quackers reviewed on 8/27/2010 + 45 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

The best thing about this book is its title. I almost kept the book on my shelf for that reason alone, however the contents were just "meh."

Apocalypse Chow consists of equal parts survival tips and recipes. I found the survival tips to be pretty basic and geared to surviving a temporary emergency (e.g. hurricane, flood, minor earthquake) rather than a real apocalypse (e.g. nuclear, pandemic, megavolcano, etc). It would probably be helpful to someone unfamiliar with basic preparedness, but there are many better prep guides available.

I have to say that the recipes were a little too gourmet for my simple tastes("Rosemary-Scented Bricolage", "Polenta Fusion Fiesta", etc). From what I could tell, the only thing that qualifies these recipes as "apocalypse chow" is that they are made primarily from canned and pantry items. Other than that, recipes are fairly complicated containing 8-12 ingredients, some of which are exotic enough that I wouldn't have them on hand on a normal day, never mind an emergency. Also, most recipes require regular cookware and kitchen tools, as well as a means of cooking like stove, grill or burner. With this type of book, I would have appreciated info about fashioning cooking pots & utensils and cooking using what is available, like Survivorman. Instead, the book's approach is that you will be cooking in your own kitchen, just maybe without electricity, and will have access to things like a garlic press, grater, pastry blender, zester, etc.

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