Binging with Babish Cookbook Review
I would like to start this off by saying that Babish aka Andrew Rea is the the first inspiration to cooking in my life, without watching his videos on youtube I never would’ve even thought of eventually becoming a chef. With that out of the way, Andrew Rea’s Binging with Babish: 100 Recipes Recreated from Your Favorite Movies and TV Shows turns “imaginary” food from shows and moviesinto real dishes. This book and Babish in general show how food can be both art and a way to share stories as well.
The purpose of the book is to bring fictional foods to life and some examples are like Disney Pixar’s Ratitouille or Pigeon Pie with Wild Game from “Game of Thrones”.
His ability to consistently bridge the gap between fiction and reality by bringing these recipes to life is truly remarkable and deserving of high praise. On top of that, he somehow manages to make the recipes both easy to follow and accessible for the general public, which is no easy feat given how complex and outlandish many of the dishes he makes are. Furthermore, what really sets Rea apart is his self-aware and experimental tone, adding a unique personality to his work. When he jokes that his first attempt at the Big Night “Il Timpano” collapsed “like a culinary house of cards,” he openly acknowledges his imperfections—something that I rarely seen in many cookbooks today. He even uses his failures as a valuable teaching tool, showing readers what can be done to avoid similar mistakes, all while keeping a lighthearted sense of humor that makes the entire learning process both enjoyable and engaging.
The images seemed a little out of place to me seeing as they were smack dab in the middle of the book, however I can definately apreciate where he’s coming from as this is another way to tear down the walls of superiority in a sense. He wants to connect with his general audience and show that almost anyone that has patience and time can cook good food. Binging with Babish seems to have struck a rare find: a balance btween accessablity for a general audience/casual fans and those that have multiple years of experience and a way to inspire both groups.