It's kind of hard to take Al Roker seriously as a cook after you read the introduction to "Al Roker's Big Bad Book of Barbecue."

In it, he describes how he worked with a food writer named Marialisa Calta. He would describe his cooking techniques to Calta, who in turn "conjured up the recipes and has written a road map for what I call 'foolin' around' in the kitchen or at the grill."

If she wrote it, why not let her share authorship on the title page? But hey, it's just a cookbook, not "Profiles in Courage."

Regardless of who wrote it, this may be the most basic cookbook you will ever lay your hands on. Basic recipes, basic techniques, basic ingredients.

There are almost no ingredients needed for any recipe in the book that you can't get at even the most modestly stocked grocery store. That's important to a lot of people. Including us.

But we may be too basic here. Does anyone out there not know how to grill a hot dog? And yet, there's the "recipe," if you will, on page 42. And yes, you already know exactly how it's done.

This may well be the ultimate compilation of no-frills, no-surprises recipes. If you've ever cooked bratwurst the Wisconsin way, you've seen Roker's bratwurst recipe. His techniques for cooking chicken -- you really can't call them recipes -- are Beginning Grilling 101. Recipes for such staples as brownies and cole slaw are included, in the simplest possible fashion.

So basic are the techniques and recipes that this would make a pretty decent cookbook for someone who's just bought his first grill or has decided to learn how to cook.

Roker the writer comes across just like Roker the TV personality. His running commentary -- such as he doesn't like nuts in his brownies, and he's never developed a taste for beer -- are pretty much what you'd expect him to say. He's a likable and charming man, and it comes across in his cookbook.

But a good cookbook is going to teach you something you didn't know. A good cookbook at some point is going to make you say, "I would have never thought of this," or "Dang, I've been doing this wrong all along."

Not so with Al Roker's book. If you're far enough along as a cook that you already use one or two cookbooks, you won't need this one.
Contact Lee Barnes at (804) 775-8129 or Lbarnes@timesdispatch.com.

Al Roker's Big Bad Book of Barbecue