What makes a recipe easy?
In Gwyneth Paltrow's case, here's what it doesn't mean: It doesn't mean cheap. And it doesn't mean quick (necessarily). And it rarely means made with gluten, or refined sugars, or anything that's not organic.
Her latest cookbook, her third, is calledIt's All Easy, and the actress/GOOP mogul describes it in the introduction as "a self-help book for the chronically busy cook." The recipes here range from so-easy-you-probably-don't-actually-need-a-recipe (avocado toast) to, um, decidedly not easy (I'll get to that in a minute).
It's tempting to rip this book apart, asmany peoplehave withPaltrow's previous cookbooks,My Father's DaughterandIt's All Good. You could sayIt's All Easyis out of touch, that the book is too name-droppy, that the ingredients are too expensive, and that no one really eats like this. And it would be more or less true.
But consider for a second that this is Paltrow's first attempt at a cookbook for real human beings. People who aren't ascribing to a rigid Hollywood diet and don't have a pizza oven in their backyard. Unlike in her first two books, the food here isn't necessarily aspirational.It's All Easyis addressing a need every regular person has: How to get dinner on the table every day without going totally bonkers.
Which would be great, until you remember Gwyneth Paltrow is not a regular person. Do I truly believe, as she claims in the book, that some nights she can't figure out dinner, so she heats up some Amy's organic pizza rolls, pours herself a giant glass of wine, and calls it a day? I want to...but I can't quite get my brain to do the mental gymnastics to make it happen.
Paltrow wisely called in an actual regular person to help her write the book: GOOP food editor Thea Baumann. (Baumann is a new addition; Paltrow's previous cookbooks were written with Julia Turshen.) Baumann does a lot to bring the book down to earth, but unfortunately there are moments where it feels like the book is comprised of two disparate voices.
In fact, the recipes, taken as a whole, don't have clear vision. The book is, all at once, a crash course in trendy health food (smoothie bowls, spiralized zucchini noodles, nori and collard wraps, cashew cream), a brief tour through Paltrow's favorite SoCal restaurants (Huckleberry,Kye's), and a nod towards kid-friendly food (grilled cheese and tomato soup; pita pizza).
Some recipes are a little tone-deaf: Oddly dated recipes for chicken piccata and asparagus mimosa seem stuffy among the light and airy California fare, and a trio of cheesy fried Tex-Mex dishes (migas, enchiladas, taquitos) are just wholly out of place.
And then there's the fact that a lot of this food simply isn't that easy. None of it is hard, exactly, but some of it is pretty complicated. For example, a from-scratch cauliflower macaroni and cheese was delicious, but making béchamel sauce isn't exactly on my list of go-to weeknight techniques. And nori-wrapped hand rolls are only easy if you're practiced at rolling nori. (I am not.)
And then there's Paltrow's riff on Judy Rodgers's famous (and famously complicated) Zuni Cafe roast chicken, which I found unnecessarily complex: First you cut a chicken into pieces, then you coat the pieces in a seasoned herb mixture, then you roast them for awhile, then you add pieces of bread and lemon and olive oil, then you roast it some more, then you deglaze it with a vinegar-and-anchovy mixture, then you toss the bread with an arugula salad and put the chicken on top to rest, and then you make a pan sauce with the drippings. The order of operations is so specific (and more than a little at odds with standard techniques) that I found myself reading and rereading the recipe while I was making it to make sure I got it right. How is that easy?
也就是说,如果你设置简单的资格, this is actually a decent cookbook. Every dish I made turned out as advertised, and tasty too. A kimchi cauliflower fried "rice" in particular is a dish I'll be returning to often (and it was pretty simple, although it does require a food processor). "Easy" ends up being a bit of a trap for Paltrow; under another name, this would just be a fine-if-not-perfect guide to how trendy California families eat these days.It's All Family, maybe, orIt's All Sunshine.It's All SoCal?
But with "easy" in there, it forces me to ask who this book is for. "What does 'easy' mean in the context of being in the kitchen and preparing food?" Paltrow asks in the introduction. Well, what does easy mean in the context of being Gwyneth Paltrow? It means stocking your pantry with pricey health-conscious ingredients (who has hazelnut oil on hand?), and having access to grocery stores that stock raw cacao and frozen dragon-fruit purée. Paltrow's audience are people who know the word "tisane" but needthe term FOMO explained. They have money, they have kids who don't eat gluten, and they consume Vegenaise by the gallon.
It's kind of easy, I guess. But for whom?
It's All Easy
By Gwyneth Paltrow and Thea Baumann
Rating:Two forks.
Our star ratings are based on a four fork system. TheEpicurious Cookbook Canonserves as the standard-bearer for what four fork books should be.
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