact is a thoroughly research profile of the great U.S. chefs and great food promoters in last 40 years -- starting with James Beard, Julia Childs and moving through to Alice Waters, Jeremy Towers, Wolfgang Puck, Emeril Lagasse, Pierre Franey and the Batali/Bobby Flay crowd. David Kamp logged many hours to get everyone on the record and drew from published sources, to give a very detailed picture of how the American household shed their Joy of Cooking roots and started to experiment with taste and ethnic foods.
He has tons of quotes and anecdotes--showing also how Ruth Reichl, Craig Claiborne and other food writers also shaped opinions and began developing the reputations of our celebrity chefs.