Twinkie Deconstructed: Steve Ettlinger

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Steve Ettlinger's book Twinkie, Deconstructed (Penguin 2007) targets those among us who simply "want to know." He takes an everyman approach by presenting the book as an explanation to his curious children. Chapter by chapter, he guides the reader down the list of Twinkie ingredients. The hunt to find and understand Twinkie's ingredients turns into a national, even international search, from wheat flour and a variety of sugars to polysorbate 60 and dyes. Ultimately, the search itself turns into a struggle over cooptation. In order to gain permission and access, Ettlinger had to cooperate with producers and manufacturers. Somewhere along the way, he lost interest in his journey--or perhaps lost the ability to make the comments, so obviously called for in the title and purpose. For, having spent some 250 pages to search for the origin of Twinkie ingredients and having sprinkled some suggestive comments along the ways, he spends a mere six pages to make any summation of his findings. In keeping with the light-hearted, everyman-approachable tone and style of the book, he notes a "Twinkie-Industrial Complex" and "Twinkie Nexus." However, rather than complete the task and assess whether Twinkies are indeed "good" for us to eat, he merely states the over-obvious: The fact is that chemicals, especially those in foods, are part of nature. (p 258) Instead, he makes an industry argument about the merits of Twinkies: It takes a global industrial effort to make enriched flour, to build strong bodies--and to make little snack cakes." (p 259) He goes even further, arguing that we inverse a history of the role of Twinkies to the role of history on the making of Twinkies--that is, enjoy this journey of discovery for its own sake. Inversely, we should forget about the impact of Twinkies on the bodies and minds of our children--as he has forgotten his. In sum, if you want a history of Twinkies without commentary, this is the book for you. It is interesting. It is informative. It just stops far short of providing true service to its readers by explaining how these new scientific facts translate into human health. If you want to find out how the little-understood ingredients of Twinkies affect your body, alas!, seek elsewhere. Previous articles: [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cookbooks, review, twinkie --> back to Super Chef