Eat More Better: How to Make Every Bite More Delicious by Pashman, Dan (2014) Hardcover

by Dan Pashman

What if you could make everything you eat more delicious? As creator of the WNYC podcast The Sporkful and host of the Cooking Channel web series You're Eating It Wrong, Dan Pashman is obsessed with doing just that. Eat More Better weaves science and humor into a definitive, illustrated guidebook for anyone who loves food. But this book isn’t for foodies. It’s for eaters. In the bestselling tradition of Alton Brown’s Good Eats and M.F.K. Fisher’s The Art of Eating, Pashman analyzes everyday foods in extraordinary detail to answer some of the most pressing questions of our time, Is a cheeseburger better when the cheese is on the bottom, closer to your tongue, to accentuate cheesy goodness? What are the ethics of cherry-picking specific ingredients from a snack mix? And what role does surface-area-to-volume ratio play in fried food enjoyment and ice cube selection? Written with an infectious blend of humor and smarts, Eat More Better is a tongue-in-cheek textbook that t

Genres: Nonfiction, Food, Cookbooks, Cooking, Humor, Audiobook, Food and Drink

Hardcover

First published October 14, 2014

About the author

Dan Pashman is the creator and host of the two-time James Beard and Webby Award–winning podcast The Sporkful, which he says is not for foodies, it’s for eaters. He’s also the creator and host of Cooking Channel’s You’re Eating It Wrong.

In 2021 Dan launched the new pasta shape cascatelli, a viral sensation that TIME Magazine named one of the Best Inventions of the Year. The story of Dan’s three-year quest to create cascatelli was told in The Sporkful podcast’s “Mission: ImPASTAble” series, which the New York Times named one of the 10 Best Podcasts of 2021. Cascatelli is now in more than 3000 stores across America. In early 2023 Dan received international media attention when he launched two more pastas—obscure Italian shapes called vesuvio and quattrotini—that he produces with the artisanal pasta company Sfoglini, who also make the original version of cascatelli.

Reviews

[Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

I lot of good ideas here, but I felt split on which ideas were good and which ones I really, really disagreed with, figured it'd be good to list them out here.

AGREED

Freezing bread to keep it fresh
Standing grilled cheese up to keep bottom from getting soggy
Putting cheese on bottom of cheeseburger
Cheese Whiz on Philly Cheesesteaks is terrible
Milkshakes should be drinkable (if you have to eat it with a spoon, it's still ice cream)
Onion rings with too much batter are not good
Sandwiching cupcakes
Airplane food strategies interesting (good to know about taste buds losing 30% of their ability)
Craft beers are overvalued and overrated
Fried turkey should be done in parts, not whole
First date food tips are solid

DISAGREED

All grilled hot dogs are bad (that's only a problem when overcooked...)
Buffet tips interesting but unnecessary (also plays too much into "getting your money's worth", which makes me hate buffets..)
Crabs not being worth the work. WRONG, you're doing it wrong.
Waffles being better than pancakes.
The porklift option for not getting soggy pancakes, which is making a trestle of bacon, putting the cakes on top, to keep the bottom cake from getting soggy from too much syrup. The main flaw in this is that the bacon is then ruined and made soggy in syrup. Also you can just eat your pancakes immediately upon serving, thus sparing the sog.
Eating cheddar goldfish crackers like cereal, in milk. NO.
Veggieducken
The debate over spaghetti vs pasta was way too long (simple answer: both are great)
Instructions on how to twirl spaghetti unnecessary, and managed to avoid the biggest debate in my family growing up- to use a spoon or the plate to spin off of.
Cube farm food section funny in theory, not really for in practice
Section on dunking donuts in coffee
Baked ziti being better than lasagna- like other sections (hot dogs, spaghetti, pancakes) it seems like the author hasn't had a great version of the food in question. Lasagna is obviously better.

UNSURE

The part about cutting bagels into thirds. I agree that too-think bagels are not good for sandwiches, but I would argue you should just avoid large bagels altogether. There are only 2 good bagel places in Baltimore, so I on;y have bagels from them, and just avoid the chewy terribleness otherwise.

[Kate O'Hanlon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to enjoy this book but it fails even as a meaningless piece of fluff. Pashman has an obvious love of his subject but he's not nearly as clever or as interesting as he thinks he is.

The book has a cutesy structure, divided into academic topics such as engineering, language arts, etc. but Pashman's failed to organise the contents of these chapters in any logical way, flitting from titbit to aside to asinine observation. Pashman frequently breaks off and changes subject just as he's starting to get interesting, for example when considering the phenomenon of "steel-cut oatmeal" he notes that you've probably never asked what regular oats are cut with. Well gee you'll have to keep wondering because we're off to the next infographic.

[Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute idea, but mostly fluff. I had heard of the book and it seemed like a fascinating premise. How to use science to make food taste better or eat more efficiently, etc. I had forgotten/was unaware it was a podcast, so I was excited to see this on BookOutlet. It was a bit more than what I typically pay for on that site, but I really liked the idea and it wasn't available at my library anyway.
 
Unfortunately, the cuteness wears off pretty quickly. There are some really interesting bits of information here: how to eat better on an airplane (as in, what foods are better vs. others), don't go to a buffet when they first open (you're eating leftovers from last night), etc. It's light and fun and he has nice drawings and fun diagrams demonstrating these things.
 
But after awhile it gets repetitive really quick. Some of the information is just not interesting. Some of his stances are pretty subjective (waffles are better than pancakes. I don't have a particular stance but I don't quite understand exactly why he took some of these positions).
 
The problem is that the book was filled out and deliberately upsold to possibly be a compliment to a cookbook. The US hardcover is $24.99. Yikes. What you're paying for is that it's a hardcover and has a lot illustrations but not a lot of substance. Which is fine (for the right person this would make a GREAT gift), but as a substantial book I am unhappy I paid what I did (which was still a good price, but still not worth it). It would have been better as a smaller book with not so many infographics and more focus on whys and the science of it.
 
I realize the presentation is not the main part of the book, but be warned: it looks nice but lacks the heft. Other reviews recommend sticking with the podcast and while I'm not familiar with it, I would agree based on this book. But as I wrote before, for the right person they'd probably really enjoy this book. Recommend browsing at the library or bookstore before committing.

[Jenny]

This was really terrible. The author is not remotely as funny as he thinks he is, and I had to stop after a stretch of reading felt too much like listening to the geeky guy at work making dad jokes he thinks are risque.

I'll admit I have never heard the podcast, and perhaps he's easier to take in that form. I have a soft spot for knowledgeable nerds, whatever the topic of their enthusiasm, but this was a bridge too far.

[Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Riot Read Harder Challenge - An audiobook

This book could've been better written in places, but I laughed a lot and got occasionally hungry so 4 stars it is.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love the podcast—disappointed in the book! Rather inane and a terribly designed book.

[✿✿✿May · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listening to the audiobook, I found the author's voice super annoying and not engaging. The information was kind of over the top and, at some point it was just blah, blah, blah for me. He was obviously passionate about the topics he discussed, but it just felt so righteous and extreme. And "homework" after each chapter? Urgh!

[Vjera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky, snarky, and very different from typical books about food. The author talks about food through the lens of different topics, such as engineering or biology. Ideas for how to improve food abound, many absurd and hilarious, others oddly practical (serve food at your party that can be at the Temperature of Life). Good for ideas and snickers.

[N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the science of it. Got a little bogged down in psychology and math of it all but I appreciated the thoughtfulness of the book. Smart. It was cheeky too. I could hear the author/reader smile along with me.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book because I love Dan Pashman. But the humor felt forced and lazy - tired racists/sexist jokes to compensate. There were a handful of great parts but overall it was pretty meh.

[Robby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, kind of disappointed. It was more a funny joke than much real practical advice. There was a bit here and there that I think will be useful like the bits about layering sandwiches but the overwhelming majority of the content was just some silly jokes.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think this book is for everyone. If you ever debate or want to obsess over the perfect way to eat something, this is for you. The only complaint I have is that I knew a lot of the content from The Sporkful podcast already.

[Kim Woodbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this clever and entertaining book. It was engaging from start to finish and I laughed out loud quite a few times. The author helped me think of food and eating in a fresh way and gave me some good ideas. Highly recommended for anyone who loves to eat! :)

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Suspect it would have been fun as an audio book, but as text it came off as glib and all too often self-aggrandizing. No tonal difference between analysis, information, and opinion. Was amused by the insertion of Nietzsche.

[Marc K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining.

A lot of good tips for making the food we eat more enjoyable and better.

If it is were just tips and tricks it wouldn't have been as good, but he put a lot of humor into the written words of this book.

[Jessica Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A non-cookbook food book that is a series of ideas. Snarky and fun, with a few useful tidbits about how to make everything you eat better. Just an enjoyable and silly book to flip through, but definitely not necessary to read every page.

[Mdbeltrano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read!

[Teena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the science and the tips and hacks! What a great book!

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LOVE the podcast and wanted to love the book. It just seemed like a list of dan pashman’s idiosyncrasies. Most I’ve heard already from the podcast.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the podcast, but I felt like the book is too much. There is a reason why the podcast is under 30 minutes. Content like this is better in small chunks and with other points of view mixed in.

[Emily]

I really like Dan Pashman's podcast, The Sporkful, so I expected to enjoy this. It was silly, but pretty amusing.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t know what I expected, but I got this instead of whatever else.

[anklecemetery]

I do not find this delightful, but ymmv.

[Charles Cohen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is just as fun as the podcast, and just as full of actual real-world application of how to make, serve, and eat food.

[Michelledsandler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parts were certainly entertaining. Too many parts were not.

[AT Bear · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve recommended this book to several friends because it made me smile so much.

[H James · Rating 2 out of 5]

The text contains some amazingly good advice and some decently good jokes, but it’s such an ugly, disorganized codex that it’s hard to appreciate either.

[Jeff Hubatka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan's folksy style and ideas about how to get the best taste from every meal are fun to read.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and humorous look at food and eating. A good companion for The Sporkful.

[M Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun treatise on how to most enjoy eating experiences -- basically food hacking. Things like eating a cheeseburger upside down so that the cheese touches your tongue and the thicker bun collects the grease drippings. Or turning a scoop chip upside down (becoming a dome) for guacamole so that it doesn't break or hurt the roof of your mouth. The most important concept throughout is the ratio between surface area and volume; it allows for crispy fried food and sauce adhesion (which is why waffle fries and cavatappi pasta are so good at their jobs) but can cause sog or staleness in other contexts (in soup you want dense balls with minimal surface area, and boules are better than baguettes on day two). The first half of the book's great; the second half gets a little diatribe-y and less useful (e.g., he whinges about bartenders who aren't good at their jobs but doesn't offer any workarounds). For the most part, though, this book's great and recommended to anyone who thinks about the details of eating.


Favorite quotes:

"Is sliced bread actually the worst things since itself? Every minute that fresh bread is exposed to air, it becomes more stale and less delicious. Bringing it home from the bakery is like bringing a gunshot victim into the ER."

On craft beer hipsterism: "'Have you tried Beaver Snatch Brewery's Unabomber Porter?' they ask. 'It's fermented in the same abandoned bus in Alaska where that kid from Into the Wild died.'"

"Fondant? More like Fondon't! Fondant is the greatest insult to cake since Marie Antoinette. Pastry chefs like it because it's malleable and holds its shape well, so it can be made into elaborate designs that won't fall apart. The results are indeed visually stunning, which is why covering a cake with fondant is the perfect way to impress people who are superficial enough to pass judgement on a food before eating it. In truth, fondant smells like papier-mâché and has the mouthfeel of Big League Chew."