While the literal reading of Katharina Vester’s A Taste of Power is quite dry and difficult due to the relatively fragmented and unclear style in which she presents, the actual content is well researched and her point is concise once you dig through the dull presentation of her facts. After each point is presented she brings forth either a primary source in reference or a resource produced by qualified peers. On top of this she illustrates the extent of her research with a 43 page section of notes and works cited following the end of the book. The search for an American culinary identity is quite a difficult task and yet Vester goes headstrong into the challenge in the first “part” of her book. She discusses the creation of a republican cuisine thats purpose is to be different from the waste of British imperial tendencies. The republican way of eating is presented as being one of simplicity and lack of waste. She seasons this first portion of her work with primary sources, artwork from the nineteenth century and an analysis of perspectives of different researchers. She comes to the conclusion that there is no single or simple recipe for American identity. After the establishment of American identity (or the lack of) Vester goes on to discuss the masculinity aspect of cuisine and the bridge between men, women, and cuisine. Women were expected to be more than adequate in the creation of dishes yet when men cooked it was suddenly noble and elite. The quote of “Women are cooks, men are chefs” really stands out in this chapter and demonstrates the semi-disturbing point of view American society had (and to some extent has) on gender and cooking. Vester then concludes the gender argument by pointing out the shift from women cooking as a social standard to a form of power expressed in the 20th and 21st centuries.