Book Review: An Everlasting Meal: Cooking With Economy and Grace

A confession:  I  love a good food book.  I read cookbooks like novels and food-related essays are some of my favorites.  A book like Tamar Adler's An Everlasting Meal:  Cooking With Economy and Grace was probably going to be a winner for me from the start, but I had no idea how much it would appeal to my sensibilities.  This is a food book for the masses - a collection of musings, suggestions and ideas for the way that real people really cook (or should).  Being a good cook starts with being a good eater, and Adler shows us all the little ways to treat food with reverence and relish its essence and purity.

While this does contain some recipes, it's not as much a cookbook as it is a manual of sorts.  It will encourage you to think about meals in ways you probably don't.  She stands firmly on the principle that ends, scraps and odd bits should not be wasted - the trash can or compost heap doesn't deserve so much flavor.  She offers enlightenment on how to start meals, how to finish them, how to make the most of something and how to make the most of nothing much.  Her ideas aren't new - this is, in fact, they way humankind has cooked and eaten for most of our existence.  Sadly these ways have been eclipsed by the glamour of celebrity chefs, food TV and the insistence that we all cook restaurant food at home.  Make no mistake - her suggestions are neither bland nor boring.  With a subtle wit and very engaging prose, she reminds us that the simplest meals are often the most satisfying.  She refreshes our overstimulated palates with marvelous descriptions of what good food ought to be like: 

"There are plenty of good olives around.  They can be buttery or tart, if that is how you like them, but they should never taste crabby or mean."

If you've ever found the idea of cooking to be too pressuring, read this book.  If you're a fledgling cook, longing to be a better cook, in need of inspiration, or just enjoy an outstanding food read, read this book.  Adler's humble but beautiful writing is sure to be an eye- and mind-opener.  Never has a telling of such age-old ideas felt so fresh.