Amazon (not dot com)

After reading a bunch of ‘experimental’ fiction lately,  Ann Patchett’s latest novel ‘State of Wonder’ came as a welcome relief.  It’s old-fashioned storytelling at a very high level.  She keeps us interested and entertained, and in the long run she also offers some valuable wisdom.  More about that later.

Much of the book takes place in the Amazon jungle, and Patchett’s descriptions are so vivid as to be both horrifying and fascinating.  As travel writing alone, the book is memorable and worthy read.  The story is well crafted without being particularly inventive or non-traditional.  Chapters are well formed and flow convincingly from one to the next.  The writing is lively but did not strike me as mannered or exaggerated in any way.

Patchett touches on many themes here, including ‘going native’, overcoming our past failures and traumas, the complications of cross-cultural similarities and differences, and the inevitability of choice in our lives.  No matter how many alternatives we have, we can only choose one at a time.  We may never know the ultimate endpoints of the other paths, but we can make the most of the one we choose.  And we can keep ourselves well informed from our experience and our intelligence so that the next choice will take us closer to where we want to go.  There is a sadness in considering the paths not taken, but to try to combine all of them in a single life will probably not do justice to any of them.

‘State of Wonder’ (not a great title for this book, I fear) is a fast and rewarding read.  Pick a shady spot on a sunny warm fall day and enjoy.

Thinking in the Kitchen

Michael Ruhlman’s books have long occupied a special place in my collection of cookbooks and books about food.   Ever since ‘The Making of a Chef’, Ruhlman has opened my eyes to the value of concentration and discipline in working in the kitchen.  ‘Twenty’ is his latest contribution.  It’s not a book for everyone, but it is a distillation of Ruhlman’s approach to the kitchen:  “Think before all else.” 

Ruhlman attempts to condense basic cooking principles into twenty basic concepts.  Some are ingredients, some are approaches, some are techniques.  I don’t think you could get a single authority to agree that these are the twenty that really matter, but Ruhlman’s choices are fascinating.  Number One is “Thinking”.  He insists that having a well considered concept of what you’re trying to accomplish in the kitchen is THE most important tool of all in the kitchen.  It’s better than following a recipe, better than spontaneous improvisation.  For me thinking is one of the joys of cooking.  As I’ve said elsewhere here, figuring out what to make is almost more enjoyable for me than actually preparing it.  What do I want to create?  How can I accomplish it?  If things aren’t working out correctly, how can I make corrections?  Or maybe I just have to adjust my thinking to what’s really happening.

Admittedly we’re in very personal territory here.  Like how we dress, how we write, how we travel, how we go about any activity in life, how we cook is a direct reflection of who we are.  It just so happens that for me Ruhlman is a kindred spirit.  I find it fascinating to think about water as an ingredient.  In what ways do we use it?  What are the properties of water that allow us to use it in those ways?  Why is it better than other substances in many cases?  Why doesn’t it work well in others?

Salt.  It’s crucial to all Western cooking.  Why?  How does it work?  What do we use it for?  Why?

Ruhlman’s collaborations with Thomas Keller are also interesting, but Keller takes basic principles far beyond where we mortals can venture.  I have managed to incorporate a few simple Keller techniques into my special-occasion cooking, but most of it is beyond me.  It sounds good on paper, but I just don’t have the time, energy, and devotion to find out if it would really work for me.  ‘Twenty’, on the other hand, is approachable.  Take it or leave it.  There are plenty of recipes that illustrate the basic concepts.  I’ve tried a couple so far.  One was a total failure, but the shortcomings were mine.  The other was simple and a big success.

But what I most appreciate is the encouragement to be who I am:  a guy who likes to think about food, about cooking, and about eating.