The Pedant in the Kitchen
The Pedant in the Kitchen
Julian Barnes
Rating: 4.5/5.0
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“It is a moral act. It is an affair of sanity.”
Gastronomy, recipes, cooks, and cookbooks make an unusual ingredient for humor and laughter. Barnes in this nonfiction does not only experiment with the very content of comedy but also with the serving in flavors unknown to most Barnes' readers. He surprises like any chef using all his expertise to stir up a recipe using familiar ingredients but presenting a unique feel on the reading buds. However, it suits everyone’s taste. How so?
The book although a jab at author himself as a pedant , at cooks condescending knowledge of the novice and cookbooks’ tricky treatment of it’s consumer, but it still does not entirely commit to non fictional essay form but infuses the narrative with anecdotes diverse from plain to peppermint. This may set a trend for a new culinary craft: language that satisfies an intellectual appetite that is tickled by subtle laugh.
It is not a book of essays but any of the seventeen chapter can be read as individual titles dealing with concerns that a pedant's plate is filled with. For reference, chapter titled Service with Scowl’ shares the authors fear of tempting the grouchy butcher while his knives are still moving by assuming him to ‘ his butcher’ as stated in most cookbooks , “ask your butcher….”
Barnes as usual with his mastery of diction resonates with every new cook, a learner in exclaiming how cooking starts with shopping and in that matter we all need a shopping course before even thinking of a cooking course. The cry of complain that we all have uttered after failing ourselves in a recipe, why wont it look like the picture, the embarrassing exchange of compliments, the anxiety of hosting and the list goes on. Along these psychological interrogation Barnes also very deftly and lightly touches upon the tradition and philosophy of cooking, a commentary, more or less, fit for a serious social debate.
But what is a cookbook without pictures? The book has many painting s and pictures, classics, and posters to communicate the ideas further and to emphasize the pastiche culture we live in these times. With only about 140 pages the book is worth reading and savoring.
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BaSila Hasnain
20-09-2020
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