This book was received as an ARC from Harper Wave and Harper Business - Harper Wave through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

As a foodie, this is the ultimate guide that will be on my bookshelf that I will pass down to my children, and grandchildren. I always ponder the questions of why food tastes better in a fine dining restaurant. The breakdown Matt Rodbard and Daniel Holzman convey throughout the book was informative, helpful, interesting, and fascinating all at once. As an avid foodie, I am always eager to learn more about cooking techniques, tools, and new foods to explore to perfect my craft. I was afraid this would be just an informative companion, but I was so glad to see some recipes in the book to try for practice. Now, I feel more confident in my cooking skills, knowledge, and recipes to share with my family, and friends.

A cooking companion that should belong on every shelf for homecooks, foodies, moms alike. This book deserves 5 stars.

I was actually able to read this book after it was published. I did actually get a chance to download the arc. The books was amazing though. As someone who loves cooking, food, and science, this book was totally my type of book. I loved how fun and interesting it was and how it kept me wanting to read (learn) more. Definitely recommend this book to anyone that enjoys the science behind food.

So informative! I find myself gravitating towards food writing that both provides simple and yummy recipes but also new information. I walked away from this book with a heightened awareness of the many layers of food. There are cultural, gastronomical, linguistic, etc levels of understanding the culinary world. I highly encourage those who are more curious about the whys behind what goes on in the kitchen to pick this book up!

I thought I'd love this book since I love cooking and I love learning tips and techniques. Honestly, it felt like homework though. I knew most of the answers and didn't care for the recipes.

Love this cookbook! It's well presented, easy to read, and the information on the why's and how's of cooking is rock solid. Plus, the personalities of the authors come through clearly without being trite, fake-quirky, or annoying (always a bit of a concern with cookbooks these days).

Very interesting! I do not cook and learned a lot of interesting things while reading this! I also shared a lot with my husband who does cook

FOOD IQ by Daniel Holzman and Matt Rodbard is a forthcoming text that takes a new spin on cookbooks which have been more apt of late to include personal stories. The authors do that here, too, but they really focus on some unusual "food facts" by exploring "100 Questions, Answers, and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts." There are sections on ingredients, tools, and favorite dishes, for example. Each chapter contains multiple questions (Which onion – red, white, or yellow – should I use? OR Should I feel guilty for loving my microwave?), plus personal connections and/or interviews with experts, pictures, and relatively simple recipes (e.g., Braised Chicken Thighs with apricots and spices or Quick and Creamy Guacamole). I think this would have been a very fun book to write (brainstorming the questions must have been quite a creative endeavor). It's difficult, though, to predict whether this entertaining work will have more appeal to the novice or experienced cook. Our Applied Arts (Gourmet and Foods classes) teachers might like to share vignettes, techniques, or recipes with their students.

What I really want to know, is how did Holzman narrow down all the food related questions to just 100 and make it feel all inclusive at the same time?
The books title: 100 Questions, Answers, and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts really says it all, but this isn't an instructional manual on cooking. It isn't overly wordy like Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is either an that is something most will appreciate.
There is a question that covers almost every area of food. From salt, to fermenting, from the basic, to more advanced techniques. The frozen fish question was the best for me because all I can find is frozen fish and well... it's just always that tasty. I do wish there were a few more recipes, but that's just me.
Over all, it's something that I will be purchasing.

The questions this book answers vary across the culinary field but are pretty popular questions one would type into a google bar. The version I read didn't have any formatting so I'm reviewing on the basic text itself. This book reminds me of food lab where it explains the principles and isn't recipe focused.

Its a nice read to add to the cookbook bookshelf. However if I was looking for weekend recipes to try, it wouldn't be the first book I'd reach for.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Wave for sending me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Food IQ is a Q&A style book geared for home cooks that answers 100 cooking questions, ranging from ingredients to methods and everything in-between. While limiting a book to only 100 questions is difficult, each question is followed by a recipe that uses the skills or techniques covered. I truly enjoyed this style, and as a result, now have several recipes on my radar that I previously hadn’t considered.

Of all the questions, there were many I wanted to know the answers to (such as “Should I feel guilty for loving my microwave?” and “How do I make great coffee, and do I need to spend $300 on beans and gear?”), several that I had prior knowledge of and could confirm from my own cooking adventures, and quite a few I would have never thought of (such as “So I bought the sous vide machine. Now what?” and “How do I strategize a ‘clean out the fridge’ mean?”). Whatever your cooking level, you are sure to find something interesting or new to try within these pages.

I do appreciate that the authors encourage every reader to reach out to them with additional questions - whether those questions are clarification of topics brought up in this book or questions not addressed that need answering - and I hope Food IQ is the first in a series of books. Thank you again to NetGalley and Harper Wave for the opportunity of reviewing an ARC.

I love all the scientific information within this cookbook. The pictures are stunning and I love what Daniel and Matt are doing with Food IQ. There is so much information regarding specific ingredients that it gives a home chef a real understanding of what each function could be!

#FoodIQ #NetGalley

An odd and fun assortment of FAQs regarding food that's packed into one great reference book. My memory isn't the greatest, so I have to keep going back to it to remember certain facts. I would've had an easier time with a different format/layout of the book. Overall, I had a lot of fun learning new info, reading interviews with chefs I'm familiar with, and just enjoying the author's love of food.

A fun and informative look into the food we eat and the parts that make it great. Food IQ is full of humor, wit, fresh factoids, and mouth-watering illustrations. The perfect holiday gift for your favorite gourmand.

ARC REVIEW:

I didn't realize this was going to be such an exhaustive cooking manual, but I am happy that it was. This book's format is that of a textbook with an example for each section. There's a question, the answer, and the process. Just enough full color photos to break-up the black text on standard white paper.

Informative, instructional, handy. This would be a great guide for a novice or someone with more experience who would like to up their game. This feels like a cookbook worth having at home when needed for reference (much like The Joy of Cooking or the Veganomican)