Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Having described what's wrong with American food in his best-selling The Omnivore's Dilemma (2006), New York Times contributor Pollan (Journalism/Univ. of California; Food Rules, 2012, etc.) delivers a more optimistic but equally fascinating account of how to do it right. The author mixes journalistic encounters with tales of skilled, often relentlessly obsessive cooks who demonstrated the art of transforming the products of nature into tasty food and then tried, with spotty success, to teach him to do the same. Four sections describe this transformation with the four classical elements: fire, water, air and earth. Humans cooked with fire first. Preparing meat over an open flame retains its appeal in the ritual of the backyard barbecue, but Pollan illustrates the original in its purest form, working with pit masters of the Old South to roast pigs very slowly over a smoldering wood fire. Cooking with liquids came later when human invented pots, and cooking moved indoors. After musing on the exquisite Zen boredom involved in chopping onions, Pollan discusses his work with an enthusiastic Chez Panisse chef, who schooled him in the subtleties required for perfect stews, braises, soups, sauces and stocks. Air plus grain equals bread; earth provides bacteria and yeasts to perform the alchemy of brewing, fermenting, pickling and cheese-making. Turning food preparation over to corporations saves the average family 30 minutes per day in exchange for an avalanche of extra sugar, salt, fat and chemicals that costs more and tastes worse. A delightful chronicle of the education of a cook who steps back frequently to extol the scientific and philosophical basis of this deeply satisfying human activity.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Publishers Weekly
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Spurred by a number of objectives-improving his family's general health, connecting with his teenage son, and learning how people can reduce their dependence on corporations, among others-Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma; In Defense of Food) came to the realization that he'd be able to accomplish all those goals and more if he spent more time in his kitchen. He began cooking. Divided into four chapters based on the four elements, Pollan eloquently explains how grilling with fire, braising (water), baking bread (air), and fermented foods (earth) have impacted our health and culture. In each case, Pollan examines the process as well as the science of barbecue, bread, and beer-making in addition to each particular method's effect on humanity. Cooking over high heat, for example, enabled primates' brains to grow much bigger and digest their food faster, making them more efficient; fermented foods like kimchi can promote and encourage the growth of good bacteria in the gut, a function that highly processed foods are unable to accomplish. These and other revelations (obesity rates are inversely correlated with the amount of time spent on food preparation, "microbiologists believe that onions, garlic and spices protect us from the growth of dangerous bacteria on meat," which could explain why we are drawn to flavorful foods, etc.) make for engaging and enlightening reading. Liz Farrell, ICM. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Choice
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.

Bestselling author Pollan (journalism, Univ. of California, Berkeley) adds to the continuum of his books about food, which range from botany (Botany of Desire, CH, Nov'01, 39-1567) and agriculture (The Omnivore's Dilemma, 2007) to nutrition (In Defense of Food, 2009), with a consideration of cooking. In what is now a familiar Pollan style, he weaves together personal narrative of learning to cook alongside masters of cooking, food history, and the science of cooking. The book is arranged loosely by the four elements--fire, water, air, and earth, with one dish (barbecue, braise, bread, and pickle) an emblematic lens to each. Pollan's argument is that cooking is healthy and sovereign, allowing people to be freed from industrialized food and its overreliance on sugar, fat, and salt. The book is accessibly and engagingly written and has broader appeal than comprehensive books such as Harold McGee's seminal On Food and Cooking (CH, Apr'85; rev. ed., 2004). Criticisms that Cooked is overly preachy, or lacks nuance with regard to gender and socioeconomic concerns, are justified but do not overshadow. There are occasional footnotes as well as an annotated bibliography. Appendixes include recipes (one from each element) and recommended readings. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers; all levels of undergraduate students as well as culinary program students. J. M. Deutsch Drexel University

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

*Starred Review* Pollan's newest treatise on how food reaches the world's tables delves into the history of how humankind turns raw ingredients into palatable and nutritious food. To bring some sense of order to this vast subject, he resurrects classical categories of fire, water, air, and earth. Pollan visits pit masters to learn what constitutes authentic barbecue. An Italian-trained Iranian American teaches him the subtleties of proper cooking in pots, how to coax maximum flavor from humble vegetables, herbs, meats, and water. Baking trains Pollan to watch, listen, and feel the action of living yeasts in doughs. The harnessing of fungi and molds to ferment sauerkraut and beer and produce cheeses illuminates the fine and ever-shifting boundaries between tastiness and rot and how the human palate can be trained. Four recipes accompany the text, and an extensive bibliography offers much deeper exploration. Pollan's peerless reputation as one of America's most compelling expositors of food and human sustainability will boost demand.--Knoblauch, Mark Copyright 2010 Booklist

Library Journal
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New York Times best-selling author Pollan (The Botany of Desire; The Omnivore's Dilemma) delivers a thoughtful meditation on cooking that is both difficult to categorize and uniquely, inimitably his. Framing a consideration of food preparation using the classical elements-fire, air, water, earth-this title chronicles the author's own investigations into barbecue, braising, bread making, and fermentation. Encompassing the wonder of alchemy, the scientific precision of chemistry, the inevitabilities of biology, and the complexities of parsing social and cultural meaning, this work weaves history and science with Pollan's personal journey in attempting and, in some cases, mastering the techniques. In the introduction he calls the title "a 'how-to' book, but of a very particular kind." It's more of a "why-to" book about cooking, if there can be such a thing, including a few recipes (more like patterns) and an excellent, thorough list of additional reading. VERDICT Intensely focused yet wide ranging, beautifully written, thought provoking, and, yes, fun, Pollan's latest is not to be missed by those interested in how, why, or what we cook and eat.-Courtney Greene, Indiana Univ. Lib., Bloomington (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Pollan both writes and narrates this chronicle of his adventures with the four elements of food preparation: fire (barbecuing); water (braising and stewing); air (bread making); and earth (fermenting pickles, cheese, and alcoholic brews). Scientific explanations of gastronomic processes, discussion of foodways, and ruminations about the "White-Flour-Industrial Complex" enhance this narrative, as do interesting metaphors. Jars of pickled vegetables are compared to bubbling tanks of colorful tropical fish; cheese, to the Eucharist! Resources at the end of the book were not recorded. VERDICT This book is highly recommended for gastronomes, locavores, and libraries catering to such tastes. The author's excellent narration adds nuance to the recording. ["Intensely focused yet wide ranging, beautifully written, thought-provoking, and, yes, fun, Pollan's latest is not to be missed by those interested in how, why, or what we cook and eat," read the starred review of the New York Times best selling Penguin hc, LJ 3/15/13.-Ed.]--David Faucheux, Louisiana Audio Information & Reading Svcs., Lafayette (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.