I've been sick, stressed and overworked lately, which has left me irritable and anti-social. Luckily, I found the time to finish a great book that has become one of my new favorites:
The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffrey Steingarten
I couldn't help but love this collection of essays; it includes some of my most loved things: food obviously, science, travel, intelligence and wit. If I had to come up with a criticism -- and of course I do -- it would be that the book was written over a period of a few years back in the early 90s, so doesn't include anything that has happened since. For example, the chapter Why Aren't the French Dropping Like Flies? discusses the French Paradox, which Steingarten is credited with bringing to the public consciousness. Because it was written in 1991, though, it can't come up with any reasons why the people of France ate so much more fatty and "bad" food than Americans, but had much better health. I suspect that the same discussion today would conclude that the French's better health came from their intake of "bad fats" from whole food sources, rather than the processed, empty calorie versions that Americans are so fond of. Even with the outdated references, though, the central points are timeless.
I not only found the book entertaining, but very inspiring. I've already tried a couple of the included recipes, and the introduction about Steingarten's quest to truly eat everything has gotten me thinking differently about my own irrational food phobias. Whether I'll change my habits in any major way remains to be seen, but as we learned from GI Joe, knowing is half the battle.
I'm not much of a reviewer, so I'll stop now. My point is just to recommend this fantastic read to anyone who loves food; it should be a requirement for all of us.
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