How to Eat Around the World: Tips and Wisdom

by Richard Sterling

Richard Sterling is known variously as Conan of the Kitchen, the Indiana Jones of Gastronomy, the Man Who Will Eat Anything—Once, and the Fearless Diner. In How to Eat Around the World, Richard takes the reader on a gastronomical romp from the high style of European cuisine (Service a la Russe) to eating congealed blood from a wood bowl in the Philippines. Richard truly has tried everything, at least once, and in this book he demystifies exotic cuisine so it becomes more accessible and helps readers understand the varying mores and dining customs of the world’s peoples. He explains how differing cuisines have influenced each other, how food, like language, has migrated across continents, and how sharing meals can be the most meaningful and articulate way to engage a culture and share your own experience. Richard helps readers become comfortable with the world’s cuisines so they can seek out the exotic or simply feel at ease eating foods that appear strange, unappealing, or simply different.

Genres: Travel

168 pages, Paperback

First published May 10, 2005

Reviews

[Michael Huang · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short and sweet book about different aspects of food: school of cuisine, taboo and manner, travel tips, and what to try in different parts of the world.

About Indian cuisine for instance:
* The most basic of flavor is called "masala", simply means mix. (What we call curry is an English invention, non-existent in India.
* A Brahmin rarely traveled because his food needs to be cooked and served by another freshly bathed Brahmin.
* Malaysia is the one of many hosts of Indian school and the Chinese school, giving rise to the delicious Nonya cuisine.
* India is the original land of spice. You can find cures, potions, and sacred mixtures of spices. The original use was not culinary, but mystical.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Most travel books I've run across tend to be either very dry how-to manuals, that are good for figuring the general area and mechanics of getting around, and are only a little more interesting than learning how to change one's own engine oil, or tend to be self-narrated dirty confessions about all the sex/drugs/fucks one can have in another country. Again, interesting in a way, but I wind up feeling like a priest at confession, and I'm not even getting paid. So.

This balances both worlds of travel books--you get allusions to crazy sex, the best alcohols the land has to offer and how to drink them, what foods you have to try, and fun, usually insightful anecdotes of what kind of unique experience can be had, and how to really make it great or screw it up.

[TYson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book for Christmas '06 and skimmed through it at the time but am now reading it properly from cover to cover. Bookreporter.com says of it, "If you love to cook, eat, travel--or all three--you'll savor this round-the-world culinary adventure." I love all three but sadly don't do enough of the first and third. I certainly don't do any of them as well as I would like. Hopefully this book will provide some inspiration.

From what I've read so far, I do believe that the author has tried every single dish that has ever been created on this earth--barring cannibalism, of course, though he even touches on that shudder-inducing practice!

[Wellington · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book. Lovers of food and travel would love this. I especially love the side bars of authors who put their own little anecdotes on food/culture/traveling. Most of the advice I consider impractical, unless you are planning to be on the Amazing Race and visiting so many countries in one swoop.

[Arapahoe Libraries]

Peruse this book before your trip to avoid being labelled the "ugly American".

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book full of trivia.