The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffrey Steingarten
My rating: 5/5 cats
wow, i have been “reading” this since july. i put it down a bunch and lost it once or twice, but still—it is shameful to have had this darkening my “currently reading” shelf for eight months. shades of Savage Girls and Wild Boys: A History of Feral Children. but today i finished it!!
and it is truly a wonderful book.
this man is the anti-foer. if i were ever to read that foer book—the one everyone says will turn me into a cowering meat-avoider, all i would have to do to recover is open this book and read his love letter to southern barbecue, or his swooning over french fries left to rest under chickens roasting suspended above, their succulent juices dripping over the crispy potatoes, or his descriptions of seafood—any seafood at all.
this book is such a lovingly recollected tale of his food-journeys and experiments. i completely envy his job. if he wants to test out this newfangled microwave invention, he goes out and buys a couple, on vogue’s dime, and experiments away. if he wants to explore local-food movements, he just jets out to the west coast and eats at the top ten or so restaurants and gorges. he gets to go to all the secret restaurants tucked away deep in the mountains in distant lands that only the truly initiated even know about…
and just the quantity of food! the chapter on the choucroute nearly gave me a sympathy stomachache with just how much food he and his wife were consuming. this man could give me a run for my money, appetite-wise. oh, the gluttony—all for his need to find the best food, the best way of preparing food, the best methods and ingredients and which food “facts” are actually fraudulent, for science.
when i eat an entire box of girl scout cookies, it is also for science.
he is my new favorite food-writer. he is funny and hungry and i am 100% using his stuffing recipe this year for thanksgiving, even though he poo-poohs turkey, which is ridiculous. he has never had my turkey, is all. oh, and i am also going to make this fruitcake recipe. i have never had fruitcake. is that weird? his sounds intense. and i must have it. expect fruitcakes in the mail come holiday time next year.
if you have any interest whatsoever in food, apart from using it as fuel to sustain your machine-like body, i suggest you take a look at this book, and prepare to drool
now i am going to get my hands on his follow-up and see how long that one takes me to get through!
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