The Amateur Gourmet: How to Shop, Chop, and Table Hop Like a Pro (Almost) [Hardcover]

My first impression after reading Adam D. Roberts' new book The Amateur Gourmet: How to Shop, Chop, and Table Hop Like a Pro (Almost) was not kind. Without getting into the details let us just say that I was unimpressed with its length and my ability to read it while multitasking just four times. At $25 its 216 pages of giant font did not spell value.

Had I liked it, I might point you to the fabulous chapter in which he attempted to get his friend to appreciate the glory of coffee and olives. His clever tactics to trick her into thinking they were, at the very least not-half-bad, would serve many of us well as we poke and prod our friends and relatives to try new things.

Or perhaps I would comment on Roberts' engaging sense of humor. More than any author I can recall his personality leaps from each page. Without actually having met him his openness regarding every facet of his life makes me feel as though I would probably know him better than members of my own family.

But, I did not like the book as I could not help but wonder why we needed it in the first place.

Adam D. Roberts' you see is a blogger. He is (go figure) The Amateur Gourmet. He has a large following of adoring fans in the online food community, and that was my issue with the book. I am one of those fans, and for those of us that read his blog each week, there is nothing dramatically different about this book than one of his longer posts. His personality which makes his web page such a success is obviously there, but do to the formality of a book, he loses a bit of the eccentricity that is the secret to his success.

This one time however, I will admit I was wrong. I have realized in the month since finishing the book that while I personally did not need it, there are millions of Americans who do.

This book is not for people like me that discovered food long ago and are already fans of his blog. It is for the people who do not know who Adam D. Roberts is. It is for the people that grew up in families where nobody cooked and the question was always "where do you want to go" instead of "what do you feel like making?" But more importantly, it is for the channel surfer eating a micro waved dinner who stops just long enough on the Food Network to think to themselves "that looks good. I wonder if I could make that?"

Roberts thinks you can, believing if he can do it, anyone can.

By that standard this book is a huge success as Roberts' takes you through his adventures like making his first tomato sauce, shopping at the farmers market, and learning how to dine with Ruth Reichl.

While it does contain some recipes it is not a cookbook, and while the title might lead one to believe some cooking skills will be taught, mostly it is a memoir encouraging people not to be afraid of the food world because it is exciting, and it is for everyone.

Adam's book is great for the high school or college student whose idea of cooking is a bowl of Ramen and a fancy feast is spaghetti with the expensive jar of sauce. If you see yourself in that caricature but want more, then you could benefit from this book. It's a great guide for those who are intimidated by fancy restaurants and trying to cook something "gourmet" that they've never thought of attempting before. The books messages of "don't take eating so seriously" and "yes, you're going to screw up, but it's not the end of the world" may help you get over your fear of your kitchen.

However, those people aren't the ones who are likely to buy Adam's book. His primary audience is bloggers and their readers. I like Adam's blog. It's entertaining, and sometimes even educational. However, I expect a book that purports to teach me to "Shop, Chop, and Table Hop like a Pro (Almost)" to be a little more educational and a little less anecdotal. Anecdotes are great for blog posts. They are ephemeral and quickly forgotten. Something that I'm going to pay for and place on my bookshelf should have lasting value, and that's not what I got from The Amateur Gourmet.

Adam D. Roberts writes each chapter of The Amateur Gourmet in the form of a short story which reveals separate lessons in planning, creating, executing, sharing, and savoring a meal. The stories explain how Roberts overcame common anxieties that keep reluctant gourmets out of the kitchen and continuing to make reservations or microwave frozen dinners. While the book contains recipes and gives some instruction on shopping for and creating the suggested dishes, I found that the most important lesson was one of encouragement to take on new challenges that bring excitement into your life.

Roberts made me understand how the culinary experience - at each stage from the selection of ingredients to cleaning your plate - enhances life by encouraging an open mind, knowledge of oneself, a healthy affinity for risk taking, and a passion for your work. I will have to go elsewhere for step-by-step cooking instructions, but this book was a welcome introduction to "good eating and good living."

If you enjoy this book, I would also recommend Keith Ferrazzi's Never Eat Alone, which is about personal and professional networking and not about cooking. However, the chapters also read like short stories, the lessons stay with you, and both books encourage immediate action by exciting the reader with possibilities for the future.

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