The Man Who Ate Everything
Winner of the Julia Child Book Award A James Beard Book Award FinalistWhen Jeffrey Steingarten was appointed food critic for Vogue, he systematically set out to overcome his distaste for such things as kimchi, lard, Greek cuisine, and blue food. He succeeded at all but the last: Steingarten is...
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Winner of the Julia Child Book Award A James Beard Book Award FinalistWhen Jeffrey Steingarten was appointed food critic for Vogue, he systematically set out to overcome his distaste for such things as kimchi, lard, Greek cuisine, and blue food. He succeeded at all but the last: Steingarten is "fairly sure that God meant the color blue mainly for food that has gone bad." In this impassioned, mouth-watering, and outrageously funny book, Steingarten devotes the same Zen-like discipline and gluttonous curiosity to practically everything that anyone anywhere has ever called "dinner." Follow Steingarten as he jets off to sample choucroute in Alsace, hand-massaged beef in Japan, and the mother of all ice creams in Sicily. Sweat with him as he tries to re-create the perfect sourdough, bottle his own mineral water, and drop excess poundage at a luxury spa. Join him as he mounts a heroic--and hilarious--defense of salt, sugar, and fat (though he has some nice things to say about Olestra). Stuffed with offbeat erudition and recipes so good they ought to be illegal, The Man Who Ate Everything is a gift for anyone who loves food.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780375702020 (0375702024)
Publish date: October 27th 1998
Publisher: Vintage
Pages no: 528
Edition language: English
Category:
Non Fiction,
Travel,
Humor,
Autobiography,
Memoir,
Writing,
Essays,
Food And Drink,
Food,
Cookbooks,
Cooking,
Foodie,
Food Writing
Steingarten's essays on food, more or less, from Vogue. Steingarten has a great ear for detail and makes many clever asides. He's funny when you agree with him, annoying when you don't. He has strong opinions about food, nutrition, and diets, often expressed in extremes, sometimes inaccurate (e.g., ...
I was tempted to give this only one star, but it seemed a bit too negative for a book I didn't actually have to force myself to finish. 1.5 would probably have been fitting, because at times this book was really, really, REALLY boring... the mere fact that I've been reading it for more than 6 months...
I'm not sure what I was expecting (having never read Steingarten previously), but it certainly wasn't this witty, entertaining, or well-researched. Really enjoyable.
Steingarten's ego is hard to ignore; one or two of the essays are interesting, but the rest are boring.
This is a book of small essays on food, eating, science, and one essay on pheromones(didn't understand where that came from!). I enjoyed some essays more than others. The author will go to great lengths to demystify a food or find the best recipe for a particular side of beef. Interesting.