What do you think?
Rate this book
Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History
Creamy and Crunchy: An Informal History of Peanut Butter, the All-American Food
In Creamy and Crunchy are the stories of Jif, Skippy, Peter Pan; the plight of black peanut farmers; the resurgence of natural or old-fashioned peanut butter; the reasons why Americans like peanut butter better than (almost) anyone else; the five ways that today's product is different from the original; the role of peanut butter in fighting Third World hunger; and the Salmonella outbreaks of 2007 and 2009, which threatened peanut butter's sacred place in the American cupboard.
To a surprising extent, the story of peanut butter is the story of twentieth-century America, and Jon Krampner writes its first popular history, rich with anecdotes and facts culled from interviews, research, travels in the peanut-growing regions of the South, personal stories, and recipes.
To a surprising extent, the story of peanut butter is the story of twentieth-century America, and Jon Krampner writes its first popular history, rich with anecdotes and facts culled from interviews, research, travels in the peanut-growing regions of the South, personal stories, and recipes.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2012
About the author
Jon Krampner
6 books1 followerJon Krampner was born in the early 1950's in New York City. He grew up in Brooklyn, where he attended Berkeley Institute, Ditmas Junior High School and Erasmus Hall High School.
He got an A.B. in English Lit. from Occidental College in Los Angeles and an M.A. in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He spent the Carter administration getting fired from small and undistinguished newspapers across the West: The Texarkana Gazette (the only one that he quit), the Las Vegas Sun, the Ely (Nev.) Daily Times, and the Sonora (Cal.) Daily Union Democrat (known by its acronym, the Dud).
In the '80's, he moved to Los Angeles to work for six years in the public information office of the University of Southern California, the longest he ever lasted at a 9 to 5 job.
After six years at USC, he quit. For two years he bounced around and did a little freelance writing, then took a part-time job teaching English as a Second Language in the adult division of the Los Angeles Unified School District. He held this position for more than 25 years, retiring in 2015.
Teaching ESL provided him with the economic basis to produce his critically esteemed but non-bestselling books, The Man in the Shadows: Fred Coe and the Golden Age of Television (Rutgers University Press, 1997), Female Brando: The Legend of Kim Stanley (Watson-Guptill/Backstage Books, 2006) Creamy and Crunchy: An Informal History of Peanut Butter, the All-American Food (Columbia University Press, 2013) and Joe Wilson: What He Didn't Find in Africa (a 9,000-word eBook, 2015).
His latest book, Ernest Lehman: The Sweet Smell of Success, is being published by the University Press of Kentucky on September 27, 2022.
He got an A.B. in English Lit. from Occidental College in Los Angeles and an M.A. in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He spent the Carter administration getting fired from small and undistinguished newspapers across the West: The Texarkana Gazette (the only one that he quit), the Las Vegas Sun, the Ely (Nev.) Daily Times, and the Sonora (Cal.) Daily Union Democrat (known by its acronym, the Dud).
In the '80's, he moved to Los Angeles to work for six years in the public information office of the University of Southern California, the longest he ever lasted at a 9 to 5 job.
After six years at USC, he quit. For two years he bounced around and did a little freelance writing, then took a part-time job teaching English as a Second Language in the adult division of the Los Angeles Unified School District. He held this position for more than 25 years, retiring in 2015.
Teaching ESL provided him with the economic basis to produce his critically esteemed but non-bestselling books, The Man in the Shadows: Fred Coe and the Golden Age of Television (Rutgers University Press, 1997), Female Brando: The Legend of Kim Stanley (Watson-Guptill/Backstage Books, 2006) Creamy and Crunchy: An Informal History of Peanut Butter, the All-American Food (Columbia University Press, 2013) and Joe Wilson: What He Didn't Find in Africa (a 9,000-word eBook, 2015).
His latest book, Ernest Lehman: The Sweet Smell of Success, is being published by the University Press of Kentucky on September 27, 2022.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
October 19, 2017
chewy, gooey spread hits the spot------book too!
Britain has its marmite, Australians love their vegemite, Russians and Ukrainians go for salo and the Japanese prize natto. I mean, every country has its gooey substance which they eat with gusto while most foreigners scratch their heads. So, let's not be too surprised to learn that while North Americans treasure peanut butter, most others wonder what the attraction is. That's the reason why the person who wrote a book about our beloved spread had to be from this continent. He did a good job. Anyone interested in finding out more about the stuff you might have eaten in sandwiches since you were knee high to a grasshopper has come to the right place. What is the chemical composition of the peanut? How many kinds are there? (Four in the USA) Where are they grown? What is the history of the peanut in the USA? What do they do with the rest of the plant when they've taken the peanuts? Who first made peanut butter? Where? How was it packaged? Who first made hydrogenated peanut butter---so that the oil wouldn't all accumulate on top? What is the history of the various companies making the substance? Did you ever hear about the great, 12 year long peanut butter case that went all the way to the Supreme Court? Has peanut butter ever appealed to anyone outside our peanut-loving continent? The answers to all these questions and a lot more are available in CREAMY & CRUNCHY presented in an informal, often humorous style along with interviews with all kinds of people in the Peanut Butter World. You can even find the words to several songs about peanut butter, for example the 1961 hit by the Olympics which was (amazingly) called "Peanut Butter". I have been a peanut butter fan all my life, but I never thought of reading about it till now. I am very glad I did. This book will definitely stick with you!
Britain has its marmite, Australians love their vegemite, Russians and Ukrainians go for salo and the Japanese prize natto. I mean, every country has its gooey substance which they eat with gusto while most foreigners scratch their heads. So, let's not be too surprised to learn that while North Americans treasure peanut butter, most others wonder what the attraction is. That's the reason why the person who wrote a book about our beloved spread had to be from this continent. He did a good job. Anyone interested in finding out more about the stuff you might have eaten in sandwiches since you were knee high to a grasshopper has come to the right place. What is the chemical composition of the peanut? How many kinds are there? (Four in the USA) Where are they grown? What is the history of the peanut in the USA? What do they do with the rest of the plant when they've taken the peanuts? Who first made peanut butter? Where? How was it packaged? Who first made hydrogenated peanut butter---so that the oil wouldn't all accumulate on top? What is the history of the various companies making the substance? Did you ever hear about the great, 12 year long peanut butter case that went all the way to the Supreme Court? Has peanut butter ever appealed to anyone outside our peanut-loving continent? The answers to all these questions and a lot more are available in CREAMY & CRUNCHY presented in an informal, often humorous style along with interviews with all kinds of people in the Peanut Butter World. You can even find the words to several songs about peanut butter, for example the 1961 hit by the Olympics which was (amazingly) called "Peanut Butter". I have been a peanut butter fan all my life, but I never thought of reading about it till now. I am very glad I did. This book will definitely stick with you!
January 14, 2022
Creamy or crunchy? Organic? Natural with the oil layer to be stirred in or stabilized with hydrogenation? Course grind? Low fat? Low salt? Low sugar? Honey roasted? Added Omega 3's? Made from runner peanuts? Virginias? Valentias or Spanish peanuts. With their different tastes. Then there are the other added tastes of jelly, chocolate, bananas, chili peppers and dozens more based on regional preferences.
Not only the author go into the history of peanut butter - overall, an American food that most other countries don't care for the import although they do utilize peanuts in their cuisine, especially the Far East and Africa - but the history of the big three - Jif, Peter Pan and Skippy. Especially the 12 year fight with the FDA to determine 'what is peanut butter? How much is peanuts and how much oil. See below for the determination of identity.
He also includes lots of 'fun' facts -
- According to the FDA, peanut butter must be 90% peanuts. If you have peanut butter with jelly included - seriously, you can't open another jar? - it must be called peanut spread.
- Then there is arachibutyrophobia which is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth.
- There is a Planters peanut butter in Canada and Australia, but not in the United States.
- Peanuts are not nuts but legumes and are native to South America.
- Sadly, James Barrie, author of Peter Pan gifted the Peter Pan copywrite to the Great Ormond Street Hospital the year after Peter Pan peanut butter was launched. At the time of this book's publishing (2013), the hospital has not been given permission for the name's use nor has it received any payment or royalties for the use of the name.
- RUTF's or ready-to-use therapeutic foods - which have peanut butter base - have been proven to help deal with malnutrition across the world as it is a paste that is easily digestible as well as being nutritious with a 2-year shelf life and not needing refrigeration.
It's a fun read and will provide the reader with a bunch of entertaining trivia to amaze and fascinate their friends and family. . . . while making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
2022-012
Not only the author go into the history of peanut butter - overall, an American food that most other countries don't care for the import although they do utilize peanuts in their cuisine, especially the Far East and Africa - but the history of the big three - Jif, Peter Pan and Skippy. Especially the 12 year fight with the FDA to determine 'what is peanut butter? How much is peanuts and how much oil. See below for the determination of identity.
He also includes lots of 'fun' facts -
- According to the FDA, peanut butter must be 90% peanuts. If you have peanut butter with jelly included - seriously, you can't open another jar? - it must be called peanut spread.
- Then there is arachibutyrophobia which is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth.
- There is a Planters peanut butter in Canada and Australia, but not in the United States.
- Peanuts are not nuts but legumes and are native to South America.
- Sadly, James Barrie, author of Peter Pan gifted the Peter Pan copywrite to the Great Ormond Street Hospital the year after Peter Pan peanut butter was launched. At the time of this book's publishing (2013), the hospital has not been given permission for the name's use nor has it received any payment or royalties for the use of the name.
- RUTF's or ready-to-use therapeutic foods - which have peanut butter base - have been proven to help deal with malnutrition across the world as it is a paste that is easily digestible as well as being nutritious with a 2-year shelf life and not needing refrigeration.
It's a fun read and will provide the reader with a bunch of entertaining trivia to amaze and fascinate their friends and family. . . . while making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
2022-012
December 14, 2012
I enjoy food history and food politics, so even when someone told me "How can you possibly have a book on the history of peanut butter?" I still expected to like this book. Instead, I got a collection of cliches and trite puns. The information was also repetitive--he reused his own writing (entire paragraphs) word for word in several chapters. The research seems sound but it was hard to follow, because the jokes were so unfunny that I kept expecting to see Horatio putting on his sunglasses.
February 22, 2022
Delightful book. Peanut butter is even more interesting than I expected. This was informative, well researched, and had laugh out loud moments.
December 13, 2012
Another wonderful micro-history, this time of one of America's favorite foods. Reading Krampner's book made me want to, at various times, (1) get the jar of peanut butter out of the cabinet and down it by the tablespoonful; (2) toss the jar of peanut butter from the cabinet in favor of a brand with actual peanut oil or less sugar or a particular variety of peanut; (3)get online and order various regional varieties; and (4)try one of the more unusual recipes listed in the book or suggested by a peanut-butter lover Krampner interviews. (An African stew or a peanut-butter-pickle sandwich, anyone?)
Consider the lovely legume's upsides:
- Peanuts replenish nitrogen in the soil;
- They're 26% protein and a good source of phosphorous, sodium, potassium, and magnesium, as well as thiamine, niacine, folic acid, and vitamin E";
- They're rich sources of antioxidants and resveratrol (the magic also found in that recommended daily glass of red wine);
- The fat in them is mostly unsaturated.
Of course, while peanut butter used to be just peanuts, roasted and ground up, the product has endured much fiddling with over the years, mostly to extend shelf stability, increase convenience and reduce cost. Hence the introduction of hydrogenated vegetable oils and sugars, and the reliance on "runner" peanuts, which are more productive and easier to harvest. (If you want a Valencia- or Virginia-based peanut butter, Krampner lists particular brands which still use these varieties.) I was pleased to learn that, emulsifying hydrogenated vegetable oils aside, peanut butter contains only a negligible amount of transfat. The new popularity of "fractionated palm oil" as an emulsifier is disturbing, however, because the run on palm oil has increased the tropical deforestation rate.
Krampner chronicles the history of peanut butter companies, peanut butter rivals, peanut butter lawsuits, peanut butter shortages and recalls, and explores the rise of peanut allergies. Oddly enough, peanut allergies are an American thing and practically unheard of in Asia or Africa, where plenty of peanuts are also eaten. Looks like the newest front in the war will be whether GMO peanuts can be developed, though Krampner points out that peanut butter has been GMO ever since the introduction of hydrogenated vegetable oils, since most corn, canola, soy, and cotton grown in the United States is genetically-modified to resist Roundup.
I recommend this entertaining read, but keep your peanut butter handy because it's frequently craving-inducing!
Consider the lovely legume's upsides:
- Peanuts replenish nitrogen in the soil;
- They're 26% protein and a good source of phosphorous, sodium, potassium, and magnesium, as well as thiamine, niacine, folic acid, and vitamin E";
- They're rich sources of antioxidants and resveratrol (the magic also found in that recommended daily glass of red wine);
- The fat in them is mostly unsaturated.
Of course, while peanut butter used to be just peanuts, roasted and ground up, the product has endured much fiddling with over the years, mostly to extend shelf stability, increase convenience and reduce cost. Hence the introduction of hydrogenated vegetable oils and sugars, and the reliance on "runner" peanuts, which are more productive and easier to harvest. (If you want a Valencia- or Virginia-based peanut butter, Krampner lists particular brands which still use these varieties.) I was pleased to learn that, emulsifying hydrogenated vegetable oils aside, peanut butter contains only a negligible amount of transfat. The new popularity of "fractionated palm oil" as an emulsifier is disturbing, however, because the run on palm oil has increased the tropical deforestation rate.
Krampner chronicles the history of peanut butter companies, peanut butter rivals, peanut butter lawsuits, peanut butter shortages and recalls, and explores the rise of peanut allergies. Oddly enough, peanut allergies are an American thing and practically unheard of in Asia or Africa, where plenty of peanuts are also eaten. Looks like the newest front in the war will be whether GMO peanuts can be developed, though Krampner points out that peanut butter has been GMO ever since the introduction of hydrogenated vegetable oils, since most corn, canola, soy, and cotton grown in the United States is genetically-modified to resist Roundup.
I recommend this entertaining read, but keep your peanut butter handy because it's frequently craving-inducing!
March 19, 2020
Love these deep dives into a single ingredient as much as I despise single purpose devices. Everything I had no idea of about peanut butter including why I should pay attention. Since then, I've taste tested several brands and understand why I want to pay attention. Do your own taste test and you'll agree.
Postscript. 2020March. Reading Krampner's Creamy & Crunchy of course I binged that week on peanut butter: Adams, Jiff, Skippy, Planters. I grabbed a handful when hunger pangs asserted. That whole week, I had terrible, bulbous, red, itchy welts all over my body and in my hair. I knew that Dove had changed its soap formula or Tide maybe even though I always get scent-free. I threw everything out, the dryer sheets, the shampoo and conditioner too.
But duhh. I'm allergic or whatever, not to death but to scratchy. welty hell. At my age I finally figure out I'm allergic to peanuts, and walnuts and pecans and cashews too. Even just in cookies or a cake, my favorite way to eat these healthy, protein-filled nougats of scratchy, welty goodness.
Ok. I can take an antihistamine just before or after, and 4 hours later, I'm still welt-free.
How weird is that?
Postscript. 2020March. Reading Krampner's Creamy & Crunchy of course I binged that week on peanut butter: Adams, Jiff, Skippy, Planters. I grabbed a handful when hunger pangs asserted. That whole week, I had terrible, bulbous, red, itchy welts all over my body and in my hair. I knew that Dove had changed its soap formula or Tide maybe even though I always get scent-free. I threw everything out, the dryer sheets, the shampoo and conditioner too.
But duhh. I'm allergic or whatever, not to death but to scratchy. welty hell. At my age I finally figure out I'm allergic to peanuts, and walnuts and pecans and cashews too. Even just in cookies or a cake, my favorite way to eat these healthy, protein-filled nougats of scratchy, welty goodness.
Ok. I can take an antihistamine just before or after, and 4 hours later, I'm still welt-free.
How weird is that?
November 10, 2013
I learned probably more than I wanted to know about the history of peanut butter processing; on the other hand, I learned much I did want to know about the increasing toothlessness of government oversight bodies in charge of food health and cleanliness. Clearly the wolf is now in charge of the sheep. Creamy and Crunchy is a breezy and entertaining book, an exhaustively-researched history of all things peanut butter. Includes a list best-tasting (and I hope, salmonella-free) brands for the peanut-butter-ophile, along with some of the least appetizing recipes I think I've ever read. There are some places peanut-butter was just not meant to go.
October 31, 2015
When an author tries to write like another author's book instead of being themselves, like Jon Krampner does in being inspired by Candyfreak by Steve Almond, there's a great chance they'll fail at their task. Krampner has. His book is historically interesting, but his prose is so stiff that you pretty much have to pry the interesting facts out with clamps, if you don't give up somewhere along the way from boredom.
March 2, 2020
Although it's not just for children, peanut butter is a staple of childhood, and it's a comfort food. In times of economic distress and emotional uncertainty (like the present), Americans turn to it. But remarkably, given its widespread popularity, there hasn't been a book about peanut butter on the burgeoning shelf of pop food histories. Now there is. (6)
Picked this up when I was desperately craving peanut butter and then lost interest after I actually ate some decent peanut butter, so it took me a while to get through this. Some interesting points (which I think I'll just dump below), but it turns out that even though I do love peanut butter, I don't care that much about the histories of peanut butter companies. I'm also, as an adult, far more invested in the idea of natural peanut butter than in stabilised/sweetened peanut butter, and the book is—because the market is!—focussed more on the stabilised stuff.
As a child, though, Jif was my gold-standard peanut butter (mostly, I think, because we had natural peanut butter from a health-food co-op at home, so Jif felt exotic and fancy), so I did get something out of the peanut butter comparisons, because it gave me more context...but gosh, no, I really don't ever crave that sort of peanut butter anymore.
Anyway, takeaways and quotations:
-In the US, peanut butter is required to contain a minimum of 90% peanut to be classified as a peanut butter rather than a peanut spread.
-Regarding a Jif plant: The volume of peanut butter running through its production lines is phenomenal. Even in 1993, it could produce up to 750 jars a minute, enough peanut butter to make 2 billion sandwiches a year. This would supply an average family's needs for 28,000 years. Equally remarkable is that from the time peanuts arrive in railcars at the Jif plant until they leave in the form of peanut butter, they are not touched by human hands. (137)
-Although Proctor & Gamble no longer makes Jif, the various ways P&G chose to get creative with it have defined the experience of peanut butter for most Americans today. Its generous apportioning of hydrogenated vegetable oils to Jif when it debuted led to the peanut butter standard of identity. Popular tastes gravitated toward sweeter peanut butter as a result of Jif's sweeter formulation, and Skippy and Peter Pan found themselves forced to follow suit. As a result, the peanut butter most people eat today tastes the way it does and has the composition it has because a U.S.-based multinational soap maker thought that was the way to do it. (151)
-Further emphasising the North American nature of peanut butter, Canada is far and away the largest export market for the U.S. peanut butter industry. Between 2004 and 2009, Canada imported 54,742 metric tons of peanut butter, 47 percent of U.S. exports. It was followed by Germany (13,956 tons, 11 percent), Mexico (7,606 tons, 6 percent), Japan (6,809 tons, 5 percent), Saudi Arabia (6,492 tons, also 5 percent), and South Korea (4,423 tons, 3 percent). The United Kingdom (3,014 tons), Hong Kong (2,627 tons), Singapore (2,578 tons), and the United Arab Emirates (2,518 tons) each accounted for 2 percent of American exports, with the UAE's intake rising the most rapidly: from 2006 to 2009, its consumption nearly doubled. (153)
-The Netherlands, however, has the highest peanut butter consumption per capita in Europe. (160)
-Deaf Smith would spark a rebirth of natural or old-fashioned peanut butter. In the early 1970s, it was probably no more than 2 or 3 percent of the market. While there's still much less of it than stabilized, natural is now as much as 17 percent of the market. (183)
Picked this up when I was desperately craving peanut butter and then lost interest after I actually ate some decent peanut butter, so it took me a while to get through this. Some interesting points (which I think I'll just dump below), but it turns out that even though I do love peanut butter, I don't care that much about the histories of peanut butter companies. I'm also, as an adult, far more invested in the idea of natural peanut butter than in stabilised/sweetened peanut butter, and the book is—because the market is!—focussed more on the stabilised stuff.
As a child, though, Jif was my gold-standard peanut butter (mostly, I think, because we had natural peanut butter from a health-food co-op at home, so Jif felt exotic and fancy), so I did get something out of the peanut butter comparisons, because it gave me more context...but gosh, no, I really don't ever crave that sort of peanut butter anymore.
Anyway, takeaways and quotations:
-In the US, peanut butter is required to contain a minimum of 90% peanut to be classified as a peanut butter rather than a peanut spread.
-Regarding a Jif plant: The volume of peanut butter running through its production lines is phenomenal. Even in 1993, it could produce up to 750 jars a minute, enough peanut butter to make 2 billion sandwiches a year. This would supply an average family's needs for 28,000 years. Equally remarkable is that from the time peanuts arrive in railcars at the Jif plant until they leave in the form of peanut butter, they are not touched by human hands. (137)
-Although Proctor & Gamble no longer makes Jif, the various ways P&G chose to get creative with it have defined the experience of peanut butter for most Americans today. Its generous apportioning of hydrogenated vegetable oils to Jif when it debuted led to the peanut butter standard of identity. Popular tastes gravitated toward sweeter peanut butter as a result of Jif's sweeter formulation, and Skippy and Peter Pan found themselves forced to follow suit. As a result, the peanut butter most people eat today tastes the way it does and has the composition it has because a U.S.-based multinational soap maker thought that was the way to do it. (151)
-Further emphasising the North American nature of peanut butter, Canada is far and away the largest export market for the U.S. peanut butter industry. Between 2004 and 2009, Canada imported 54,742 metric tons of peanut butter, 47 percent of U.S. exports. It was followed by Germany (13,956 tons, 11 percent), Mexico (7,606 tons, 6 percent), Japan (6,809 tons, 5 percent), Saudi Arabia (6,492 tons, also 5 percent), and South Korea (4,423 tons, 3 percent). The United Kingdom (3,014 tons), Hong Kong (2,627 tons), Singapore (2,578 tons), and the United Arab Emirates (2,518 tons) each accounted for 2 percent of American exports, with the UAE's intake rising the most rapidly: from 2006 to 2009, its consumption nearly doubled. (153)
-The Netherlands, however, has the highest peanut butter consumption per capita in Europe. (160)
-Deaf Smith would spark a rebirth of natural or old-fashioned peanut butter. In the early 1970s, it was probably no more than 2 or 3 percent of the market. While there's still much less of it than stabilized, natural is now as much as 17 percent of the market. (183)
Read
February 28, 2023I love peanut butter, so I expected to love a book about peanut butter. It opens with a discussion of peanuts in general: how they grow, the different varieties and the unique qualities of each, how they are harvested and treated. Man, I thought, this is dull.
It picked up considerably when we got to the era of corporate competition between the different brands. I, who have been buying Jif for years, went to the store and bought some Skippy to check it out. (Skippy thought they had the better product, but Jif had the bigger advertising budget.)
So here’s what I learned about peanut butter. Peanut butter is a traditionally American food. Eating roasted peanuts is an American snack. Other countries in the world grow peanuts, but most of them use them to make cooking oil. African and Thai cuisine cook sauces and stews with peanuts. But spreading mashed up peanuts on bread, that’s American. (Americans also use peanuts to make candies more than other countries. In Europe if they’re going to put nuts in candy, it’s usually almonds.)
One of the reasons Americans got big into peanuts is that the cotton crop was destroyed by the boll weevil. Southern farmers had to find something else to grow, and peanuts did well in the climate. Once they had all those peanuts, they had to come up with things to make with them.
Who invented peanut butter? The author says it probably wasn’t George Washington Carver. He thinks it was either William Harvey Kellogg, who served a peanut paste at his Battle Creek Sanitarium, as a health food, or George Bayle, who was in the snack food business. Peanut butter was served at the 1904 St Louis World’s Fair, which is where a lot of people were introduced to it.
In the beginning, peanut butter didn’t travel well, because of the separation of the peanut oils. Because of that, every region had its own peanut butter factory and its own local brands. Peanut butter came in big vats at the store, and they would stir it up and fill a container for you when you bought some. Peanut butter used to come in metal buckets, but when metal was required for the war effort, they switched to glass jars.
Hydrogenation was a game changer for peanut butter. They mixed in some other vegetable oils that prevented the peanut butter from separating. It extended the shelf life. When the old peanut butter separated, it was not just inconvenient, but the separated oil went rancid faster. Hydrogenated peanut butter lasts forever compared to old-fashioned peanut butter, which made possible the big national brands, which were shipped across the country.
There are also chapters on the health benefits (or not) of peanut butter, on contamination scandals, on congressional hearings about the definition of peanut butter, some various niche peanut butters, the growth of peanut allergies in America, and the potential of peanut butter based nutritional supplements for starving children.
There were a lot of fun facts, and at the end I still love peanut butter.
It picked up considerably when we got to the era of corporate competition between the different brands. I, who have been buying Jif for years, went to the store and bought some Skippy to check it out. (Skippy thought they had the better product, but Jif had the bigger advertising budget.)
So here’s what I learned about peanut butter. Peanut butter is a traditionally American food. Eating roasted peanuts is an American snack. Other countries in the world grow peanuts, but most of them use them to make cooking oil. African and Thai cuisine cook sauces and stews with peanuts. But spreading mashed up peanuts on bread, that’s American. (Americans also use peanuts to make candies more than other countries. In Europe if they’re going to put nuts in candy, it’s usually almonds.)
One of the reasons Americans got big into peanuts is that the cotton crop was destroyed by the boll weevil. Southern farmers had to find something else to grow, and peanuts did well in the climate. Once they had all those peanuts, they had to come up with things to make with them.
Who invented peanut butter? The author says it probably wasn’t George Washington Carver. He thinks it was either William Harvey Kellogg, who served a peanut paste at his Battle Creek Sanitarium, as a health food, or George Bayle, who was in the snack food business. Peanut butter was served at the 1904 St Louis World’s Fair, which is where a lot of people were introduced to it.
In the beginning, peanut butter didn’t travel well, because of the separation of the peanut oils. Because of that, every region had its own peanut butter factory and its own local brands. Peanut butter came in big vats at the store, and they would stir it up and fill a container for you when you bought some. Peanut butter used to come in metal buckets, but when metal was required for the war effort, they switched to glass jars.
Hydrogenation was a game changer for peanut butter. They mixed in some other vegetable oils that prevented the peanut butter from separating. It extended the shelf life. When the old peanut butter separated, it was not just inconvenient, but the separated oil went rancid faster. Hydrogenated peanut butter lasts forever compared to old-fashioned peanut butter, which made possible the big national brands, which were shipped across the country.
There are also chapters on the health benefits (or not) of peanut butter, on contamination scandals, on congressional hearings about the definition of peanut butter, some various niche peanut butters, the growth of peanut allergies in America, and the potential of peanut butter based nutritional supplements for starving children.
There were a lot of fun facts, and at the end I still love peanut butter.
September 3, 2019
People have related all American staples to be apple pie, hamburgers, and hot dogs but author Jon Krampner presents a case that peanut butter is equally an all American food. To the reader's surprise, the story of peanut butter presented by Krampner is the story of twentieth-century America, demonstrating how the crop has expanded and used in a variety of ways as America has developed.
Not only are peanuts roasted and coated in chocolate but they are used to flavor candy, ice cream, cooking oils, and cookies to name a few of these comfort foods infused with peanuts. The author's first popular historical tome is rich with anecdotes and facts spruced with interviews, analytical research, nutritional statistics, personal stories, expeditions into the peanut-growing regions of the South, and recipes that use peanut butter.
Krampner sheds light on how peanuts and peanut butter have whittled its way into people's diets and meal plans, and how easily grocers have made peanut butter accessible to consumers. Creamy and Crunchy contain the stories of such peanut butter store brands as Jif, Skippy, and Peter Pan. He chronicles the good and the bad side of the product's history from the emergence of peanut butter companies and peanut butter rivals to discussing peanut butter lawsuits, peanut butter shortages and recalls, and the rise of peanut allergies.
The reader will learn veritably every aspect about the peanut product and its packaging, its market and value to consumers, and governments involvement in regulating the industry. It's an entertaining book that provides readers with an ample amount of information about peanuts and the American diet. Audiences never realize that they are being overwhelmed by the information simply because it is all information that is relevant to their lives.
Not only are peanuts roasted and coated in chocolate but they are used to flavor candy, ice cream, cooking oils, and cookies to name a few of these comfort foods infused with peanuts. The author's first popular historical tome is rich with anecdotes and facts spruced with interviews, analytical research, nutritional statistics, personal stories, expeditions into the peanut-growing regions of the South, and recipes that use peanut butter.
Krampner sheds light on how peanuts and peanut butter have whittled its way into people's diets and meal plans, and how easily grocers have made peanut butter accessible to consumers. Creamy and Crunchy contain the stories of such peanut butter store brands as Jif, Skippy, and Peter Pan. He chronicles the good and the bad side of the product's history from the emergence of peanut butter companies and peanut butter rivals to discussing peanut butter lawsuits, peanut butter shortages and recalls, and the rise of peanut allergies.
The reader will learn veritably every aspect about the peanut product and its packaging, its market and value to consumers, and governments involvement in regulating the industry. It's an entertaining book that provides readers with an ample amount of information about peanuts and the American diet. Audiences never realize that they are being overwhelmed by the information simply because it is all information that is relevant to their lives.
February 7, 2023
Thanks to NetGalley for the loan in exchange for an honest review.
Did you eat Skippy or Peter Pan peanut butter growing up? Think that’s all there is to the world of this flavorful part of our childhood? You’d be so, so wrong, and Jon Krampner goes the extra mile to prove it in this delightful history of the wonderfood that is peanut butter and the influence it has had on our country and its inhabitants. From the varieties of the legume and how its grown to the early history of the companies who made this spread a staple of American homes, this book covers it all, and in layman’s terms and pace. Highly recommended for history buffs, especially if they’re a little nutty.
Did you eat Skippy or Peter Pan peanut butter growing up? Think that’s all there is to the world of this flavorful part of our childhood? You’d be so, so wrong, and Jon Krampner goes the extra mile to prove it in this delightful history of the wonderfood that is peanut butter and the influence it has had on our country and its inhabitants. From the varieties of the legume and how its grown to the early history of the companies who made this spread a staple of American homes, this book covers it all, and in layman’s terms and pace. Highly recommended for history buffs, especially if they’re a little nutty.
February 21, 2018
I wish there were half stars. I'd give the book 4.5 if it was possible, docking half a point for passages that are repeated verbatim. Much like eating peanut butter I found this book irresistible to put down. The history was detailed and well researched and, for awhile, I enjoyed the repetitiveness of some of the passages. It was very helpful to remind me of details from previous passages that had slipped my mind, but ultimately, it became somewhat tedious.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 9, 2022
requested this years and years ago on NetGalley, because microhistories were cool. did not read this for years and years, so reviewed a print ILL thanks to my local public library.
This isn't quite a microhistory for the generic popular science and history reader. The level of detail and specificity are more suited to researchers, industry professionals, and agriculture readers. The writing style/voice was more pop-science-friendly, but the content is very focused.
This isn't quite a microhistory for the generic popular science and history reader. The level of detail and specificity are more suited to researchers, industry professionals, and agriculture readers. The writing style/voice was more pop-science-friendly, but the content is very focused.
June 1, 2019
This seems rather haphazardly slapped together--some chapters pretty much stand alone from the rest of the book--but a third star for clearly explaining the process of hydrogenation, both full and partial.
June 14, 2022
A serious treatise on peanut butter.
I love peanut butter, so it only makes sense to read a history of the stuff. Learned a lot about the history and how it's made. The author covers farming, marketing, and production, too.
I love peanut butter, so it only makes sense to read a history of the stuff. Learned a lot about the history and how it's made. The author covers farming, marketing, and production, too.
May 5, 2019
Fun food history. A little long.
February 17, 2020
Very good, well researched book.
February 2, 2022
Eventually became a fun ready, but the timeline and sequence of events was hard to follow
August 22, 2022
Well-researched and cute recipes, but it didn't enthrall me like some other food micro-histories have
January 20, 2023
Smooth and tasty, a little nutty
April 18, 2023
I didn't know Heniz had done peanut butter. An interesting story hope to learn more about Haitian peanut butter.
August 1, 2024
Fun, quick read… definitely led to a search for great peanut butter…
October 19, 2024
Repetitive. Anecdotes and tangents for no purpose.
October 18, 2012
**I was sent a review copy of this book through Netgalley.**
‘It goes beyond mere hunger and enters the realm of spiritual nourishment...’
This book demonstrates that peanut butter is something of a long-time contentious subject matter within the American food industry. I’m a bit of a peanut butter addict (literally, I eat it out of the jar), and this informative read has highlighted a lot of the aspects of both its production and background, which I found to be an enlightening read.
Though some parts of this book were admittedly a little bit dry and rather drawn out in a sense, I was able to discern the information that was of particular interest to me. Some of the chapters I found particularly noteworthy included the marketing and branding of peanut butter its perception and popularity in other countries. I was fascinated by how long it has been around in Haiti for example, especially considering it is perceived to be such an ‘American’ product. I was also really intrigued to learn of the legal issues centred on peanut ratios within jars and the controversy that proposed legislation has had on the peanut butter manufacturing industry as a whole, which was a bit of a long battle. The peanut butter crisis of 1980 was also retold in a detailed fashion.
From a health perspective, it was really interesting to learn about the production of peanut butter in terms of sugar and oil content, as well as the arguments for ‘natural’ peanut butter versus hydrogenated. I never realised just how much this is debated within the food industry. Also, the theme of peanut allergies was covered- I am so glad I am not allergic to peanuts personally, because I just couldn’t live without peanut butter! There were also some delicious sounding recipes included and my taste buds have been well and truly tantalised. I can’t wait to give some of them a go. Peanut butter garlic bread anyone?!
One of my main issues with this book was actually the Kindle formatting of my review copy. Whoever has converted it has done a pretty *terrible* job, to be honest and it doesn’t do the book any favours. The main body of text runs into photographs and their descriptions and then picks up again a couple of pages later, by which time as a reader you tend to have lost your trail of thought from the main body of text. There are also random numbers and dashes chucked in all over the place. I am aware that this won’t be the case with a ‘tree book’ version, and I am hoping this is just an issue purely from Netgalley, but I feel any potential Kindle readers of this book perhaps need to be a bit cautious as it really is incredibly jarring to have the flow of text constantly interrupted!
Quibbles about formatting aside, I did genuinely enjoy this informative book. It was interesting to learn about a type of food I love in more of a social history context and as to the methods of producing it and the different varieties of nuts used in manufacturing and how they affect the products taste. I did find myself becoming distracted when some of the dates were expanded upon for the particular introductions of brands (as there were a LOT of them and they jumped continually back and forth), but again, I think this might be more of a formatting aspect than anything else, though admittedly the narrative isn’t particularly linear.
The appendices of the book are useful in that it contains recommendations from the author as to various types of peanut butter, depending on your taste preferences, amongst other things. I am very jealous he got to try out so many brands in his research for this book! There is also a peanut butter ‘timeline’ which I feel might have been more beneficial to have been included somewhere at the beginning of the book rather than the end, though again that is a formatting issue more than anything else. Overall, I would recommend this read to people who enjoy learning more about the foods they eat- and particularly to other peanut butter fiends like me!
‘It goes beyond mere hunger and enters the realm of spiritual nourishment...’
This book demonstrates that peanut butter is something of a long-time contentious subject matter within the American food industry. I’m a bit of a peanut butter addict (literally, I eat it out of the jar), and this informative read has highlighted a lot of the aspects of both its production and background, which I found to be an enlightening read.
Though some parts of this book were admittedly a little bit dry and rather drawn out in a sense, I was able to discern the information that was of particular interest to me. Some of the chapters I found particularly noteworthy included the marketing and branding of peanut butter its perception and popularity in other countries. I was fascinated by how long it has been around in Haiti for example, especially considering it is perceived to be such an ‘American’ product. I was also really intrigued to learn of the legal issues centred on peanut ratios within jars and the controversy that proposed legislation has had on the peanut butter manufacturing industry as a whole, which was a bit of a long battle. The peanut butter crisis of 1980 was also retold in a detailed fashion.
From a health perspective, it was really interesting to learn about the production of peanut butter in terms of sugar and oil content, as well as the arguments for ‘natural’ peanut butter versus hydrogenated. I never realised just how much this is debated within the food industry. Also, the theme of peanut allergies was covered- I am so glad I am not allergic to peanuts personally, because I just couldn’t live without peanut butter! There were also some delicious sounding recipes included and my taste buds have been well and truly tantalised. I can’t wait to give some of them a go. Peanut butter garlic bread anyone?!
One of my main issues with this book was actually the Kindle formatting of my review copy. Whoever has converted it has done a pretty *terrible* job, to be honest and it doesn’t do the book any favours. The main body of text runs into photographs and their descriptions and then picks up again a couple of pages later, by which time as a reader you tend to have lost your trail of thought from the main body of text. There are also random numbers and dashes chucked in all over the place. I am aware that this won’t be the case with a ‘tree book’ version, and I am hoping this is just an issue purely from Netgalley, but I feel any potential Kindle readers of this book perhaps need to be a bit cautious as it really is incredibly jarring to have the flow of text constantly interrupted!
Quibbles about formatting aside, I did genuinely enjoy this informative book. It was interesting to learn about a type of food I love in more of a social history context and as to the methods of producing it and the different varieties of nuts used in manufacturing and how they affect the products taste. I did find myself becoming distracted when some of the dates were expanded upon for the particular introductions of brands (as there were a LOT of them and they jumped continually back and forth), but again, I think this might be more of a formatting aspect than anything else, though admittedly the narrative isn’t particularly linear.
The appendices of the book are useful in that it contains recommendations from the author as to various types of peanut butter, depending on your taste preferences, amongst other things. I am very jealous he got to try out so many brands in his research for this book! There is also a peanut butter ‘timeline’ which I feel might have been more beneficial to have been included somewhere at the beginning of the book rather than the end, though again that is a formatting issue more than anything else. Overall, I would recommend this read to people who enjoy learning more about the foods they eat- and particularly to other peanut butter fiends like me!
Read
December 3, 2012Peanut Butter is one of those foods that many non-Americans just can't understand the point of, yet in America it is a very popular foodstuff that is said to be consumed by over 75% of the population! This book is a detailed look at the passion and pleasure for this sticky delight.
First, let the book explain an interesting conundrum: Despite their name, peanuts aren’t nuts. They’re legumes, more closely related botanically to peas, beans, clover and alfalfa than to walnuts and almonds, which have hard shells and grow on trees. “Peanuts are not nuts,” an article in Consumer Bulletin once noted, “and peanut butter is not butter.”
Information just comes pumping out of this book like a wayward fire hose. Perhaps too much information but fortunately the writing style is such that you don't notice you are receiving an intensive lecture. The ardent researcher is also able to utilise the book's academic leanings for even further reading and research should it be so desired.
A history of the peanut and its versatility starts this book off and nothing is left to chance. There are a lot of interesting facts about peanuts that you might not have thought about which pop out without warning that can provoke much thought in the process. The social rise of the peanut is the next logical chapter and the information still keeps flowing. The reader can learn that the state of Georgia is responsible for nearly half of the entire U.S. peanut production and yet the U.S. uses peanuts differently from most othercountries. About half the crop is turned into peanut butter, a quarter is used to make snacks and the rest are used for candies - a stark contrast to other peanut-growing countries such as China and India where the crops are used primarily for peanut oil. Expanding waistlines?
The invention, development and refinement of Peanut Butter as well as the growth of several top brands are also covered in exquisite detail by the author. Not forgetting social issues such as the plight of black peanut farmers, marketing and advertising campaigns, the role of peanut butter in fighting Third-World hunger and latter-day health scares. Many interesting illustrations and even recipes are included. Whilst this book is written with an academic slant and bias, the author and editors have done a great job in making this also accessible and a light read for the Peanut Butter-lover. This reviewer has learned a lot but it has not, yet, changed his taste perception for the food that is neither a nut or a butter - but just like certain foods you might need to find the right "one" for you!
Just when you think you've read it all, there are more surprises. There are even songs and music about Peanut Butter and this has been firmly entrenched in popular American music culture over time. An entire chapter is dedicated to this alone! Possible changes to the fate of Peanut Butter and a retrospective look at where are the peanut butters of yesteryear round this very comprehensive, diverse book to a close. As you would expect, there is a wealth of further reading/bibliographic information at the end of the book. This review sample did not feature an index so it is not possible to state how comprehensive and useful this is, but if it follows the rest of the book there will be no worries there.
When this reviewer prepared to start looking at this book, there was a great degree of scepticism as to whether an entire book could really be written about Peanut Butter. Fear not, it could be. A great book has been born.
// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //
First, let the book explain an interesting conundrum: Despite their name, peanuts aren’t nuts. They’re legumes, more closely related botanically to peas, beans, clover and alfalfa than to walnuts and almonds, which have hard shells and grow on trees. “Peanuts are not nuts,” an article in Consumer Bulletin once noted, “and peanut butter is not butter.”
Information just comes pumping out of this book like a wayward fire hose. Perhaps too much information but fortunately the writing style is such that you don't notice you are receiving an intensive lecture. The ardent researcher is also able to utilise the book's academic leanings for even further reading and research should it be so desired.
A history of the peanut and its versatility starts this book off and nothing is left to chance. There are a lot of interesting facts about peanuts that you might not have thought about which pop out without warning that can provoke much thought in the process. The social rise of the peanut is the next logical chapter and the information still keeps flowing. The reader can learn that the state of Georgia is responsible for nearly half of the entire U.S. peanut production and yet the U.S. uses peanuts differently from most othercountries. About half the crop is turned into peanut butter, a quarter is used to make snacks and the rest are used for candies - a stark contrast to other peanut-growing countries such as China and India where the crops are used primarily for peanut oil. Expanding waistlines?
The invention, development and refinement of Peanut Butter as well as the growth of several top brands are also covered in exquisite detail by the author. Not forgetting social issues such as the plight of black peanut farmers, marketing and advertising campaigns, the role of peanut butter in fighting Third-World hunger and latter-day health scares. Many interesting illustrations and even recipes are included. Whilst this book is written with an academic slant and bias, the author and editors have done a great job in making this also accessible and a light read for the Peanut Butter-lover. This reviewer has learned a lot but it has not, yet, changed his taste perception for the food that is neither a nut or a butter - but just like certain foods you might need to find the right "one" for you!
Just when you think you've read it all, there are more surprises. There are even songs and music about Peanut Butter and this has been firmly entrenched in popular American music culture over time. An entire chapter is dedicated to this alone! Possible changes to the fate of Peanut Butter and a retrospective look at where are the peanut butters of yesteryear round this very comprehensive, diverse book to a close. As you would expect, there is a wealth of further reading/bibliographic information at the end of the book. This review sample did not feature an index so it is not possible to state how comprehensive and useful this is, but if it follows the rest of the book there will be no worries there.
When this reviewer prepared to start looking at this book, there was a great degree of scepticism as to whether an entire book could really be written about Peanut Butter. Fear not, it could be. A great book has been born.
// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //
February 14, 2014
Is peanut butter an all-American food? That is one question John Krampner answers in this wonderful history of a food product Americans take for granted. Those peanut butter and jelly sandwiches have frequently been associated with, what was once, the less-than sophisticated American palate. Times and tastes have changed, but for most of us the love affair with this readily available comfort food has not. The plant and the spread have their origins elsewhere and came here on a boat just like other newcomers. Here is what Krampner says, "But for all the importance of peanuts to American foodways in general and peanut butter in particular, they aren’t native to the United States. They originated in South America and arrived here obliquely." The cultivation of peanuts goes back close to 4,000 years based on findings in an archaeological site in Peru. The peanut butter part also has its origins in South America where it was ground into a sticky paste with cocoa added. However there is something uniquely American about peanut butter says Leslie Wagner of the Southern Peanut Growers, and it is that we use it as a spread in addition to using it in other culinary ways. Over 100 years ago peanut butter, along with hamburgers, hot dogs and ice cream cones, was introduced at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis and so began its journey as an all-American food.
The story of the plant and the butter are presented, along with interesting historical information about the following: peanuts are not indigenous to North America but had a long circuitous route: Spaniards took peanuts from South America across the Pacific to Malaya, then to China; the Portuguese took the plants east from Brazil to Africa, then India; and from Africa, the peanuts came to America on slave ships; there are varieties of peanuts which can be used to make certain types of butters with distinctive tastes and appeal; in parts of the world peanuts can be crushed for oil (China); and in other parts of Asia and Africa peanuts are used as part of a base for soups and stews. And in many underdeveloped countries, ". . . peanut-butter-based pastes, know as ready-to-use-therapeutic foods (RUTFs) consist of peanut butter with milk and sugar powders, a bit of vegetable oil, enriched with vitamins and minerals." The best known is Plumpy’Nut; information about past and present advertising campaigns; PR gimmicks such as the manufacture of special containers; facts on crop damage due to mold or pestilence; other interesting facts are that the regional consumption and style of the spread also varies: Dan Koehler, executive director of the Georgia Peanut Commission states, ". . . midwesterners, on average, eat the most and they like it on the salty side; southerners prefer a sweeter version; and New Englanders want it sweet, but not as sweet as southerners." Although we think it is ours alone, Canadians out-consume us; there are recipes scattered throughout including a version of the famous sandwich loved by Elvis Presley; and an appendix with a "Peanut Butter Time Line" for its history in America, 1894-2011.
Reviewed by Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Central Library
The story of the plant and the butter are presented, along with interesting historical information about the following: peanuts are not indigenous to North America but had a long circuitous route: Spaniards took peanuts from South America across the Pacific to Malaya, then to China; the Portuguese took the plants east from Brazil to Africa, then India; and from Africa, the peanuts came to America on slave ships; there are varieties of peanuts which can be used to make certain types of butters with distinctive tastes and appeal; in parts of the world peanuts can be crushed for oil (China); and in other parts of Asia and Africa peanuts are used as part of a base for soups and stews. And in many underdeveloped countries, ". . . peanut-butter-based pastes, know as ready-to-use-therapeutic foods (RUTFs) consist of peanut butter with milk and sugar powders, a bit of vegetable oil, enriched with vitamins and minerals." The best known is Plumpy’Nut; information about past and present advertising campaigns; PR gimmicks such as the manufacture of special containers; facts on crop damage due to mold or pestilence; other interesting facts are that the regional consumption and style of the spread also varies: Dan Koehler, executive director of the Georgia Peanut Commission states, ". . . midwesterners, on average, eat the most and they like it on the salty side; southerners prefer a sweeter version; and New Englanders want it sweet, but not as sweet as southerners." Although we think it is ours alone, Canadians out-consume us; there are recipes scattered throughout including a version of the famous sandwich loved by Elvis Presley; and an appendix with a "Peanut Butter Time Line" for its history in America, 1894-2011.
Reviewed by Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Central Library
December 21, 2015
As several other reviewers have mentioned, there is a lot of repetition in this book. At times, entire sentences or paragraphs are repeated almost verbatim. It was a little perplexing at first, then funny, but by the end of the book I let out a groan of frustration every time it happened. I think the main reason for this is that the author decided to break the material down by topic, rather than chronologically, so the same items or information kept getting revisited. For example, we're told that Jackson County in Florida, where farmer Stanley Pittman lives, is "mostly rural, with a population density of about 50 people per square mile (Manhattan's population density is about 70,000 per square mile)" in chapter 2, "The Social Rise of the Peanut", and told the same thing again almost exactly word-for-word in chapter 16, "The Short, Happy Life of Sorrells Pickard". Another example is aflatoxin, "a carcinogenic mold that grows on peanuts under conditions of drought stress." Aflatoxin is mentioned many times in this book, and yet every time it's introduced as if it's the first we're hearing about it. At some point, the author should assume that we, the readers, have been paying attention and don't need to be re-introduced to the same concepts over and over again!
A more succinct way of describing it is that it seems this book was written as a series of standalone essays, which were later compiled into a full length book. I don't think that's actually what happened, but it reads that way. I also wasn't a big fan of the writing style. I didn't see any actual spelling errors, but a number of sentences were phrased oddly and could've used better editing. There was also a very weird chapter on peanut butter in music that completely interrupted what little flow the book had up to that point.
As for the material itself - the book focused a lot more on the business/corporate history of peanut butter than I anticipated. I did learn quite a bit about peanut butter, but this book was not a pleasure to read. I'm a big fan of commodity histories, but this is not one I'd recommend unless you're really passionate about peanut butter and willing to overlook the book's technical flaws.
(Final note: I was happy to see two mentions of Peanut Butter & Co. in NYC! I've eaten there many times and love it.)
A more succinct way of describing it is that it seems this book was written as a series of standalone essays, which were later compiled into a full length book. I don't think that's actually what happened, but it reads that way. I also wasn't a big fan of the writing style. I didn't see any actual spelling errors, but a number of sentences were phrased oddly and could've used better editing. There was also a very weird chapter on peanut butter in music that completely interrupted what little flow the book had up to that point.
As for the material itself - the book focused a lot more on the business/corporate history of peanut butter than I anticipated. I did learn quite a bit about peanut butter, but this book was not a pleasure to read. I'm a big fan of commodity histories, but this is not one I'd recommend unless you're really passionate about peanut butter and willing to overlook the book's technical flaws.
(Final note: I was happy to see two mentions of Peanut Butter & Co. in NYC! I've eaten there many times and love it.)
July 6, 2013
Ah, what has Mary Roach done to me, to my expectations of how entertaining the mundane, scientific, social intersection can be? This book demonstrated over and over how high she's set the bar, and how low most writers write.
I had high expectations for a historical, social romp through the world of peanut butter. I imagine that is what this author envisioned too, but between his shortcomings and his completely incompetent editor, this book, which I so wanted to be tasty, was sour and foul.
Problems are many. The author repeats and repeats facts, often verbatim, almost as if chapters were separate articles stuck together (e.g., after the first time, we know how peanuts used to be dried; a mini-bio doesn't need to be included each time a person is quoted...we remember who they are). The author's voice changes erratically from objective to personal to advocacy, with jarring and pointless effect. "Fun" facts, which seem gleaned from a random internet search of "peanut butter," are stuck in all over the place as filler without purpose. A truly embarassing and useless chapter on songs about peanut butter is mysteriously included, interrupting any flow between chapters and causing massive forehead slapping. And about that flow: there is none - the author doesn't seem to want to start somewhere and build to an end somewhere, doesn't seem to want to deepen our appreciation of the subject, and doesn't care to entertain.
Most all of these problems I attribute to the lack of an editor or the lack of editing competency. I am looking squarely at you, Jennifer Crewe and Anne McCoy of Columbia University Press. "Eagle eye on the manuscript"? Really, did any of the above problems need to make it past you?
In all, this book is instructive about how not to write, and certainly how not to edit, a book.
I had high expectations for a historical, social romp through the world of peanut butter. I imagine that is what this author envisioned too, but between his shortcomings and his completely incompetent editor, this book, which I so wanted to be tasty, was sour and foul.
Problems are many. The author repeats and repeats facts, often verbatim, almost as if chapters were separate articles stuck together (e.g., after the first time, we know how peanuts used to be dried; a mini-bio doesn't need to be included each time a person is quoted...we remember who they are). The author's voice changes erratically from objective to personal to advocacy, with jarring and pointless effect. "Fun" facts, which seem gleaned from a random internet search of "peanut butter," are stuck in all over the place as filler without purpose. A truly embarassing and useless chapter on songs about peanut butter is mysteriously included, interrupting any flow between chapters and causing massive forehead slapping. And about that flow: there is none - the author doesn't seem to want to start somewhere and build to an end somewhere, doesn't seem to want to deepen our appreciation of the subject, and doesn't care to entertain.
Most all of these problems I attribute to the lack of an editor or the lack of editing competency. I am looking squarely at you, Jennifer Crewe and Anne McCoy of Columbia University Press. "Eagle eye on the manuscript"? Really, did any of the above problems need to make it past you?
In all, this book is instructive about how not to write, and certainly how not to edit, a book.
March 9, 2013
2 1/2 stars.
I love peanut butter. I love history. I love the science behind how things are manufactured.
I wish I could say I loved this book.
Creamy and Crunchy reads as if the author has written articles for academic publication and then pulled them out and compiled them together into this book without editing out duplicate information. For example, while the hydrogenation process is a bit heavy to understand, I don't need to read it several times. A simple "as referenced in chapter xyz" would suffice.
The author does know his stuff. His research is sound (even if you don't agree with some of his conclusions) and he has a wealth of information at his fingertips. Sadly, he feels the need to include every. last. bit. of. it. Sometimes it works but more often than not, the end of a paragraph will include some little bit of trivia about what was discussed that leaves you wondering if the rest of the story surrounding that particular line was edited out by mistake or if the author was ascribing to the blitzkrieg method of journalism.
Sadly, the end result was not a compelling read. I am a quick reader and when I find something I enjoy, I devour it. This book took me almost 4 weeks to complete (including a week on vacation where I had absolutely NO desire to pull out my e-reader knowing this was in my queue) which is something unheard of. When I did get back to the book, it took a lot of concentration to plod through to the end.
I did learn a few things from Creamy and Crunchy which is the only reason this didn't get a lower rating. I'm just not sure how much of it will stick with me.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this work in exchange for an unbiased review
I love peanut butter. I love history. I love the science behind how things are manufactured.
I wish I could say I loved this book.
Creamy and Crunchy reads as if the author has written articles for academic publication and then pulled them out and compiled them together into this book without editing out duplicate information. For example, while the hydrogenation process is a bit heavy to understand, I don't need to read it several times. A simple "as referenced in chapter xyz" would suffice.
The author does know his stuff. His research is sound (even if you don't agree with some of his conclusions) and he has a wealth of information at his fingertips. Sadly, he feels the need to include every. last. bit. of. it. Sometimes it works but more often than not, the end of a paragraph will include some little bit of trivia about what was discussed that leaves you wondering if the rest of the story surrounding that particular line was edited out by mistake or if the author was ascribing to the blitzkrieg method of journalism.
Sadly, the end result was not a compelling read. I am a quick reader and when I find something I enjoy, I devour it. This book took me almost 4 weeks to complete (including a week on vacation where I had absolutely NO desire to pull out my e-reader knowing this was in my queue) which is something unheard of. When I did get back to the book, it took a lot of concentration to plod through to the end.
I did learn a few things from Creamy and Crunchy which is the only reason this didn't get a lower rating. I'm just not sure how much of it will stick with me.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this work in exchange for an unbiased review
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews