Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation

Michael Pollan, the bestselling 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 reader 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.

Author: Michael Pollan
Publisher: Penguin Press
Published: 04/23/2013
Pages: 480
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.65lbs
Size: 9.50h x 6.51w x 1.53d
ISBN: 9781594204210


Award: IACP Crystal Whisk Award - Finalist


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 11/15/2012 pg. 58
Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2013
Booklist 03/01/2013 pg. 11
Library Journal 03/15/2013 pg. 122
Publishers Weekly 03/25/2013
New York Times Book Review 04/28/2013 pg. 18
Entertainment Weekly 05/03/2013 pg. 68
Shelf Awareness 05/07/2013
Choice 11/01/2013
LJ Top 10 Book 12/01/2013 pg. 27

About the Author
MICHAEL POLLAN is the author of six previous books, including Food Rules, In Defense of Food, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and The Botany of Desire, all New York Times bestsellers. A longtime contributor to The New York Times, he is also the Knight Professor of Journalism at Berkeley. In 2010, Time magazine named him one of the one hundred most influential people in the world.

www.michaelpollan.com