-
Cooked
- A Natural History of Transformation
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Health & Wellness, Fitness, Diet & Nutrition
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $31.50
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
In Defense of Food
- An Eater's Manifesto
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the so-called Western diet, food has been replaced by nutrients, and common sense by confusion - most of what we’re consuming today is longer the product of nature but of food science. The result is what Michael Pollan calls the American Paradox: The more we worry about nutrition, the less healthy we seem to become. With In Defense of Food, Pollan proposes a new (and very old) answer to the question of what we should eat that comes down to seven simple but liberating words: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."
-
-
Life and Death
- By James on 06-03-10
By: Michael Pollan
-
Second Nature
- A Gardener's Education
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his articles and in best-selling books such as The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan has established himself as one of our most important and beloved writers on modern man's place in the natural world. A new literary classic, Second Nature has become a manifesto not just for gardeners but for environmentalists everywhere.
-
-
The garden will always be a work in progress...
- By dancer on 03-20-15
By: Michael Pollan
-
Food Rules
- An Eater's Manual
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 1 hr and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eating doesn't have to be so complicated. In this age of ever-more elaborate diets and conflicting health advice, Food Rules brings welcome simplicity to our daily decisions about food. Written with clarity, concision, and wit that has become best-selling author Michael Pollan's trademark, this indispensable handbook lays out a set of straightforward, memorable rules for eating wisely, minute by minute, accompanied by a concise explanation.
-
-
Quick List of 64 Rules of Thumb for Better Eating
- By Stephen K on 09-14-20
By: Michael Pollan
-
A Place of My Own
- The Architecture of Daydreams
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With this updated edition of his earlier book, A Place of My Own, listeners can revisit the inspired, intelligent, and often hilarious story of Pollan’s realization of a room of his own—a small, wooden hut, his “shelter for daydreams” — built with his admittedly unhandy hands. Inspired by both Thoreau and Mr. Blandings, A Place of My Own not only works to convey the history and meaning of all human building, it also marks the connections between our bodies, our minds, and the natural world.
-
-
Pollan is a great narrator
- By justin chidester on 05-07-12
By: Michael Pollan
-
This Is Your Mind on Plants
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Of all the things humans rely on plants for - sustenance, beauty, medicine, fragrance, flavor, fiber - surely the most curious is our use of them to change consciousness: to stimulate or calm, fiddle with or completely alter, the qualities of our mental experience. Take coffee and tea: People around the world rely on caffeine to sharpen their minds. But we do not usually think of caffeine as a drug, or our daily use as an addiction, because it is legal and socially acceptable.
-
-
This is a clip show.
- By Jeff W. on 07-07-21
By: Michael Pollan
-
The Omnivore's Dilemma
- A Natural History of Four Meals
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"What should we have for dinner?" To one degree or another, this simple question assails any creature faced with a wide choice of things to eat. Anthropologists call it the omnivore's dilemma. Choosing from among the countless potential foods nature offers, humans have had to learn what is safe, and what isn't. Today, as America confronts what can only be described as a national eating disorder, the omnivore's dilemma has returned with an atavistic vengeance.
-
-
Great presentation of a moral dilemma
- By MCRedding on 02-07-09
By: Michael Pollan
-
In Defense of Food
- An Eater's Manifesto
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the so-called Western diet, food has been replaced by nutrients, and common sense by confusion - most of what we’re consuming today is longer the product of nature but of food science. The result is what Michael Pollan calls the American Paradox: The more we worry about nutrition, the less healthy we seem to become. With In Defense of Food, Pollan proposes a new (and very old) answer to the question of what we should eat that comes down to seven simple but liberating words: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."
-
-
Life and Death
- By James on 06-03-10
By: Michael Pollan
-
Second Nature
- A Gardener's Education
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his articles and in best-selling books such as The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan has established himself as one of our most important and beloved writers on modern man's place in the natural world. A new literary classic, Second Nature has become a manifesto not just for gardeners but for environmentalists everywhere.
-
-
The garden will always be a work in progress...
- By dancer on 03-20-15
By: Michael Pollan
-
Food Rules
- An Eater's Manual
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 1 hr and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eating doesn't have to be so complicated. In this age of ever-more elaborate diets and conflicting health advice, Food Rules brings welcome simplicity to our daily decisions about food. Written with clarity, concision, and wit that has become best-selling author Michael Pollan's trademark, this indispensable handbook lays out a set of straightforward, memorable rules for eating wisely, minute by minute, accompanied by a concise explanation.
-
-
Quick List of 64 Rules of Thumb for Better Eating
- By Stephen K on 09-14-20
By: Michael Pollan
-
A Place of My Own
- The Architecture of Daydreams
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With this updated edition of his earlier book, A Place of My Own, listeners can revisit the inspired, intelligent, and often hilarious story of Pollan’s realization of a room of his own—a small, wooden hut, his “shelter for daydreams” — built with his admittedly unhandy hands. Inspired by both Thoreau and Mr. Blandings, A Place of My Own not only works to convey the history and meaning of all human building, it also marks the connections between our bodies, our minds, and the natural world.
-
-
Pollan is a great narrator
- By justin chidester on 05-07-12
By: Michael Pollan
-
This Is Your Mind on Plants
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Of all the things humans rely on plants for - sustenance, beauty, medicine, fragrance, flavor, fiber - surely the most curious is our use of them to change consciousness: to stimulate or calm, fiddle with or completely alter, the qualities of our mental experience. Take coffee and tea: People around the world rely on caffeine to sharpen their minds. But we do not usually think of caffeine as a drug, or our daily use as an addiction, because it is legal and socially acceptable.
-
-
This is a clip show.
- By Jeff W. on 07-07-21
By: Michael Pollan
-
The Omnivore's Dilemma
- A Natural History of Four Meals
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"What should we have for dinner?" To one degree or another, this simple question assails any creature faced with a wide choice of things to eat. Anthropologists call it the omnivore's dilemma. Choosing from among the countless potential foods nature offers, humans have had to learn what is safe, and what isn't. Today, as America confronts what can only be described as a national eating disorder, the omnivore's dilemma has returned with an atavistic vengeance.
-
-
Great presentation of a moral dilemma
- By MCRedding on 02-07-09
By: Michael Pollan
-
The Food Lab
- Better Home Cooking Through Science
- By: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 21 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Serious Eats's culinary nerd-in-residence, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt has pondered all these questions and more. Kenji shows that often, conventional methods don't work that well, and home cooks can achieve far better results using new - but simple - techniques. In hundreds of easy-to-make recipes, you will find out how to make foolproof Hollandaise sauce in just two minutes, how to transform one simple tomato sauce into a half dozen dishes, how to make the crispiest, creamiest potato casserole ever conceived, and much more.
-
-
Props to the narrator, and amazing book
- By Carla Nowicki on 08-22-20
-
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
- Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking
- By: Samin Nosrat
- Narrated by: Samin Nosrat
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A visionary new master class in cooking that distills decades of professional experience into just four simple elements, from the woman declared "America's next great cooking teacher" by Alice Waters.
-
-
Great insights : But Please include the recipes!!
- By Daniel on 11-13-17
By: Samin Nosrat
-
The Art of Fermentation
- An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from Around the World
- By: Sandor Ellix Katz
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden
- Length: 20 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Art of Fermentation is the most comprehensive guide to do-it-yourself home fermentation ever published. Sandor Ellix Katz presents the concepts and processes behind fermentation in ways that are simple enough to guide listeners through their first experience making sauerkraut, and in-depth enough to provide greater understanding for experienced practitioners. While Katz contextualizes fermentation in terms of biological and cultural evolution, nutrition, and even economics, this is primarily a compendium of practical information.
-
-
Good but not for everyone <br />
- By Donald on 05-01-16
-
How to Change Your Mind
- What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction, and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third.
-
-
Personal
- By Robert F. Jones on 09-02-18
By: Michael Pollan
-
Yes, Chef
- A Memoir
- By: Marcus Samuelsson
- Narrated by: Marcus Samuelsson
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It begins with a simple ritual: Every Saturday afternoon, a boy who loves to cook walks to his grandmother’s house and helps her prepare a roast chicken for dinner. The grandmother is Swedish, a retired domestic. The boy is Ethiopian and adopted, and he will grow up to become the world-renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson. This book is his love letter to food and family in all its manifestations. Yes, Chef chronicles Marcus Samuelsson’s remarkable journey from Helga’s humble kitchen to the opening of the beloved Red Rooster in Harlem.
-
-
A fun and inspiring civics lesson
- By loix on 06-27-12
-
The Omnivore's Dilemma
- Young Readers Edition
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“What’s for dinner"? seemed like a simple question - until journalist and supermarket detective Michael Pollan delved behind the scenes. From fast food and big organic to small farms and old-fashioned hunting and gathering, this young listeners’ adaptation of Pollan’s famous food-chain exploration encourages kids to consider the personal and global health implications of their food choices. The Omnivore’s Dilemma serves up a bold message to the generation that needs it most: It’s time to take charge of our national eating habits - and it starts with you.
-
-
So glad I finally read this book!
- By CourtneyWNY on 02-21-17
By: Michael Pollan
-
War on Peace
- The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence
- By: Ronan Farrow
- Narrated by: Ronan Farrow
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
American diplomacy is under siege. Offices across the State Department sit empty while abroad, the military-industrial complex has assumed the work once undertaken by peacemakers. We're becoming a nation that shoots first and asks questions later. In an astonishing account ranging from Washington, DC, to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and North Korea in the years since 9/11, acclaimed journalist and former diplomat Ronan Farrow illuminates one of the most consequential and poorly understood changes in American history.
-
-
A Quiet Rescue
- By Kristen Cunningham on 02-19-19
By: Ronan Farrow
-
Civilization
- The West and the Rest
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Niall Ferguson
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The rise to global predominance of Western civilization is the single most important historical phenomenon of the past five hundred years. All over the world, an astonishing proportion of people now work for Western-style companies, study at Western-style universities, vote for Western-style governments, take Western medicines, wear Western clothes, and even work Western hours. Yet six hundred years ago the petty kingdoms of Western Europe seemed unlikely to achieve much more than perpetual internecine warfare. It was Ming China or Ottoman Turkey that had the look of world civilizations.
-
-
Thoughtful analysis of the ascendancy of the West.
- By Patrick on 05-25-13
By: Niall Ferguson
-
The Triumph of Seeds
- How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses & Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History
- By: Thor Hanson
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We live in a world of seeds. From our morning toast to the cotton in our clothes, they are quite literally the stuff and staff of life, supporting diets, economies, and civilizations around the globe. Just as the search for nutmeg and the humble peppercorn drove the Age of Discovery, so did coffee beans help fuel the Enlightenment and cottonseed help spark the Industrial Revolution. And from the fall of Rome to the Arab Spring, the fate of nations continues to hinge on the seeds of a Middle Eastern grass known as wheat.
-
-
Wonderful, Accessible Book About Little 'Ol Seeds
- By Jeff Koeppen on 09-12-18
By: Thor Hanson
-
The Idea of the Brain
- The Past and Future of Neuroscience
- By: Matthew Cobb
- Narrated by: Joe Jameson
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An "elegant", "engrossing" (Carol Tavris, Wall Street Journal) examination of what we think we know about the brain and why - despite technological advances - the workings of our most essential organ remain a mystery.
-
-
Informative and interesting but mispronunciation
- By Stephanie Romer on 05-16-22
By: Matthew Cobb
-
The Violinist's Thumb
- And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Henry Leyva
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From New York Times best-selling author Sam Kean come more incredible stories of science, history, language, and music, as told by our own DNA. There are genes to explain crazy cat ladies, why other people have no fingerprints, and why some people survive nuclear bombs. Genes illuminate everything from JFK's bronze skin (it wasn't a tan) to Einstein's genius. They prove that Neanderthals and humans bred thousands of years more recently than any of us would feel comfortable thinking.
-
-
a Magnum Opus
- By Richard on 04-13-13
By: Sam Kean
-
For the Love of Europe
- My Favorite Places, People, and Stories
- By: Rick Steves
- Narrated by: Rick Steves
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Join Rick as he's swept away by a fado singer in Lisbon, learns the dangers of falling in love with a gondolier in Venice, and savors a cheese course in the Loire Valley. Contemplate the mysteries of centuries-old stone circles in England, dangle from a cliff in the Swiss Alps, and hear a French farmer's defense of foie gras. With a brand-new, original introduction from Rick reflecting on his decades of travel, For the Love of Europe features 100 of the best stories published throughout his career.
-
-
Glad I got the audio version
- By Simon Altus on 01-14-21
By: Rick Steves
Publisher's Summary
Michael Pollan, the best-selling author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, Food Rules, and How to Change Your Mind, explores the previously uncharted territory of his own kitchen in Cooked.
Cooked is now a Netflix docuseries based on the book that focuses on the four kinds of "transformations" that occur in cooking. Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney and starring Michael Pollan, Cooked teases out the links between science, culture and the flavors we love.
In Cooked, Pollan discovers the enduring power of the four classical elements - fire, water, air, and earth - to transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink. Apprenticing himself to a succession of culinary masters, Pollan learns how to grill with fire, cook with liquid, bake bread, and ferment everything from cheese to beer.
Each section of Cooked tracks Pollan’s effort to master a single classic recipe using one of the four elements. A North Carolina barbecue pit master tutors him in the primal magic of fire; a Chez Panisse-trained cook schools him in the art of braising; a celebrated baker teaches him how air transforms grain and water into a fragrant loaf of bread; and finally, several mad-genius “fermentos” (a tribe that includes brewers, cheese makers, and all kinds of picklers) reveal how fungi and bacteria can perform the most amazing alchemies of all. The listener learns alongside Pollan, but the lessons move beyond the practical to become an investigation of how cooking involves us in a web of social and ecological relationships. Cooking, above all, connects us.
The effects of not cooking are similarly far reaching. Relying upon corporations to process our food means we consume large quantities of fat, sugar, and salt; disrupt an essential link to the natural world; and weaken our relationships with family and friends. In fact, Cooked argues, taking back control of cooking may be the single most important step anyone can take to help make the American food system healthier and more sustainable. Reclaiming cooking as an act of enjoyment and self-reliance, learning to perform the magic of these everyday transformations, opens the door to a more nourishing life.
Critic Reviews
"Pollan narrates his book in a conversational style filled with conviction and eagerness that drive the listener to join his evolutionary quest." (AudioFile)
More from the same
What listeners say about Cooked
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mark
- 12-12-14
A bit bland
Michael Pollan is a great food writer. In his previous three books he enlightened me and changed my attitude towards food and the food industry. He got me started on the road to eating food that my grandparents would have recognised as food (avoiding today’s cornucopia of processed foods when possible) and to worrying about the way food is mass-produced and animals are mistreated.
His fourth book, ‘Cooked’ continues some of these themes but from a slightly different angle. He looks at foods corresponding to the four classical elements: fire, water, air and earth. For ‘fire’, he chooses traditional barbecue of hogs in the Deep South. For ‘water’, he looks at meals cooked in a pot. ‘Air’ is bread, and ‘earth’ is foods relying on the action of microorganisms (e.g. fermentation to make alcohol or acidification to make cheese).
It’s an interesting and enjoyable book. A rambling, meandering, thoughtful piece about what food means to us as humans. But, unlike his other work, it doesn't really have one central point or idea that he’s trying to prove.
For this reason, it comes over as being slightly contrived and a bit aimless. You can’t help thinking that Pollan needed to write another book and was a bit stuck for a central idea, and then he thought about the four elements and that was good enough. The result is a Sunday Supplement magazine article that stimulates your appetite, but doesn't really bite like his earlier works. But it’s a best seller, so what do I know? In any case, it’s good enough to deserve a listen, so go ahead.
57 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael
- 05-02-13
Very enjoyable listen!
Any additional comments?
As a long-time foodie, home chef, and serial do-it-yourselfer, I greatly enjoyed Michael Pollan's treatise on food alchemy. The story is engaging, I learned a few new things, and Pollan does an excellent job of narrating in a natural, conversational tone. I only listen to audiobooks during my long commute, and I found myself anxious to get back on the road so I could listen to it some more. If you're passionate about food and cooking, you won't be disappointed!
30 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kurt
- 05-09-13
Excellent
Any additional comments?
I found this book to be fascinating. Masterfully blending biology, chemistry, politics, history, health and culture (pun intended) Micheal Pollan bakes an airy loaf of wisdom that's also entertaining. Cooked is about how we humans interact with our food. It's something we all do but unless you're a professional foodie something we seldom think about. I highly recommend this read and especially this audio version read by Pollan.
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Matt
- 05-08-13
Michael Pollan Fans Will Love It.
Great book. Michael Pollan fans will love it. BUT, in the past, his books were narrated by Scott Brick, who is fantastic. I wish the author didn't narrate the audiobook.
22 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Doggy Bird
- 05-26-13
Really fascinating book, well-read by the author
I am enjoying this book so much I decided to write a review before I finished. I usually am skeptical of author-narrated books since they don't always compare well with professionally narrated audios. This is definitely not the case with COOKED. I like the author's narration very much, he reads at a perfect speed, his voice is pleasant and he sounds like he knows what he's talking about. There's an aspect of direct communication and connection that really adds a lot to the audio.
Further, this is such a fascinating exploration of food and the history of cooking that I cannot stop listening and re-listening to some parts of the book a second time. I really like the way Pollan approaches his topics, illustrating his points through experiences with individuals who are experts at doing the kind of cooking he is studying and scientific studies on different chemical reactions that take place during cooking. I also enjoy the historical perspective.
I am almost halfway through the book and well into the chapter on water, or pot-cooking after having very much appreciated both the introduction and the section on cooking with fire. One of my favorite ways to listen to audiobooks is when I am cooking, which makes listening to this particular audiobook especially nice. Highly recommended read for anyone who loves to cook, loves to eat, or is interested in the role of cooking in human history.
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Eliana
- 11-22-13
For curious cooks . . .
This book was not as transformative a listen as Botany of Desire, but I really enjoyed it and found myself talking about it a lot with friends. (always a good sign) It made me want to get into my kitchen on a weekend and experiment with long-ago clipped recipes. Very enjoyable.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Wendy
- 09-07-13
I'm newly inspired.....
First off, I'm a total Michael Pollan fan. I first read "Food Rules" many years ago, which made so much sense that it became the springboard for my becoming vegan, a lifestyle that has lasted and lasted. Each and every one of his books has rekindled my commitment to stay away from processed foods and the other over-manufactured foods on the grocery shelves.
"Cooked" takes the next step. Pollan uses the four elements (earth, air, fire, and water) to show us the delights of home cooking and the benefits therein. While I don't eat meat, I still enjoyed his adventures thru barbeque and braising (without any desire to try the foods he cooked), but it was his adventures into bread baking and fermentation that really spurred my imagination.
Pollan, a polished and award winning writer, takes the under-recognized elements of food and nutrition and makes them mystical. For example, the intricate interplay of microbes used in bread baking become characters in the drama of the baked loaf. He has an understanding of the interrelationship between food and society that made me sit back and sigh. Yes, it's all so clear now.
This is a very special book ... a perfect companion to Michael Moss' "Salt Sugar Fat." We can turn the current health crisis around if we listen to these sages of food.
I could write more, but I need to go punch down the bread dough that is rising in the kitchen....
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Darwin8u
- 07-26-15
Another branch on Pollan's Phylogenetic Foodie Tree
I actually listened to this last year, but am only now getting around to reviewing it. So, let's just say I was letting this review pickle.
In Cooked Michael Pollan stays close to his food roots. Similar in theme to: Omnivore's Dilema (Four Meals), In Defense of Food (Food Manifesto), Botany of Desire (Four Plants), Food Rules (Owner's Manual for Food), and Second Nature (Growing Food).
Cooked is just another branch on the Phylogenetic food tree for the Pollan's Omnivore, me thinks. Unless, of course, Pollan is going to delve into the proper way to digest, poop, or compost your waste. And... he might just.
I am neither a Pollan lover or hater. I've read a bunch of his stuff because it is fast and rather tasty. The problem with Pollan is reading too much of him. His books are a bit full of roughage and eventually too much of his raw idealism or fiber-rich localism gets to you.
I think that is the problem with idealists and their genius (genus?). No one can quite live upto the expectations. There just isn't that many locally grown mushrooms, or farmer's markets, or grass-fed organic beef. But education about farming, feasting, and cooking gives us a better sense of both the idea and the real. As long as we are aware of the costs of the way we eat and the way we cook, we are better than we started. The probelm comes in when we believe ALL the hype. As long as you can remain pragmatic about food and Pollan, reading him is a good thing.
21 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gabrielle
- 11-19-13
contagious passion
What did you love best about Cooked?
I loved the description of slow roasting pork and the love of the process of fermentation in pickles, beer and baking. This book inspired me to make some mead, for which I am very grateful, thank you, Michael.
I generally love Michael's work and enjoyed this book as I expected I would but I am already a food and brewing aficionado so I already know how to brew, bake, ferment and roast, but not to the same extremes. I do not like finicky, faddish cooking so I was relieved to see how Michael focused on the real aspects of real, good, life-giving food.
For anyone who is wanting to go on a gastronomical journey throughout their lives with understanding and intention, this is probably an excellent place to start.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- matthew
- 09-17-13
Not quite as good as previous works
Botany of Desire made me think about our close relationship to food and Omnivore's Dilemma was laid out so we could follow an entire meal from garden or farm to the table. In this book Michael plots the history of cooking from its primitive inception to the present. We learn that it is cooking that truly separates us from animals. He goes through barbeque, boiling, fermenting and distilling. Michael makes us think we should all go out and try our hands at some old fashion craft like baking bread or brewing beer for the sheer joy of making something we have come to expect prepackaged at the supermarket. I also happen to agree with Michael that Americans seem to want to watch cooking shows,but not to engage in cooking. This summer I suggested my friends and I cook something at home. It seemed to me like people want to go out just for the opportunity to all eat something different. I love the idea of sharing different techniques and personal feeling I get from eating a friends food or seeing what they think of my creations. America's kitchen all seems to come from a box or a can. Now that I live in China I have tried my hand at things like hummus or soup. We don't have Campbell's here. This is another great work, but I still feel like Omnivore's Dilemma was his best. It made me think about how industrialize food has become.As our time strapped world wants everything in an instant; we become a world that loses appreciation for the preparation of wholesome and delicious food and the skills to bring out its inherent flavor.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 05-28-21
A feast of a book!
I really loved this book. Thoroughly engaging, loads of interesting detail told through rich stories and really well delivered by the author. An absolute must read for foodies.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- David Brady
- 10-21-17
This book was delicious!
By far one of the best listens I've had. This book improved my cooking and I see food in a whole new light now
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Ian Kendall
- 06-13-16
Great book, brilliant narration
Pollan did a great job writing and narrating "Cooked" and I would recommend this to anyone looking to learn about the more philosophical side of food!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- OB
- 04-28-16
Wonderful book
A great book for everyone, not just those interested in cooking. Michael is extremely talented writer (and researcher). I think I will come back to this book again. There is so much content that one read is not enough.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- JohnB
- 04-10-16
Great Book
I can listen to this book over and over and keep enjoying it and learning from it
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Codi
- 02-25-16
Excellent!
Excellent read, changes your perspectives on cooking, science and humanity. Thoroughly enjoyable and educational. Will read again soon :)
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Rene Neumann
- 05-30-17
always interesting
Michal Pollan's Omnivores Dilemma and Cooked are entertaining and informal. I'd love to see more books of him on Audible.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 10-15-19
An in-depth look into the making of delicious food
At first I didn't enjoy this book but I stuck with it and I'm glad I did. Some of the food preparation explored is truly fascinating and everyone would benefit from this book
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Dean Simpson c/o OnBoard Media
- 07-10-18
increased appreciation for quality food
Reading these well researched thoughts has awoken a passion and true appreciation for preparing and consuming good quality healthy home made food, like grandma used to make.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- James
- 07-31-17
Very engaging!
Michael Pollan kicked my passion for cooking and life up a few more notches. Bam!