It Must've Been Something I Ate

This is a collection of food writing by columnist Jeffrey Steingarten.

Steingarten’s essays on food reveal a man who is so obsessed with good cooking and the pleasures it brings that he will do all of those things many of us wouldn’t dare to attempt in the search for a good meal. He will spend all day with French villagers taking apart a pig to learn the secrets of blood sausage. He will attempt to turn his home oven into a 900-degree pizza oven trying to reproduce truly great pizza crust at home. He will order every electric rotisserie and rotisserie attachment knkown to man to try to recreate spit-roasted chicken without the fireplace. And he writes about all of his culinary adventures with a dry wit, self-deprecating humor and show more complete disdain for food phobias, allergies, and the arcane rules and regulations of the USDA. It is not often that reading about cooking and eating is more fun than actually cooking and eating, but this book is the exception that proves the rule. And you can do it all afternoon without gaining a pound, unless you are overcome by the urge to try one or three of Steingarten’s exacting recipes. show less

Jeffrey Steingarten amuses and annoys me in equal measure, but since I keep finishing and enjoying his books, the amusement must be what lingers. It Must've Been Something I Ate is a follow-up to The Man Who Ate Everything; similarly, it's a set of essays on the many aspects of food and eating. Among other adventures, Steingarten goes fishing for bluefin, examines the technical aspects of Roman bread-baking, tests fourteen espresso machines, cooks for his dog, ages steaks at home, and attempts to make turducken. As a near-vegetarian, I discovered that I couldn't read this while eating: I have no problem knowing where meat comes from, but reading about making black pudding while eating was just not working out.

My one serious complaint is show more this: I wish he'd shut up about food allergies. For someone who understands the pleasures of cooking and eating, you'd think he'd get that some of us need to avoid or limit certain things in order to have the same enjoyment. Nope. If the joke comes naturally, Mr. Steingarten, it's because it's already been used too many times. Get new material.

Irritation (inflammation?) aside, while reading this book I just could not stop talking about it. There are so many great tidbits of social history and enough flashes of genuinely funny dry wit that it was worth wading through his less-than-brilliant moments. show less

Confessional: my view of Mr. Steingarten has been colored by other reviews calling him pompous and "casually offensive". Indeed, here are a few examples: even if said in jest, he wants to take credit for getting people to eat out of their comfort zones. He has a strong humble brag going on about the time he had a half pound bag of Oshima Island Blue Label Salt on his kitchen counter. The comments made me pay attention to every time he said something disparaging about women or demonstrated mock insecurity. In truth, it got a little annoying to be so hypersensitive to ego remarks like, "Where were you when you tasted the most delectable and expensive fish in the world? Me, I was in L.A." (p 13). Good for you, Steingarten. There have been show more a lot of what I call, "Have you...? I have!" statements.
But all of this is not to say Steingarten was not informative. I learned that cheese is not the source of your lactose intolerance and the monosodium glutamate will not give you a headache.
I have never been a fan of one collecting all his or her previously published essays to bring them out as a "new" book. It's just recycled words. To continue to pick on It Must've Been Something I Ate, I don't know how you can index Parmesan cheese a dozen times and not once put Italy in the index. Not even Parma makes a mention. Steingarten mostly focuses on French cuisine and French influences. He completely ignores Spain, Germany, and Italy (even though he has whole chapters on Neapolitan pizza and Parmesan cheese). show less

In an age where everyone who has ever had a meal anywhere seems to think they can write about food (just as anyone who travels to the south of Europe thinks that the public wants to read a book about it) Steingarten's writing stands out. He may be obsessive beyond what is considered normal - the measures he takes to fulfill notions about what he wants can take him to different continents or result in him cooking way too many batches of dog food - but you can't help but cheer him on as he writes about it in such a wry, acerbic style. His chapter on people who claim they have food allergies should be required reading for everyone for a start. Yes, he can be snobbish, demeaning, and plain rude, but the fact is he knows what he is writing show more about, and in the comfort of our own home, over a well prepared snack or a good drink, we can laugh along, partly due to the humour, and partly glad we are not the intended target.

In neat little self-contained chapters, each story in this book is witty and entertaining, and educational. This is a book that no food lover should deny themselves. show less

A collection of essays about food, written for Vogue magazine in the early 1990s.

I enjoyed reading it for the most part, if only for his enthusiasm over food, and his very dry sense of humor. As for the recipes, most of them I will not try and am not even interested in trying. They require complicated techniques, lots of equipment, and ingredients I don't have access to, not unless I want to pay through the nose to get them, and sometimes not even then. I am trying to get my kitchen and cooking down to the basics and simplify, but it is such fun to read about someone who is really enthusiastic about finding the perfect foods.

There were many references to New York City and the food purveyors there, which makes me want to go back. In many show more ways, his enthusiasm for food, and his confidence in his opinions on all subjects, and his humor, remind me of Brillat-Savarin. show less

Great collection of slightly obsessive food writing; the description of making a turducken, including boning a turkey in a speedy two hours, is a delight.

It was funny, mouth-watering and obsessing book about food. You'll definitely get hungry and after reading the book your brain would definitely be full of facts about food, how to cook good book and where to find good food. Scrap that, its not about good food but THE BEST food. However, that seems to be my problem, its food that not everyone can afford. Its not about the cheapest food but THE BEST food with THE MOST EXPENSIVE price tag. Its not for middle class citizens. I also got nauseated reading too much about food. You should read this interspersed with other books but definitely still worth the read but not worth the buy. Maybe you could borrow it from someone.