Future Food

This cookbook is many things, all of them to be enjoyed. Above all, it's a great set of recipes. Although exact, legible directions are given for each one, most are pretty forgiving about tweaks to the directions, ingredients, and flavors involved. It's also a great cookbook for people who want to eat less meat, for whatever reason. This isn't a vegetarian cookbook, and doesn't deliver a vegetarian diatribe. It's about balance and about choosing a balance point. In fact, Tudge is actively pro-meat. Even so, it's a good book for someone who wants to be a vegetarian but wants to ease into that diet rather than making the big break. (I turned vegetarian that way thirty years ago, and I recommend against it.) This book is other things, too. It's a beautifully illustrated book, for those who eat with their eyes. It's a reasoned discussion of how different food-generating resources should be put to use in a world where more people need to eat every day. It's also a zealous rant in polite British style, by A Man with A Mission, the kind that entertains without threatening. I admit, a few items disappoint me. Tudge gave up on kasha (buckwheat) for reasons of his own - I'm not a fan, but I like it for variety. He also gave up on quinoa and amaranth, largely because of supply problems. I can't fault him for not doing the impossible but I recommend both to the interested reader, especially when blended with other grains or with couscous to cut the heaviness. Hint: Cook different grains separately, because of their different cooking times, then mix them for serving. For the right reader, this cookbook will do at least its share of the work. That reader loves flavor, texture, color, and ideas. Especially ideas. You'll get huge value from Tudge's approach to food, even if you don't follow his exact recipes or his politics. //wiredweird