An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace

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Beginner chefs may balk at not having step by step instructions or exact measurements (Adler tends to suggest rather than dictate, and it can be dizzying at times to attempt to follow all of the uses she finds for one ingredient) but for anyone comfortable at a stove, Adler's book will feel like learning long-lost tricks in grandmother's kitchen.

Adler's approach is to splice short recipes within long paragraphs of non-recipe prose (though there are recipes in those paragraphs too, just not in recipe form). Born in the 1880's, both grandmother's knew how to cook before there were such things as degrees on oven dials. but today as i was making broth in my kitchen for the next couple of weeks, i realized it was because of this book, and that the change it had brought about in my life, tho small in some ways, is probably one of the more significant forms of impact a book has ever had on me. p.118 anodyne: Adjective--Not likely to provoke dissent or offense; uncontentious or inoffensive, often deliberately Noun--A pain-killing drug or medicine. You need to know how to roast a chicken, how to make soup, basic roasting/sauteeing/braising/boiling techniques for vegetables (and meat, if that's your thing).

But also food as meditation, food as discovery, food as the transformation of unwanted odds and ends into something new and deeply desirable. Tamar Adler is the James Beard and IACP Award–winning author of An Everlasting Meal; Something Old, Something New; and An Everlasting Meal Cookbook. Fill a bowl with the carrot ribbons, add a light sprinkle of toasted cumin or coriander, a little vinegar and salt, then dress it with a lot of good olive oil. Adler turns her poetic sensibility towards the noble art of salvaging leftovers and addressing the food waste problem.

Her prescriptions are very specific, and without going into the general principles behind why she is doing the things she is doing, a beginner would find it hard to generalize and find substitutions. An A–Z compendium of recipes and tips to combat food waste by using every part of the ingredients you’re cooking with. I like the fact that the meals are not just one meal but usually could last for several days of meals, always in different variations. In chapters about boiling water, cooking eggs and beans, and summoning respectable meals from empty cupboards, Tamar weaves philosophy and instruction into approachable lessons on instinctive cooking. Put them on a board and squish down with the bottom of a mug or jar or something, then wiggle it around a bit.

moderate amounts of salt, a lot of us are getting far too much; a significant population develops hypertension when they eat too much salt.

I enjoyed the author’s insightful writing about her cooking knowledge; and really, this guide to all things culinary would be on my kitchen shelf instead of in my bookcase, if I’d wanted to remain a full-on omnivorous eater.

Though it is definitely meant to be read from cover to cover and not as a reference book, it's a bit boring to read it like that at times, and her attempts at being poetic don't always work. Tamar's description/explanation of cooking is how I cook most of the time, so no wonder I loved this book!