If you are looking for a cookbook, you may be felt like you were led slightly astray.... If you were looking for a cookbook of sorts and have a mind for wandering adventures that will eventually get you more or less to where you were going, you are likely the perfect reader for this book.

FIRST, CATCH is a meditative approach to cooking - intimidating for the novice cook, and uninteresting for the stodgy scientifically-minded. I love food. I love thinking about food, eating food, making food, talking to people about what makes the food they love so entirely delicious! Eagle really encourages a slower meditation on food, that allows a reader to sink in and contemplate what makes a spring meal, a spring meal.

I think this would be a lovely gift for a home cook who enjoys thinking about food and likes to cook from the hip rather than from strict recipes. Assuming they have an interest in a lot of French + Italian cooking traditions!

Not my favorite read. It was hard to read through, it's a great idea but I think more editing was needed.

This book deserves a slow read- to truly take in all the musings and thoughts laid out. For example, my husband and I debated the point that fish seem to be treated outside the scope of other animals/mammals, even by many vegetarians (who are truly pescatarians). This debate stemmed from just a few paragraphs written by Thom Eagle, but pointed us down the road of philosophy, psychology, and a Saturday morning discussion about life in all its forms. This is what I loved about this book. Perfect for people who love to read about food, not only recipes, and who want to feel a deeper connection to culinary layers within our communities and lives. The author brings food to life, in an extremely beautiful and poetic way.

Well written book for people who love food and the whole process of cooking, curing food and seasoning food. It’s not your average recipe book! Though it contains recipes but like in a storytelling way, which I love!

I found the writing incredibly engaging -- it was like listening to a friend talking to me about his experiences and thoughts on cooking. My cooking philosophy is already quite aligned with Eagle's, but I still felt like I was learning a lot about technique and increasing my knowledge of cooking for a strong foundation for future cooking projects / meals. The is ultimately a balance of story telling, touching on where these techniques where derived, and building a better base knowledge -- if someone is looking for recipes themselves, this is absolutely NOT the book even if there are touches such as what's a great ratio for brine.

I'd strongly recommend this book to anyone who is just beginning their journey in the kitchen to the more seasoned chef -- I couldn't put it down!

I was intrigued by Thom Eagle’s “First, Catch” from the moment I read the author’s charming “preamble,” where he notes, “Although I don’t think my palate or nose particularly refined, they are certainly hard-wired to my memory; my spots of time are almost all edible.” From this beautifully written start, I expected more of a memoir about how food and cooking shaped Eagle’s life and memories, and there is certainly some of that here. First and foremost, however, “First, Catch” is the memoir of one particular meal, a 9-course spring lunch Eagle is preparing for friends, and of how he planned, cooked and served it. (The is title of the book Is, after all, “The Story of a Meal.”) As this meal simmers and takes shape in Eagle’s Suffolk kitchen, he takes the reader on sidebars into the theory and science of cooking (pondering questions such as can you ”cook” with salt—brining—or does heat always need to be involved?), the history of food and food preparations, and the practicalities of chopping vegetables or sweating onions. Admittedly, this was more of a how-to cookbook than I expected or wanted—I struggle to boil an egg and have no real desire to improve my limited kitchen skills—but I still enjoyed Eagle’s charming voice, even while skimming through the more technical sections. Serious home chefs and food enthusiasts, however, should certainly appreciate and enjoy “First, Catch” in its entirety,

Many thanks to NetGalley and Grove Press for providing me with an ARC of this title in return for my honest review.

A magical cook book Thom Eagle shares with us his love of cooking how his senses come alive in the kitchen,He shares with us steps to cook a rabbit to more everyday cooking of eggs.He does not believe in recipes even though he reads all about food he can he believes in letting your hands mind lead the way. #netgalley#groveatlantic