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A philosopher can enjoy a good dinner. Immanuel Kant loved his cheddar sandwiches, but Wittgenstein wanted to eat the same meal again and again. Baggini, a philosopher himself, turns his disciplined mind to the question of food and us. He persistently takes the Aristotelian approach, favouring the middle way between extremes, particularly when assessing the modern holy food trinity of “SOL”, seasonal, organic and local. For Baggini, the cardinal virtue is “mindfulness”, awareness of where our food comes from, of how it is produced and of the sheer privilege of eating well. He considers our enjoyment of food to be a defining part of our distinct human mixture of animality and intelligent awareness. There is a consistency to his arguments, whether he is savouring rustic Italian pasta or dining in a fabulously expensive restaurant. Each chapter ends with a mouth-watering description, not strictly a recipe, of how to prepare a wholesome treat, from fisherman’s stew to soda bread. A book that stimulates mind and palate.
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