Though he doesn't call himself one, Jeffrey Steingarten is a food detective, conducting experiments on the best way to make fries, the ideal pie crust recipe, and other culinary topics. Even better, he writes about his 'research' with insight and humor, making for a very entertaining collection of essays. ( )

I hate to say this: I love food writing, but this book bored me. Maybe it would have been better in small bites, a few chapters at a time, rather than trying gorge myself on the whole thing.

I tried sampling, I tried pacing myself. I tried taking a break of years between attempts. Didn't work. I'm putting this one down and stepping away from the table. ( )

This book consists of a series of essays written by Steingarten from 1988 - the mid 1990s about his favourite subject, food. Clearly a man who loves his work, he tackles topics as diverse as baking a loaf of yeast-free bread, finding the perfect french fry, and the challenges of returning to American cooking after time spent abroad sampling authentic Japanese cuisine. Educational and entertaining, the essay format lends itself to bursts of reading in the tub, before bed, or on the subway. Steingarten includes some of his favourite recipes, which alas seemed far too complicated for my simple abilities, but still interesting. Worthwhile and engaging. ( )

This is an enjoyable collection of essays originally published in Vogue , HG, and Slate, by Steingarten, a lawyer-turned-food-writer. The author is at his best when he obsessively attacks a food-related question (how do you make the perfect pie crust? can microwaved fish taste good? what is the best-tasting ketchup?) by concocting messy experiments in his kitchen, interviewing experts, and pouring over the scientific literature. I also love it when he gets all crotchety and debunks common food myths (low-fat is good! alcohol is bad! meat is bad! salt is bad!). Some of the essays are a little dated (like a weirdly gushing piece about how awesome Olestra is), and Steingarten's humor is definitely more suited to a single piece of journalism than a whole book. This one is way more fun to read if you space it out over time instead of plowing through one piece after the other, but definitely worth dipping into.

[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2008/10...] ( )

This highly-enjoyable collection of Jeffrey Steingarten's food essays includes several absolute classics, including 'Salad the Silent Killer'. Steingarten's take on food is simple: if it's tasty, let's eat it, and to hell with all those neurotics who think of it only as 'fuel' or 'poison'.

Steingarten's also a consummate stylist, with a distinctively playful voice. His flights of egotism are neatly balanced by self-deprecation, and his willingness to march off on quixotic food quests (e.g. trying to come up with his own recipe for good-tasting water by mixing distilled H2O with pharmaceutical chemicals).

Highly recommended. ( )

Steingarten's ego is hard to ignore; one or two of the essays are interesting, but the rest are boring. ( )

Not just the man who ate everything, but the man who tried to bake a pizza in an oven on the self-clean cycle.

http://www.schlaikjer.net/reviews/065... ( )

This book was fun to read. The author is a food writer for Vogue, and the book is part cooking, part travelogue, part science and always entertaining. There are some hilarious moments, like the episode when he tries to make a coconut cake for Thanksgiving, or conducts a ketchup taste test. And, his chapter on microwave cooking had me chuckling and cheering at the same time. There are recipes. My only complaint is that they are, for the most part, far too complicated for me to actually make at home.

If you like to eat, you'll like this book.

p.s. My son and I actually made the "mock apple" pie which uses Ritz crackers instead of apples. It was good -- and we fooled most of the family with it! ( )

A great deal of fun–far more so than his second book, which is heavily marinated in his colossal ego. The chapter on pie crust both screamingly funny and the best how-to on pie crust I've ever read.

funny, witty, informative, honest. it's comforting to know we have the same obsession for and favorite brand of ketchup. overall a good read! ( )

This book is hilarious and informative. I love Jeffrey Steingarten. He's absolutely the best thing about Vogue. ( )

Funny, thought provoking, and informative, with some recipes thrown in. ( )

his was a fun. light read, with some very interesting "adventures". I particualrly like the attitude of the author, at the outset, he tried to overcome his own food dislikes, and spends the book learning more about the processes behind the food he reviews. Bravo. ( )