Books, Arts & Manners: Just as Good?

IT used to be money, now it’s fat grams, and it has always been time —the ground for the “just as good” syndrome. Thirty years ago the commercials were for margarine (“Tastes just like butter, for half the price”) and for store-bought pastries (“Just like homemade”). Now they’re for everything from fat-free pretzels (which always were fat-free, only now they can boast about it) to fat-free potato chips to (an oxymoron if ever there was one) fat-free sour cream, and for microwavable dinners (“Gourmet meals in minutes”). James Burnham—philosopher, polemicist, NR founding editor, and occasional cook—made the answer one of his laws: “Just as good, isn’t.”

Like most laws, though, this one can be misunderstood and misapplied. As it is by the home cooks who are very proud of not accepting inferior substitutes, but forget to ask: Good for what? What am I going to use the ingredient for, and what qualities does that dish need?

About the Author

Linda Bridges

Ms. Bridges is the former editor-at-large of National Review.

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IT used to be money, now it’s fat grams, and it has always been time —the ground for the “just as good” syndrome. Thirty years ago the commercials were for margarine (“Tastes just like butter, for half the price”) and for store-bought pastries (“Just like homemade”). Now they’re for everything from fat-free pretzels (which always were fat-free, only now they can boast about it) to fat-free potato chips to (an oxymoron if ever there was one) fat-free sour cream, and for microwavable dinners (“Gourmet meals in minutes”). James Burnham—philosopher, polemicist, NR founding editor, and occasional cook—made the answer one of his laws: “Just as good, isn’t.”

Like most laws, though, this one can be misunderstood and misapplied. As it is by the home cooks who are very proud of not accepting inferior substitutes, but forget to ask: Good for what? What am I going to use the ingredient for, and what qualities does that dish need?