The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters (Cookbook Review)

Waters, Alice (2007) The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution. New York, NY: Clarkson Potter. Pp x + 406. ISBN: 978-0-307-33679-8. $35.00 hard cover.

Reviewed by Shannon M. Russell, Rockford, IL

Many people consider cooking tedious, even if they like eating the delicious results. However, anyone who takes their own health seriously needs to learn how to cook their own meals. If you've been intimidated by the intricacies of the Joy of Cooking or Julia Child's The Art of French Cooking, this may be the “gourmet” book for you. These recipes are intrinsically simple, and the experience of cooking them pleases more than the stomach.

Before giving the reader a single recipe, Alice Waters, chef and owner of Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, California, tells about her love of food and how it enriches everyday life. She emphasizes how easy it is to cook for health, flavor and the environment. Her reasons for urging avid cooks to buy from the local farmer's market extend beyond the environment into sound reasoning that the freshest foods come from nearby and maintain their best nutritional value and flavor. No one should have to eat boring, tasteless food just to eat healthily.

Like any good cookbook that advocates a radically different kind of cooking lifestyle, the first sections detail the kinds of staples and equipment that are needed to produce the recipes in the book. Don't be discouraged if you don't have a pasta machine or a food processor. My kitchen is the size of a twin mattress, and I can cook many of the recipes in this book. Even if you can't keep every one of her recommended pantry staples on hand, it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the list and know what stores, shops, and local markets can provide these items when needed. What you're not going to find in this list are exotic (and expensive) spices such as saffron. She does use capers in a few recipes, though not many. Most ingredients, spices included, should be easily found at your local supermarket for a reasonable price.

When she gets into the meat of the recipes, the chapters, starting with “Four Essential Sauces,” “Salad,” and “Breads,” wax lovingly on the basic concepts of the food detailed in the section. These chapters highlight three to five basic recipes, with detailed descriptions of the process of making these foods and variations on the basic recipe. The emphasis is on experiencing the culinary process of making the food taste the best that it can with fresh ingredients, patient preparation and the right temperatures and equipment. Nowhere will you find the idea of tossing ingredients into a pot, turning the flame to medium and wandering away for an hour. Making food should involve all five of the senses. Sitting down to eat it is just the denouement of the process, not the point.

For example, Waters talks about soups as if they were meant to nourish your soul as much as your body. When she describes sauteing vegetables, the reader's mouth waters from the aroma of garlic and onion in olive oil lingering on the pages. For example, Waters writes,“Minestrone means 'big soup' in Italian: a soup of many vegetables. In order for them all to be cooked through at the same time, they're added in stages. First a tasty soffritto (a base of aromatic vegetables) is made, long-cooking vegetables are added and moistened with water or broth, and the soup is brought to a boil, at which point the more tender vegetables are added. Dried beans and pasta are cooked separately and added at the end.” (p. 71) I have never liked any variant of minestrone I have ever had before, canned or from a restaurant (no one in my family ever made home made minestrone), until this one. I learned from Ms. Waters that the flavor I never liked in minestrone came from fennel, which is not a necessary ingredient: ordinary celery can easily suffice.

The back half of the book looks like a more traditional cookbook with recipes and advice filling 171 pages. Waters gives advice on menu planning and shopping as well as listing resources the cooking reader could also use. The book includes a glossary of the culinary terms Waters uses. Even fairly intelligent people may come to this book with no idea what de-glazing means to the flavor and texture of a dish. The index provides easy access to recipes by type or major ingredient.

No matter what your reasons are for thinking you can't cook, or that cooking flavorful, nutritious meals is something you don't have the time or talent for, this book can change your mind and your life. Shopping and cooking should be savored, not a chore. Cooking is an ideal metaphor for life, for you and your family.