Friday, December 5, 2014

Book Review: The Tastemakers by David Sax

Title: The Tastemakers: Why We're Crazy for Cupcakes but Fed Up with Fondue
Author: David Sax
Enjoyment Rating: ***
Source: Kindle

I heard David Sax on talking about his new book, The Tastemakers, on RadioWest a month or so ago. I was out walking the kids and the dog, and I was so captivated by the conversation that I came right home, bought the book and started reading. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I love this kind of stuff-- where food intersects with pop culture. In The Tastemakers, Sax explores food trends-- what makes a trend grow big (basically, put it on an influential television show or launch it in NYC), how future trends can be predicted, why some trends make it while others don't, and where good food trends go to die (The Melting Pot, apparently).

Sax does a nice job educating his reader while being entertaining, Part journalist, part memoirist, Sax goes to apple orchards in Canada (what will replace the Honeycrisp as the darling apple of the next decade?), to Baconfest, and to Dole with a group of food bloggers. However, there wasn't a lot I felt like I learned about food trends from the story, beyond what Sax and Doug Fabrizio talked about during the hour-long show. Still, this is an entertaining, quick read, and good for anyone who wants to know why the heck we're all eating kale chips and chia seeds right now.

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