The Pedant in the Kitchen

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"The Pedant's ambition is simple. He wants to cook tasty, nutritious food; he wants not to poison his friends; and he wants to expand, slowly and with pleasure, his culinary repertoire. A stern critic of himself and others, he knows he is never going to invent his own recipes (although he might, in a burst of enthusiasm, occasionally increase the quantity of a favourite ingredient). Rather, he is a recipe-bound follower of others." "It is in his interrogations of these recipes, and of those who create them, that the Pedant's true pedantry emerges. How big, exactly, is a 'lump'? Is a 'slug' larger than a 'gout'? When does a 'drizzle' become a downpour? And what is the difference between slicing and chopping?" "This book is an account of Julian Barnes' search for gastronomic precision. It is a quest that leaves him seduced by Jane Grigson, infuriated by Nigel Slater; charmed by the recipes of Edouard de Pomiane; and reassured by Mrs. Beeton's Victorian virtues. The Pedant in the Kitchen is a perfect comfort for anyone who has ever been defeated by a cookbook."--BOOK JACKET