bethinva's review against another edition

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4.0

I really enjoyed this book. It was straightforward and spoke to my inner home chef. It inspired me to be creative in order ti eat healthier and add more flavor.

carolina75011's review against another edition

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2.0

I hadn't read anything of Peter Kaminsky's before this book, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. In any case, I more or less expected this to be a book about how to lose weight while eating really good food. There is some good advice in the book (learn to cook, avoid processed foods), but truly this book is a food memoir. It's one story after another starting with "once when my good friend [insert name of Michelin 3-star chef here] was visiting/showing me how he cooks stuff/invited me to his restaurant ... " or else it's "once when i was in the rural wilds of Wyoming/Africa/Italy/France ... " Now, if that's what you're looking for, then this is a great book for you. But if you want advice about how to be a great cook, how to eat right, how to enjoy your food, etc. I don't think this is a very useful book. Michael Pollan and others have covered all of that material and much more thoroughly and helpfully. And if you want to read rhapsodies about wonderful food that make you want to run into the kitchen and cook, MFK Fisher is a much better read. Sorry, Mr. Kaminsky, I wanted to love your book, but it just didn't work for me.

memoriesfrombooks's review against another edition

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3.0

Review first published on my blog: http://memoriesfrombooks.blogspot.com/2012/11/culinary-intelligence.html

The subtitle to Culinary Intelligence - the art of eating healthy and really well - describes its purpose. Peter Kaminsky is a long time food writer. Over time, his career in food led to unhealthy eating habits and health concerns. This book culls his experience and lessons learned in his journey back to health. In that sense, it is another diet book.

As far as diet books go, this one mirrors the ideas of many that have come before. Eat for quality not quantity. Buy the best ingredients and then cook them well. When you eat flavorful, satisfying food, you are satisfied with smaller portions.

The author coins the concept of "flavor per calorie" or FPC. The goal of his diet becomes to maximize FPC. Some of the ways in which he does this stem from his worldwide experiences in the food industry. As such, I did not find some of the ideas or examples applicable to my life.

My favorite part of this book was the focus on the idea summarized in the quote above. These days, so much of the food literature focuses on nutrients - calories, fat, protein, carbohydrates, macronutrients, antioxidants and so on. I liked that this book highlights that food is not simply the sum total of its parts, but it can be something more. While focus on nutrition is key to a healthy body, we need to keep in mind more than that to evolve an overall healthy lifestyle.

mereyberry144's review

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Never finished... read a review on goodreads that said his writing was pretentious... then I started looking for it. Attention lost. Time to move on to more exciting reads. Sorry Peter.

whimsicalish's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

3.75

carmenhartjensen's review against another edition

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2.0

I like the basic idea in this book...don't eat processed food, buy the best ingredients you can afford, cook it well.

He spends a lot of time taking about wine and alcohol and since I don't drink it was all lost on me.

This book did make me want to take a cooking class and experiment in the kitchen more. I also like the overall message that food should be enjoyable/healthy and it is not the enemy.

elisabeth1st's review against another edition

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4.0

This will be a terrific handsell when it comes out in May. Peter Kaminsky is a food critic for The Underground Gourmet. In this book he talks about his love of food and how his amazing profession led him to be overweight and at risk with his health. Through very entertaining tales and delicious descriptions of food, he explains how all of us can eat healthily and still enjoy all the richness of great dining. An easy recommendation for foodies and people who enjoy a good memoir.

jereshkigal's review against another edition

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3.0

I finally finished this book. It was alright. The author wrote about how to eat healthier and a lot, if not all, of what he had to say makes sense. It’s all commonplace, everyday wisdom when it comes to eating. Nothing earth shattering, but still important to reiterate. There are some recipes in the book if you want to try your hand at healthy eating.

ehawk's review

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5.0

This was a fun read and left my mouth watering, but also left me with some interesting thought tools to keep that eating from being out of control or overfilled with fat, sugar, and salt. Eating whole foods is not some great secret, but sometimes it takes someone else who really loves food and loves thinking about where flavor comes from to really inspire some creativity in the kitchen. That is what Peter Kaminsky's achieved in this book, and he's provided a truly healthy and balanced way to do it (while still eating indulgent decadent things once in a great while).