Book info

• Title The Pedant in the Kitchen
• Author Julian Barnes
• Year 2003
• Genre Non-fiction

The Pedant's ambition is simple. He wants to cook tasty, nutritious food; he wants not to poison his friends; and he wants to expand, slowly and with pleasure, his culinary repertoire. A stern critic of himself and others, he knows he is never going to invent his own recipes (although he might, in a burst of enthusiasm, increase the quantity of a favourite ingredient). Rather, he is a recipe-bound follower of the instructions of others. It is in his interrogations of these recipes, and of those who create them, that the Pedant's true pedantry emerges. How big, exactly, is a 'lump'? Is a 'slug' larger than a 'gout'? When does a 'drizzle' become a downpour? And what is the difference between slicing and chopping?This book is a witty and practical account of Julian Barnes' search for gastronomic precision. It is a quest that leaves him seduced by Jane Grigson, infuriated by Nigel Slater, and reassured by Mrs Beeton's Victorian virtues. The Pedant in the Kitchen is perfect comfort for anyone who has ever been defeated by a cookbook and is something that none of Julian Barnes' legion of admirers will want to miss.

Thoughts

I love the concept of this, how recipe books are so inexact and open to interpretation that they can sometimes be of no use whatsoever. The book is made up of what I assume is a collection of columns, a handful of stories and anecdotes about trials and tribulations in the kitchen at the hands of various recipe books.

Some of it was more interesting than others, I think I was hoping for more personal cooking stories and perhaps specific recipe breakdowns, whereas there were more general stories and history and things like that. It’s a good balance, it just didn’t quite match what I’d expected from the book. It’s a quick read, not taxing and written well, so overall a good book.

Rating: 3 / 5