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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2011
I bought this book with the high expectations one might expect after such glowing reviews. Sadly, I was disappointed. Most of the recipes are incredibly basic from a fermentation perspective; even though I was not expecting the Great Big Book of Home Fermentation Technique, I was disappointed to find that the majority of the recipes were simple starter-type projects, with very little depth. As an example, Katz's ginger beer recipe was so simple it had fewer ingredients than the my first homebrew ginger beer I made with two buddies in college.
As some other reviewers have noted, it is not a reference-friendly cookbook. Unlike, say, an Alice Waters book, its narrative is not well-integrated with organized recipes. Categories are not given so that derivative recipes are shown after prerequisites.
Finally, it would have been a great help for me if I had known that Katz never declines an opportunity to editorialize on his (ultra-liberal) political causes. Not that there's anything wrong with doing that in another setting, but I went to read a book on home-made food, not a series of diatribes against genetically modified foods, big agriculture, and what have you. Better to include more recipes - I was particularly saddened by the fact that there is no mention of the famous Szechuanese spicy broad bean sauce ''''''.
As some other reviewers have noted, it is not a reference-friendly cookbook. Unlike, say, an Alice Waters book, its narrative is not well-integrated with organized recipes. Categories are not given so that derivative recipes are shown after prerequisites.
Finally, it would have been a great help for me if I had known that Katz never declines an opportunity to editorialize on his (ultra-liberal) political causes. Not that there's anything wrong with doing that in another setting, but I went to read a book on home-made food, not a series of diatribes against genetically modified foods, big agriculture, and what have you. Better to include more recipes - I was particularly saddened by the fact that there is no mention of the famous Szechuanese spicy broad bean sauce ''''''.
