I enjoyed reading this discussion of kitchen technology. The treatment of the subject matter is quite good. The author goes into enough detail to feel like the subject is thoroughly discussed, while not so much as to reduce it to academic-like tedium. The splashes of humour are very refreshing, and I do appreciate the good bibliography and index at the end. Now I have some interesting trivia for my next dinner party. (I say this with absolutely no sense of irony and a completely straight face)

Some things that bumped it down from a five stars: I would have liked a few more illustrations, particularly when different items were contrasted in the text. I found myself putting down the book and going to the Internet to look up the differences between Puritan and trifid spoons, or Rex and Lancashire potato peelers. Perhaps this is a flaw with the ebook and not the paper version. The last problem I had was with the book's treatment of the Chinese chef knife, what the author calls 'tou'. There is no knife by that name. I went looking for a video showing the knife in action and couldn't find reference to it anywhere. I had to resort to calling it the 'Chinese cleaver' to find any videos. Maybe it's a mis-romanization of the name.

All in all, I enjoyed it and I'm recommending it to a friend.