The Best Thing I Ever Tasted: The Secret of Food

Like another reviewer here, I, too, first read the book and then the reviews. I was surprised to see that the book had only a three and one-half star average, as I found it to be a really thoughtful discussion of how we feel and think about food--a five-star read! Tisdale gives some really good historical insight into the evolution of our food culture and ideas. But, best of all for me, it was one of those books that had the ring of truth with my own psychological, physical, and emotional experiences of eating. Too often food writers come off as uppity and pretentious, even when they are trying hard not to be. Sallie Tisdale quite naturally does NOT have this problem. Like good food, Tisdale's writing is just rich enough to be delicious. Maybe it helps to be middle-aged and to have had some of the same eating experiences growing up as Tisdale had, and, maybe it's like another reviewer says--a person either loves or hates this book. (Another of my favorite books/authors is like that--people seem to love or hate Elizabeth Marshall Thomas's HIDDEN LIVES OF DOGS.)Anyway, I really love Tisdale's writing style, so much so that I found myself reading aloud from this book last night to my husband, who thoroughly enjoyed the chapter I shared with him.THE BEST THING I EVER TASTED is yummy!

After reading the first few chapters I told my mother about this wonderful book I was reading, and said I'd pass it along once I was done. I later realized that she would probably feel put on the defensive by my recommendation and wouldn't enjoy the book at all. Why? Because Tisdale asks her readers to reflect upon things many Americans don't want to think about. That the decision about what to put on (or leave off) the table for dinner might be in any way influenced by advertising, social history or the government isn't something my mother really wants to consider. I have always counted on Tisdale to make me think about everyday life differently, and this book is no exception. I found it to be well researched and a thoroughly enjoyable read. I believe it would be great for people interested in gender studies, American studies and sociology.

I read the book, then I read the reviews, and was amazed at how contatradictary they are: Either you hate this book or you love it. Tisdale asks us to examine our appetites, and that makes some folks very touchy-- so touchy they didn't even finish the book! I think that's a shame. I found it well-researched, well-reasoned and well-written.

Tisdale here uses humor, history and her own insights to explain the lust for food and flavors, examining how this instinct controls eating conception habits and choices. From the extravagance of medieval feasts to modern culinary trends and including the publishing industry's winners, Best Thing I Ever Tasted is lively, fun and informative.

I have been reading her books for years, but this time she has outdone herself. This is at once incisive social commentary about food and famine, asceticism and dieting, an elegy for a way of eating (and being) that is gone (and may never have been), and a memoir of her family's (especially that of her mother) history that continues to sadden her.About The Zone diet, she says, "What he [Barry Sears] does is tell his readers again and again...how to get the body we evolved to protect ourselves from having--that lean, mean, hungry look." You should read this book.