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To Taste

On Cooking and the Good Life
By Scott Samuelson
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Brief Description
A philosopher-chef's moving meditation on the pleasures of our shared humanity and how it can be most fully experienced in making and sharing food. Our daily rhythms and most meaningful relationships centre on the dining table, and so nothing is more essential to a good life... Read More
Format: Hardback
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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A philosopher-chef's moving meditation on the pleasures of our shared humanity and how it can be most fully experienced in making and sharing food.

Our daily rhythms and most meaningful relationships centre on the dining table, and so nothing is more essential to a good life than satisfying meals with friends and family. In To Taste, philosopher and sous-chef Scott Samuelson invites us into his kitchen, where he blends moving personal stories with insights from some of the world's greatest thinkers into a rich but simple argument: our daily labour, in making food or otherwise, should connect us with other people.

For Samuelson, the pleasures of excellent cooking illuminate this value in particularly compelling ways. When we embrace the work required to prepare and share a good meal, we learn to honour tradition, practise hospitality, respect nature, cherish festivity, and nurture skillβ€”all ethics that resist our increasingly dehumanised world. Ultimately, Samuelson argues that cooking, especially the elusive decision to season a dish "to taste," contains the full mystery of human life.

Whether you're a professional chef or your best culinary feat involves a can opener, To Taste can help you cook up a life that elicits a glorious mmm.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780226853666

Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 16 November 2026

Country: United States

Imprint: University of Chicago Press

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 28.0mm

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 426g

Pages: 224

Collections

Cook Books & Recipes Cooking & Food Non-Fiction Scott Samuelson

About the Author

Scott Samuelson holds a joint position at Iowa State University in Philosophy and Religious Studies and Extension and Outreach. His books include Rome as a Guide to the Good Life: A Philosophical Grand Tour, also published by the University of Chicago Press. For many years, he worked as a sous-chef at a farm-to-table French restaurant.

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