Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation

Cooking, in effect, took part of the work of chewing and digestion and performed it for us outside of the body, using outside sources of energy. … Freed from the necessity of spending our days gathering large quantities of raw food and then chewing (and chewing) it, humans could now devote their time, and their metabolic resources, to other purposes, like creating a culture. {… until} cooking took its fatefully wrong turn: when civilization began processing food in such a way as to make it less nutritious rather than more.

This was so good, as has been every book I’ve read by Pollan. They take time and they pay off in terrific diversions into science, culture and history. Here, Pollan explores the four classic (and nearly magical) show more methods that humans have long used to make food more delicious and digestible: fire (grilling), water (braising), air (baking), and earth (fermentation). He locates niche uber-experts and resides with them to learn about such things as barbecue, aromatic mirepoix, bread-baking and cheese-making.

Even today, as much as a third of the food in the world’s diet is produced in a process involving fermentation. Many of these foods and drinks happen to be among the most cherished, {…} coffee, chocolate, vanilla, bread, cheese, wine and beer, yogurt, ketchup and most other condiments, vinegar, soy sauce, miso, certain teas, corned beef and pastrami, prosciutto and salami-- {…} Basically, it’s all the really good stuff. {…}

“The big problem with the Western diet, … is that it doesn’t feed the gut, only the upper GI. All the food has been processed to be readily absorbed, leaving nothing for {the microbial residents of} the lower GI.” {…} We have changed the human diet in such a way that it no longer feeds the whole superorganism. … We’re eating for one, when we need to be eating for, oh, a few trillion. show less

This is the fourth book of Pollan's that I have read and I must say that he goes from strength to strength. From his simple mantra for eating (Eat food, not too much, mostly plants) in the Omnivore's Dilemma to his exploration of how food scientists over-emphasize micro elements in food in In Defense of Food, I have been given much (dare I say it) food for thought. This book was no exception.

The subtitle of this book is A Natural History of Transformation and Pollan examines four types of transformation that our food can go through. Each of these transformations is tied to an elemental force: Fire, Water, Air and Earth. For each section Pollan apprenticed himself to a master of that particular transformation. In Fire, he went to the show more American south and learned about barbecue. I'm not talking about throwing a piece of meat on the grill for a short length of time; I'm talking about slow cooking a whole pig in a pit for a day. If this section doesn't make you salivate you must be a really dedicated vegan. In Water he also explores slow cooking but it's the type of cooking done in a pot with liquid and some vegetables and some type of meat, probably a cut that would be tough unless cooked this way. Air is all about bread baking and how the air is essential to make a good tasting loaf of bread. He includes a recipe at the back for a sourdough type of bread which made me wonder if all those people who started baking sourdough in the beginning of the pandemic had read this book. As persuasive as he is with his passion for sourdough bread I think I'll probably stick to using yeast. Which gives me a nice segue into the final chapter which is all about treating food with microorganisms to ferment them. Fermentation also takes quite a long time but very little is required from the cook; instead those little bacteria do all the work. I think it might be time to make another batch of sauerkraut but unlike Pollan I'm not going to get a 7.5 liter crock. I'll stick with a quart preserving jar. In addition to vegetable fermentation, Pollan looked at cheese making and beer and wine brewing. Who needs barbecued or braised meat when you could have cheese and wine accompanied by some pickled and/or fermented vegetables? Remember Pollan's mantra and eat mostly plants.

I see Pollan has branched off into the effects of plants on our minds in his latest books. I will have to see what fascinating insights he has discovered there. show less

I am a big fan of Pollan, his philosophy about food and his well researched works and his articulate manner. This book has reinforced that affection, even as I feel even less equipped than ever to follow his advice and his example. The cooking techniques he explores (barbecue, braising, baking and fermentation) have one thing in common: time. It takes an incredible amount of time to prepare and execute these techniques properly, and though I'm certain the rewards are great (Pollan is quite rapturous about them), I simply don't have enough hours in the day to devote so many to cooking. Which is not to say I don't cook--I was shocked to read the statistics about how few people actually do cook at home, from scratch, most of the time. I show more almost always do, and eating out is mostly a luxury and rarely a convenience. So I suppose I'm doing all right, all things considered. That said, I do enjoy pickling, and this book did inspire me to take a couple pickling books out of the library, so maybe I'll try some new recipes now that I've become inspired (and a little shamed). show less

This will be saved as one of my favorite books of all time.
Which is saying a lot because I hate cooking with a passion, but he addresses the reason why and so many other people in this age hate cooking. He makes me want to drive to North Carolina and have some whole hog BBQ, and has given me an appreciation for all the types of food in this book are Slow Food.
Not only is his journey learning to cook these dishes great but just the general info about food and culture and society is great as well.
I am going to try my hand at live yeast culture artisan bread this next month and after we have our own garden established we will be canning and fermenting our goods!

I recommend everyone read this book!

This is another excellent offering by Michael Pollan who, since The Omnivore's Dilemma has become my favourite go-to person in all things food related. Admittedly, this was slightly less interesting to me than Pollan's Dilemma, but only because I've already experienced all the joys of being Cooked -- pun intended. For all those who have yet to experience the transformative power of being the master/mistress of one's own hearth, this is a must read. Twice.

This is not a recipe book -- far from it, albeit Pollan does throw in a few handy recipes at the very end, based on the four elements he explores: fire, water, air and earth; in essence, the touchstone elements of our universe, and our humanity. This is more a book on the nature of show more cooking: the whys and wherefores of throwing that first chunk of meat over burning coals, and then of maybe tossing in a tuber or two for good measure. With this simple action, we defined our humanity, Pollan postulates, and it is this that made us stand taller than the apes, once and for all.

He also dabbles in the mysticism of cooking, the art of alchemical transformation of both the eaten, and the eater. It is a magical read -- and unlike Pollan's Dilemma which left me never wanting to eat (industrial) food ever again, this book left me ravenous. It is an exceptional testament to why we should all engage in the action of feeding ourselves -- quite literally. The action of going to the market and buying packaged and frozen food-like substances is not cooking, and offers absolutely nothing to our nutritional intake, either chemically or spiritually, Pollan offers. Rather, we need to be closer than arm's length from the veggies and the meats we slide down our gullets: we need to understand how much nourishment actually lies in the act of preparation.

Full stars. show less

I wasn't sure about this when I started it but I'm so glad I stuck with it. I enjoyed the way this book was set up - dividing the types of cooking by the four elements and then exploring the history, social history and science behind each one as well as Michael Pollan's attempt to cook in the various ways he discovers. So fire was cooking meat over fire, water was cooking soups and sauces, air was all about bread and earth was about fermentation - pickled vegetables, cheese and beer. I found the parts about air and earth the most interesting, but that's because I enjoyed the science behind them the most and I love bread and cheese. :)

I think anyone who is interested in the history and science of food and cooking would enjoy this, even show more if, like me, you're not much of a cook. show less

This is the first of Michael Pollan's books I've read but it won't be the last. It's an in-depth exploration of the process of cooking and its place in human society from its origins to the present day. Pollan takes many perspectives in this book, historical, philosophical, practical, sociological and so on, which is what keeps it interesting.

His introduction sets out his thesis which is to answer a number of questions in regard to food and our relationship with it, for example "...what was the single most important thing we could do as a family to improve our health and general well-being … what is the most important thing an ordinary person can do to help reform the American food system, to make it healthier and more sustainable show more … how can people living in a highly specialised consumer economy reduce their sense of dependence and achieve a greater degree of self-sufficiency … how, in our everyday lives, can we acquire a deeper understanding of the natural world and our species’ peculiar role in it? There could hardly be more important and pertinent questions.

He decides to look for the answers by going to the kitchen and by experiencing first hand "the dramas of transformation”. The book is divided up into four parts - one for each of the big transformations by which raw material is converted into food - Fire, Water, Air and Earth. As an examination of “cooking as a defining human endeavour” it's a fascinating read, although there were parts that became heavy going, where he seemed to get bogged down somewhat in reporting every detail of his various experiments in culinary creation. But ultimately it's a book worth persisting with despite those passages. show less