…[an] ambitious, blenderized treatise. The path from Stone Age flints to sous-vide machines whirs so smoothly that I found myself re-reading passages just to trace how the author managed to work in a Victorian copper batterie de cuisine along the way.

Bee Wilson's supple, sometimes playful style in Consider the Fork…cleverly disguises her erudition in fields from archaeology and anthropology to food science. Only when you find yourself rattling off statistics at the dinner table will you realize how much information you've effortlessly absorbed…Her fourth book (following histories of beekeeping, food scandals and the sandwich) proves she belongs in the company of Jane Grigson, one of the grandes dames of English food writing. Like Grigson's, Wilson's insouciant scholarship and companionable voice convince you she would be great fun to spend time with in the kitchen.

"Reading [Consider the Fork] is like having a long dinner table discussion with a fascinating friend.... Leisurely but lively...a pure joy to read."—Los Angeles Times

"Delightful.... [An] ebulliently written and unobtrusively learned survey."—Harper's Magazine

"[A] sparkling...fascinating and entertaining book."—The Sunday Times (UK)

"Wonderful ... Witty, scholarly, utterly absorbing and fired by infectious curiosity."—Observer (UK)

"A graceful study."—Guardian (UK)

"One part science, one part history, and a generous dash of fun."—Good Housekeeping

"A delightfully informative history of cooking and eating from the prehistoric discovery of fire to twenty-first-century high-tech, low-temp sous-vide-style cookery."—ELLE

"Wilson's insouciant scholarship and companionable voice convince you she would be great fun to spend time with in the kitchen.... [She is] a congenial kitchen oracle."—New York Times Book Review

"Fluid yet engaging, just like a good conversation over a pan of sizzling vegetables."—New Republic

"The path from Stone Age flints to sous-vide machines whirs so smoothly

that I found myself re-reading passages just to trace how the author managed to

work in a Victorian copper batterie de cuisine along the way."—Washington Post

"A delightful compendium of the tools, techniques and cultures of cooking

and eating. Be it a tong or a chopstick, a runcible spoon or a cleaver, Bee Wilson

approaches it with loving curiosity and thoroughness."—Spectator (UK)

"Wilson celebrates

the unsung implements that have helped shape our diets through the centuries.

After devouring this delightful mix of culinary science and history, you'll

never take a whisk for granted again."—Parade

"A cracking good read, as enjoyable as it is enlightening."—Raymond Blanc, Chef-Patron. Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons