From Publishers Weekly
Vogue magazine food writer Steingarten picks up where The Man Who Ate Everything left off, offering foodies a mouthwatering collection of nearly 40 obsessive essays. "Sometimes, I feel like a giant bluefin, my powerful musculature propelling me around the world in search of food," he explains in an essay about toro, the tender tuna belly used in Japanese cuisine. Equal parts travelogue and investigative reporting, Steingarten's writing is funny, fast-paced and clever. Whether re-creating a perfect plate of coq au vin using rooster procured from a live poultry market, braising ribs for his dog or taste-testing espresso in his Manhattan loft cum laboratory ("Right now there are 14 brand new, state-of-the-art, home espresso makers in my house...."), Steingarten proves himself a true gastronome. Of course, his interest in food goes beyond haute cuisine-freeze-dried foods, hot dog buns, even his beloved Milky Way bars do not escape scrutiny. A few essays aren't even about food. One follows the author's south-of-the-border search for phen-fen; another contemplates New York City's "reservation rat race." Recipes-and only Steingarten could add humor to the form-appear throughout. Devoted readers will savor this collection (many of the essays have won awards from the James Beard Foundation and the International Association of Culinary Professionals); those unfamiliar with the author will be clamoring for more.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Fast becoming a star among contemporary food writers, Steingarten returns with another compilation of his columns from Vogue. Steingarten's breakneck tour through the world of unlimited consumption takes him aboard a tuna boat to find the source of his favorite sushi selection, raw fatty bluefin. The reader benefits from Steingarten's thorough research into the murky history and spreading popularity of sushi. In another personal encounter, Steingarten takes issue with a government ban on a popular diet drug that had helped him maintain his gluttonous intake volume and still lose weight. He debunks current outrageous claims for the superiority of tony, expensive sea salts over the everyday blue-box variety. Steingarten watches a pig butchered in France and explores the origins of the outrageously complex Cajun dish, turducken. Ever on the lookout to skewer others' pretentious food allergy claims, he calls into doubt claims of MSG sensitivities. Despite his silly New York disdain for the Midwestern heartland, Steingarten casts useful illumination on many hitherto dim areas of our fascination with food. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
“Compelling. . . . It is quite possible that Steingarten knows more about food than any man now eating.” –The Observer

“Whets appetites . . . adventurous, provocative and often rollicking essays.”–Newsday

“Delightful. . . . Employing courageous culinary curiosity and impressive gastronomic stamina, Steingarten happily deconstructs misinformation that hinders us as we cautiously trek to the kitchen of the nearest restaurant.” –USA Today

“Steingarten’s work will stay on the bookshelf long after our passionate colleagues have stopped competing over who can find the best osetra—and not with the food books but with the humor books funny enough to last.” –The New York Times

“Armed with a sense of adventure, a spymaster’s array of fancy gadgets, and a mind that finds it natural to introduce Boccaccio into a discussion of Parmesan cheese, he turns out little thrillers on the riddles of salt and the making of perfect pizza, salutes to chocolate and goose. Steingarten asserts that eaters ask modern cooking to be ‘stunning, original, precise, provocative, and very delicious,’ and his best prose displays those very qualities.”–Entertainment Weekly

“Like the best food, nourishes and delights.”–Boston Globe

“Endlessly entertaining and thought-provoking . . . Steingarten moves with boundless authority and wit between the search for a perfect espresso and investigations into why the Chinese don’t have all have MSG-induced headaches and whether different types of salt have different flavours. This is food-writing at its succulent best.”–The Sunday Times (London)

“Erudition, sense of humour, graceful prose, fanatical gluttony– [Steingarten]’s got it all.”–The Guardian

“The tireless culinary connoisseur is back in full force. . . . And somehow, during all his pursuits, he manages to remain an entirely likeable food snob–mainly because he’s funny, even self-deprecating.”–Time Out New York

“A witty, humorous culinary road trip, even for those with a lesser interest in food. For serious gourmets and gourmands, it is a road trip not to be missed. Read it with a food you love.”–Fort Worth Star Telegram

“Steingarten may be our most original investigative food writer.”–William Rice, Chicago Tribune



Review
?Armed with a sense of adventure, a spymaster?s array of fancy gadgets, and a mind that finds it natural to introduce Boccaccio into a discussion of Parmesan cheese, he turns out little thrillers on the riddles of salt and the making of perfect pizza, salutes to chocolate and goose. Steingarten asserts that eaters ask modern cooking to be ?stunning, original, precise, provocative, and very delicious,? and his best prose displays those very qualities.??Entertainment Weekly

?Like the best food, nourishes and delights.??Boston Globe

?Endlessly entertaining and thought-provoking . . . Steingarten moves with boundless authority and wit between the search for a perfect espresso and investigations into why the Chinese don?t have all have MSG-induced headaches and whether different types of salt have different flavours. This is food-writing at its succulent best.??The Sunday Times (London)

?Erudition, sense of humour, graceful prose, fanatical gluttony?[Steingarten]?s got it all.??The Guardian

?The tireless culinary connoisseur is back in full force. . . . And somehow, during all his pursuits, he manages to remain an entirely likeable food snob?mainly because he?s funny, even self-deprecating.??Time Out New York

?A witty, humorous culinary road trip, even for those with a lesser interest in food. For serious gourmets and gourmands, it is a road trip not to be missed. Read it with a food you love.??Fort Worth Star Telegram

?Steingarten may be our most original investigative food writer.??William Rice, Chicago Tribune

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In this outrageous and delectable new volume, the Man Who Ate Everything proves that he will do anything to eat everything. That includes going fishing for his own supply of bluefin tuna belly; nearly incinerating his oven in pursuit of the perfect pizza crust, and spending four days boning and stuffing three different fowl—into each other-- to produce the Cajun specialty called "turducken."

It Must've Been Something I Ate finds Steingarten testing the virtues of chocolate and gourmet salts; debunking the mythology of lactose intolerance and Chinese Food Syndrome; roasting marrow bones for his dog , and offering recipes for everything from lobster rolls to gratin dauphinois. The result is one of those rare books that are simultaneously mouth-watering and side-splitting.