Review: Bittman's recipe for good food and good old common sense
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 25, 2011
Mark Bittman has taught me a thing or two about life and food. When he was known as "The Minimalist" in his food column in "The New York Times," he admonished me (I took it personally, anyway) to never buy a kitchen utensil or gadget that had only one use, a rack for hanging bananas or a cherry pitter, for example. I took what he said to heart and it's become a maxim to live by.Another thing food-wise he put me onto was that pimenton (smoked paprika to most of the world) is the best of all spices and will make almost anything good taste better. This essay is his food manifesto augmented with some sensible kitchen tips and easy-to-prepare recipes that coming from Bittman promise to be as flavorful as they are simple.Bittman wants us spend more time in the kitchen and less time standing in line at Mickie D's. If we do that everything will get better: we'll lose weight, we'll be healthier, our relationships will get stronger, the economy will improve and the world generally will be a better place. He says, "If you're a more-or-less typical American - cooking will change your life for the better."He tells us how cooking for himself, changed his life. He began frequently spending time in the kitchen preparing food in 1968 when he was an eighteen year-old New York kid, a sophomore in college. He's been hanging out in the kitchen since and he's much better for it, he says.About of third of the calories we eat come from restaurants. That's almost double the percentage of thirty years ago. And how do you think that statistic is tracking with the rate of obesity in America? Yup, the rates for both are rising like puff pastry and at about the same amount over the same period of time. So stay home and cook, for god's sake. That's all Bittman is asking.If you do that, you'll get more control of your life and your health and weight and you'll be eating food that's more nutritious and tastes a lot better. You'll even be doing something really good for the economy.  That's because, no matter where you live, if you prepare your own food you'll most likely be cooking farm products grown locally and the impact on your local agriculture carries with it "huge" economic opportunities, Bittman says. "Money cycles through the community, creates jobs and, most important, rewards the farmers."So there. If you want a burger for supper, have one. Just cook it yourself and try to use locally produced foodstuffs. You'll be better off. We'll all be better off. "Spend time in the kitchen and you're rewarded with something to eat. It's just that simple." Enough said.(Except to add: just as he did in his "Minimalist" column, Bittman writes with verve, keeps things simple and always makes a whole lot of good common sense.)