Is This a Cookbook?: Adventures in the Kitchen

Blumenthal (Further Adventures in Search of Perfection: Reinventing Kitchen Classics), a Michelin-starred British chef and restaurateur, champions “noticing things, finding connections, responding emotionally, taking everything in and turning it into experiences” in this offbeat journal-cum-cookbook. Recipes are listed on the left side of the page while Blumenthal’s observations and cooking tips appear on the right (“These beans bring a bit of a firmer texture to the salad,” Blumenthal writes next to the recipe for pan bagnat). The 70 entries evoke childlike playfulness, as with the recipe for a banana and parsley smoothie, which includes a note that bananas make people fart. The sandwich section showcases such savory dishes as a kimcheese toastie, a rich melt that delivers heat, creaminess, and a pickled tang. Dinners are simple but filling and include taco variations, recognizable curry dishes, and classic fish and chips. A delicate hemp milk panna cotta with rhubarb compote, meanwhile, will make a sweet finish for any meal. McKean’s sepia-toned ink drawings that appear throughout will put readers in mind of John Tenniel’s Alice in Wonderland images. This heady ode to the joy of intuitive cooking is a tasty head trip. (Nov.)