"Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human" by Richard Wrangham

 

Publisher: Basic Books

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 9780465020416

Even though this book shares the first part of its title with one of a relatively popular series of novels, this book has absolutely nothing to do with "The Hunger Games", although cooking does typically satisfy hunger. It is in fact an anthropological investigation into the revolutionary history of humans and how we possibly might have teamed fire, and thereby learned to cook food, allowing us to evolve into what we have today.

The book starts off by examining the theories behind eating raw food, which at the time of writing was somewhat of a fad. Following this Dr. Wrangham looks into amongst other things the energy theory of cooking, how cooking began, what foods best affect brain development, the social structure of hunter-gatherers, how we differ from the great apes in both social structure and feeding habits, how domestication possibly influenced the male role in life, and much more.

In one chapter Dr. Wrangham looks at the social inequity between males and females, and it is rather surprising to see how much that parallels the inequality seen even today in certain cultures.

This book has 46 pages of reference notes, and a 30 page bibliography. Both of which are extremely valuable in understanding this topic. For the most part when I was taking my anthropology courses ideas such as this were not part of the curriculum but then again this was many years before this book was published.

An extremely book that is well worth reading.

"Bad Food Bible: How and Why to Eat Sinfully" by Aaron Carroll MD

Publisher:Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017.
ISBN: 9780544952560
Characteristics: xxxiv, 234 pages :,illustrations

The title of this book is something of a misnomer, as there are really no such thing as bad foods. However as everybody pretty much in the world is aware there are hundreds of books, websites, articles, and who knows at else that love to give you advice on things that are bad for you. Or at least are supposedly bad for you based on their convoluted idea of what science is.

Dr. Carroll takes a totally different approach in that he examines the science behind nutrition. I say a different approach because a lot of books, websites etc. have nothing to base the claims and recommendations they make to consumers, and Dr. Carroll tells it like it is.

In this book he deals with topics such as butter, meat, eggs, salt, gluten, GMO's, alcohol, coffee, diet soda, MSG, and non-organic foods. He explains these topics very well and anybody who is even slightly concerned about any of these subjects, will I'm sure have their eyes opened wide.

Having seen a few nutritionists in the years previous to this I can definitely understand where he's coming from in the way he presents his material. Pretty much every nutritionist I've seen has given me a different story. I'm not sure if this is because they just simply are not keeping up with literature, but it is extremely frustrating and it makes it seem that they don't know what they're talking about.

In any case--to step down off my soapbox--I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in nutrition and the controversies surrounding it.

"Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking" by Samin Nosrat

Publisher:New York : Simon & Schuster, 2017.

Edition:First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.

Copyright Date:©2017

ISBN: 9781476753836 

Characteristics: 469 pages :,colour illustrations

"Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" is the ultimate cookbook for those who have been cooking for years and want to know how to improve their end product, as well as for those who are just curious why things do what they do in the kitchen. It is also be a great resource for those just starting out, as it takes you from the very basics by telling you what to do, and what to expect when you do it.

The author gives great insights into her experiences in various kitchens by describing what she learned, and what differences it made to her food, but also tells where she made mistakes, why she did it that way, and what she learned from these mistakes.

Chef Nosrat goes into great detail with regard to how salt, fat, acid and finally heat can be used in conjunction with each other as well as how they can be deleterious to each other when combined incorrectly.

This is a book that should be on every cooks shelf, and is one that definitely needs to be part of the curriculum in any decent cooking school.

"Food: Delicious Science" PBS video presented by Dr. Michael Morley & James Wong

Publisher:Arlington, VA : PBS, [2017]
Edition:Widescreen edition.
ISBN:9781531701918
Characteristics: 1 videodisc (180 min.) :,sound, color ;,4 3/4 in.

This week I'm going to review a video I watched recently. Thus video is the scientific story behind what we eat, why we eat it, and what effects it has on us. It is hosted by Dr. Michael Morley, and botanist James Wong.

The two hosts take a look at three different aspects of food. It starts by examining the chemical basis for the food we eat, how this affects our brains, and creates cravings. The second segment takes a look at taste, and what makes our food taste delicious. Third and final chapter takes apart our favourite meals to examine chemically how food keeps our bodies fit and healthy.

I found this series of programs to be extremely interesting, and very informative. There are some things that either Dr. Morley or Mr. Wong ate that you'd never get me anywhere near (such as pickled sheeps brains, or ridiculously hot peppers), but then again some things are definitely acquired tastes - and I don't wish to acquire them. Mind you haggis is an acquired tastes as well, but that's another story.

I definitely recommend this 3 part series to anybody who is interested in food, cooking, and how the two areas can be looked at in a scientific manner.

Enjoy!