It Must've Been Something I Ate

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.
“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