RaveThe New York Journal of BooksWhy did this book take two years to cross the Atlantic? ... Eagle’s digressions have him tackling important, moral subjects, too ... He encourages us to think about how the animals we eat lived, and the voyage those fruit and vegetables took, before they arrived in our kitchen. He points out the dangers faced by commercial fisherman in their work and argues, in exhaustive detail, the case for eating rabbit. In short, he wants us to re-examine and respect what we eat ... Described as a chef and fermenter, Eagle is more importantly a thinker and a philosopher who cooks. Luckily for us, he writes about cooking, too. While he is opinionated, and you won’t agree with him on everything, he is practical, informative, and has a sense of fun. Eagle loves food on the plate and on the page. Everything about food interests him: its taste, its history, and the culture and meaning behind what we eat. In what other food book would you find mentions of Lawrence Durrell, Wind in the Willows, blood, and bacteria? And he is not a food snob, admitting he once ate so much chocolate he couldn’t breathe ... This engaging book belongs on the bedside table as well as in the kitchen. Free of intimidating photographs, it will liberate you from performance anxiety when you cook and allow you to revel in the process, appreciating even the smallest details. It will make you a better cook.
