All Consuming: Why We Eat the Way We Eat Now

by Ruby Tandoh

The iconic New Yorker and Vittles food writer asks: Why do we eat the way we eat now?

Being into food - following and making it, queuing for it and discussing it - is no longer a subculture. It's become mass culture.

The food landscape is more expansive and dizzying by the day. Recipes, once passed from hand to hand, now flood newspaper supplements and social media. Our tastes are engineered in food factories, hacked by supermarkets and influenced by Instagram reels.

Ruby Tandoh's startlingly original analysis traces this extraordinary transformation over the past seventy-five years, making sense of this electrifying new era by examining the social, economic, and technological forces shaping the foods we hunger for today.

Exploring the evolution of the cookbook and light-speed growth of bubble tea, the advent of TikTok critics and absurdities of the perfect dinner party, Tandoh's laser-sharp investigation leaves her questioning: how much are our tastes, in fact, our own?

Genres: Nonfiction, Food, History, Audiobook, Essays, Cooking, Pop Culture

303 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 9, 2025

About the author

RUBY TANDOH is an author and journalist who has written for The New Yorker, The Guardian, Vittles and Elle. A finalist on The Great British Bake Off in 2013, she has written Eat Up!, a book about the pleasure of eating, as well as three cookery books, Crumb, Flavour, and Cook As You Are. She is also the author of All Consuming, a book about the highs and lows of modern food culture – out now.

Reviews

[Stephen the Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a child of the sixties and seventies and growing up in family that grew their veg, baked, bottled, pickled , preserved - out of necessity rather than fad or fashion , I've always loved food, sharing food and talking about food with family and friends. I don't think we'd had called ourselves foodies - just an innate desire to find pleasure from food.

Over the years food has changed, the veggies grown in the garden have changed and the dialogue has changed...the world of consuming food, buying food, connecting to food has dramatically moved on... ( but I guess it always has over the decades/centuries)

What drew me to this book ... a feeling of needing to connect and understand the paths that eating and drinking has taken.... I am an older demographic and I have had bubble tea, eaten a variety of 'street food"( good and very bad) and for a short period tried to engage with insta reels..but still have felt bewildered and a bit isolated or maybe left out of what is happening ...or does it not even matter when things disappear in the flick of a influencer's eyes or tastebuds?? But trying to understand the changes occurring is fascinating ( is it needed is another question - especially if you don't live in a metropolis?)

Ruby Tandoh's ' All Consuming' is a brilliant read- a very personal discourse on the world of food and its evolution in relation to certain aspects.
This is a book that is written from the heart; it's informative; it opens questions; it broadens understanding and also leaves you wondering whether the connection to food and its origins and the fashionable ever-evolving love of food is getting wider and wider.

The range of exploration and questioning ranges from cookery bookies, online recipes, the dinner party, food critics, the world of fizzy drinks, the world of Viennettas and Magnums and even the good old Wimpy.

Ruby's style is instantly engaging and this book was devoured ( no pun intended) over a few days- it could be a book to dip into and then come back to- each theme stands alone. I was hooked and the flow and pace had me from page one.

There is a wonderful sense of curiosity and exploration in the prose- sometimes tongue in cheek, sometimes a sense of annoyance, sometimes just a beautiful acknowledgement that good food is good food regardless of it being home made, supermarket purchased or eaten after queuing for an age.

There are many other themes that could have been explored that open up the discourse further and wider . This is primarily an anglophile or English speaking/focus - UK/USA exploration as how to food is consumed and has developed- it would be intriguing to know what has happened / is happening in other cultures but in an ever increasingly homogenised - phone addicted world the stories may well ( albeit sadly) end up with similar outcomes in future years .- one big global feast! The impact of food consumerism and climate change is another chapter in the making for all of us.

But " All Consuming" is fantastic read - for food lovers ( not just foodies) and is highly recommended. I dare you not to learn at least three or facts to share at your next "dinner party "!!

Thank you to net galley and serpent's tail for the advance copy

[Ygraine]

reads like some of my favourite long afternoon conversations w beloved friends who know a great deal more than i do abt a great many v interesting things; no truer pleasure in the world to me than listening to someone who wears their knowledge so comfortably.

[Debbi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am from cookbooks without pictures, Julia Child, Alice Waters, MFK Fisher and Gourmet Magazine. Ruby Tandoh is from the internet, glossy food photos, Instagram and influencers. While it is easy to write off the new food culture as over the top, the author has an interesting perspective and often delivers her thoughts with humor. Cynical at times this is a book to read if you feel you need an update on the food world.
I love good food writing. This book was more about ideas than great writing. I think All Consuming is geared to a new audience...I still miss Gourmet Magazine.

Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read and review an advance copy

[Lina Serrano · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I started this book excited to learn about our relationship with food, I didn’t realize I’d stop at 25% through the book.

All Consuming focuses on how the different forms of media we’ve interacted with have formed our relationship with food and taste. Coming off another informational book, I was very excited to read all about the little details that draw us into the recipes we choose. Instead:

1. We get a book with a lot of internet slang which, I like, but will really date the book in 1-3 years. So many terms go in and out of style, and i doubt many people will remember Kieth Lee in 5 years, much less 10 years from now.
2. I was very confused as to whether we were discussing food media in the UK or US for a lot of the time, and it consistently switched between the two, and without enough explanation of the food culture on either side of the world.
3. We jump around to different time periods so often, it was difficult to keep track of when our tastes for presentation changed and into what.

Overall, I ended up wondering who this book is really for. With the constant 2020-25 terminology mixed in with the grandiose verbiage, it really just feels like it’s made for some millennial food critic wannabe. Nonetheless, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[Kate Henderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked Ruby Tandoh's previous book so was intrigued by this one - unfortunately I was left really disappointed.
I found it to be a bit all over the place - I was unsure what the actual purpose and point to the book was, and what I was supposed to get from it.

There were definitely some bits that were more interesting, but a lot of the book was just meh.
Still unsure of what Ruby Tandoh was trying to do with this book.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

All Consuming, by Ruby Tandoh is extremely readable; the words just flow across the page, making it such a compelling read. It’s clearly very well researched and absolutely fascinating. I loved learning about how recipe sourcing has evolved over the years, along with the shifts in our eating habits and food trends. There's a brilliant analysis of food history, recipe books, food critics, influencers, TikTok trends, and so much more.

I kept stopping to tell my husband all the interesting facts I was learning! It really made me think about what we eat, why we eat it, and how that’s changed over time. I found myself smiling at the start of lots of chapters as familiar foods and themes were explored. It’s also well structured, and I was really pleased to see suggested further reading and recipe books in the epilogue.  I’ve really enjoyed this book and now want to read more by Ruby Tandoh. Fully recommend! I received an advance review copy and this is my honest review.

[Anika · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book left me wondering what was the point? I felt the author had an overall idea of what she wanted to accomplish with the book but never truly dug into the thesis. Most of the book was about British food which makes sense as the author is British, but she would sprinkle US things in there that made it feel disjointed. I feel she should’ve either committed to only British food or committed to fully British/US.

Overall, the book had a bit of a pessimistic undertone which I didn’t quite enjoy.

Beautiful cover though!!!

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredibly fascinating look at how our food culture got to be so *gestures wildly*. As an avid cookbook collector, I was obviously paying extra close attention to those chapters.

[Laura Birnbaum · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit like reading jia tolentino - the observations are interesting in passing, but not sharp enough to leave an impression

[tropie · Rating 3 out of 5]

if going "huh!" while reading a substack essay became an entire book

[Helen Arnold · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really excited to read this, I love following Ruby Tandoh and her first book Eat Up! has stayed with me, and I've always taught extracts from it! I found this a little less personal than Eat Up and read more like a series of long form, incredibly well researched, essays on food culture in the UK. I actually think, at times, Ruby's voice got a bit lost amongst all the research and reading she did for this. Reading it, at times, felt like drinking an oolong boba tea infused with spelt milk and chrysanthemum bubbles with 30% ice and 30% sugar and maybe Id be interested to have less off all that and more of the actual tea.
I'm giving this 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. And this is a happy 4 because it reminded me in places of Because, Internet by Gretchen Mccolluch in the way that Tandoh explores and rejoices in internet culture; how it has changed the way we eat, how recipes are developed, how it's both incredibly democratic and scary all at the same time!

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit devastated there is no more new Ruby Tandoh for me to read. I love her writing, would happily buy and read her shopping list.

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read on the influence of media on how we eat. Focuses (understandably) a lot on social media. The book is a bit all over the place, the overarching message is not very clear. But entertaining none the less. I feel like it's specifically written for millennials, hehe.

[Violet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much! I vaguely remember Ryby Tandoh on the Great British Bake Off, and she is so much more than a (talented) baker - this book was a little gem. It's so well-researched and so interesting, well-written...

I have read a lot of food books recently and the recent ones are often focused on either learning about cooking, trying new (to the writer) food, or chasing food memories from the author's childhood. What Ruby Tandoh does here is radically different - it's essays about food, but also about food in 2025, about TikTok food reviewers, about the constant trends (the cronuts, the matcha, the bubble tea...), about what it means to think about food in the age of the internet. There's a whole chapter on how cookbooks have changed since the internet started - how you are more likely to search for "mushroom tomato wine sauce chicken" than for "poulet chasseur", how Allrecipes started and how many people use it... There's a chapter on ice cream, and one on bubble tea and how it became so popular in the West, after being a popular drink in Asia.

It reminded me of Jia Tolentino's Trick Mirror in its format and commentary. I learned a lot about food and I found it so enjoyable.

Free ARC sent by Netgalley.

[Natalie Dwortz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yikes didn’t like it. Aggressively millennial. If I wasn’t so bored rn I probs wouldn’t have finished it. It’s the kind of book that won’t mean anything to anyone if they read it even one year from now. There were a few interesting facts I learned, but I really didn’t feel like the author was saying anything at all. no common thread tying the anecdotes together.

[akacya ❦]

2026 reads: 102/300

this book explores various aspects of food culture, from allrecipes to baking competitions and beyond. the author traces the history of the social, economic, cultural, legislative, and demographic forces that have shaped the west’s relationship with food.

i have not thought about food this much since my freshman honors course, but i loved it! there were a lot of topics covered here, but i enjoyed learning so much about the current state of food in our culture and how we got here. i’d recommend this to anyone interested in the topic.

[Christina Cheng · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this over the course of many schnitzels in Central Europe. First of all, I love Ruby Tandoh, or maybe I envy her. All I know for certain is that there is a crop of millennial writers with such distinct voices defined by cleverness, wryness, and the right touch of cynicism who I cannot tell if I want to be best friends with them or simply be them. Second of all, Ruby’s writing has the power to transcend the fact that this book is a particular breed of zeitgeist-y and mishmash-y that you begin to wonder of its staying power and cohesion. Third of all, nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this for its deep dive into interesting bits of food history and its humor and FUN!!! More books should just be purely delightful!!!

[Demi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was not expecting this to be so captivating from start to finish

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

as someone who almost cried when i found out the red lobster i was eating at for only the second time in my life was soon to close, i felt seen by her waxing poetic on her love (but not loving the food of) of weird, decrepit british fast good chains. also i just like anyone who can write a book about convenience store ice cream cones with all the academic rigor of a scholar.

[Megan Sanks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Books like this remind me why I don't have TikTok

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been doing a lot of reading about food lately. I started in what I think is likely the usual place, with Michael Pollan, Alice Waters, and the like. So, I've heard a lot of messaging about whole, local, organically-grown foods. I think all of that is great in theory, but it would require a major shift in my lifestyle to adhere to that worldview. And frankly, I'm not sure I want to. I like fast food. I like trying the latest weird potato chip flavor meticulously engineered by thousands of dollars of marketing and food science.

So, I was excited to read a book that talks about these things. I wanted to hear about viral food trends and how tastes have been shaped throughout history. I was looking forward to reading a book that considers the modern state of food instead of only looking back to the (possibly imaginary) past.

Unfortunately, I feel this book lacks a thesis. The author says a lot of things, and some of it is even interesting, but I feel it lacks cohesion. I am sure it doesn't help that I listened to the audiobook rather than reading it conventionally, but the book felt disorganized. The author made throwaway references to particular people or food items in earlier chapters, and then took the time to explain who/what those people/things were later. If the reader likely wouldn't recognize those names, why reference them out of context? If the reader was meant to understand the reference, why take the time to explain them later?

I guess I just don't know who the target audience is. I feel like it needs to be someone already deeply entrenched in food culture and online culture and online food culture, but is only interested in some light background information on the state of things. Otherwise, I'm not sure there's much of a point.

[Alyssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best part of this book is the bubble tea cover.

Maybe 2.5 stars… the book did get better as it progressed. The “tonic waters” chapter was of particular interest to me.
Though I agreed with most of her observations, I found myself wondering “sooo?”

[Hannah Dearth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting more from a book subtitled “Why We Eat the Way We Eat Now.” This was a series of observations that didn’t flow or link particularly well.

[Ash · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was really exhausting to read and I only found 6 of the total 14 chapter essays to be somewhat interesting ("Allrecipes", "The critic hits the road", "I like bubble tea", "Dream home", "Supermarket fugue", "The ice cream age"). In most chapters, Tandoh couldn't figure out how to communicate her ideas in a cohesive manner. I felt like I was reading slop of dates of when x chef wrote x cookbook which showed how to make x food. I also didn't understand her commentary like the vocabulary she was using went over my head (I'm not talking about her commentary on GenZ and Tiktok and all that new age stuff like I understood that perfectly).

Here's an example of a passage I didn't get:
"...people threw banquets, formal Victorian dinners with quantum etiquette, or luxury picnics. Every one of these, from the menu down to the geometry of the napkins, is the ultimate in small-time ambition - silverback stuff, but through the medium of River Cafe 'Chocolate Nemesis Cake'...They're a fairground mirror for the bigger neuroses of the time". Girl what is that? Maybe, it's because I'm not in the cooking world, but I understood like 5% of what she meant.

I think it's really quite something that Tandoh chose to close the book out with a James Baldwin quote while constantly mentioning Yotam Ottolenghi, an Israeli chef who served in the IDF and who says meaningless, empty statements along the lines of "Food has no boundaries" and "This isn't about sides. It's about lives". Tandoh really harps on this idea of how the food you eat isn't really your individual choice and instead, it's the effect of culture, politics, economics, technology, etc. Her main point she was trying to drill in reminded me of the Devil Wears Prada cerulean sweater monologue. So if she recognizes that food is political, I think it was a careless decision to include someone like Ottolenghi in her book.

I found the section titled "The critic hits the road" really interesting. Tandoh begins the chapter talking about Keith Lee's fame and then goes back in time to Duncan Hines, a traveling salesman in the 1940s who published Adventures in Good Eating, a guidebook for reliable restaurants that road-trippers could go. But then, she switches over to writing about Victor Hugo Green, the author of The Green Book, which was a travel guide for African Americans to find safe restaurants, hotels, beauty salons, to be served during Jim Crow. I liked the way Tandoh actually contrasted the reality of Hines and Green instead of not stating the obvious: "Both guides [referring to the works of Hines and Green] came down to risk management, except for Hines' readers the risk topped out at whether you'd be given stale dinner rolls...Green didn't get into the ambience or vouch for the quality of the meals, and many restaurants paid for ads. In Hines' world, trust came from feeling that this was somehow a civic project...In the Green Book, trust was maths: restaurants wouldn't pay to advertise if they didn't want you to come".

I also thought the chapter titled "I like bubble tea" was insightful into how boba was popularized in the UK. I was thinking about the shift from small family-owned bubble tea shops in the UK that only really attracted Asian migrants/international students to now, giant global bubble tea brands that have consumers from all over the world, and how marketing played such a big role (what stuff was intentionally added/what stuff was removed, all for the goal of selling bubble tea). Here are some tidbits I found interesting:
"Word gets around online, through photos and videos of people holding the [boba] cups - always the same shot, the same half-pan and gentle wiggle. The most consistent feature is probably just the cup, which is made of transparent plastic so you can appreciate the best angles of the drink, which is every angle, by the way. In Taiwan, where people know what bubble tea is and like it for what it is, the cups aren't usually see-through. They're opaque, decorated with the branding of whichever shop they're from"
"The stores also worked the novelty angle. It wasn't 'this is traditional in Taiwan' or 'these are great ingredients' but 'Isn't this wild?' At Bubbleology, that means rebranding ordinary bubble tea as some kind of molecular break-through."

I thought it was odd Tandoh didn't entertain ANY mention/hint of cultural appropriation in this section. I think it would've been a fair analysis to make like I'm not asking her to write a hit piece on the founder of Bubbleology, but if you're going to talk about the politics and food trends, then why not directly say that major corporations often succeed because they strip products of their origins (the people who invented it, the cultural importances, essentially the WHO etc) and repackage them to sell. I thought it was lazy, particularly because Tandoh has no problem criticizing how ridiculous and expensive Tiktok food trends can be, but she admits that she's a participant in this frenzy (so if she can make an analysis of that, she could've called out bigger corporations more directly and still talked about how much she drank bubble tea).

Overall, most of the book felt like a series of events that weren't connected by good analysis (a lot of it was repetitive and it didn't really add up to much) and I was pretty much confused on what Tandoh was saying at all bc I didn't get her vocabulary/references.

[Izzie Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

i feel like she wrote this specifically for me

[Vanessa Schmoelz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to this as an audiobook & I think I liked this more because of that medium. I don’t often enjoy reading about internet trends, viral TikTok videos etc so a lot of this book dragged along for me. Some interesting history and pop culture info but would probably not recommend this one :(

[Chanel Chapters]

Very British American focused - also idgaf about TikTok or IG

[Izzy Maw · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyable & easy read, I even went to central to get a bubble tea and I don't even like it that much

[Amy Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really great piece of writing about our current food culture and how we got here- well researched and well written Ruby Tandeoh manages to skirt the line between having an authoritative and likeable authorial voice with aplomb. There’s no fat here; it’s all interesting, relevant and prescient, from the history of the automat to why bubble tea is such a ‘thing’. Will deffo be recommending this to other food obsessed folk! (Or are we food obsessed or simply more susceptible to the million messages we receive every week about what to eat?!)

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 - i listened to this on my runs and im not usually an audiobook person but i enjoyed hearing ruby read it! im not sure i followed the flow of this necessarily (maybe bc of how i listened to it) but enjoyed the chapters individually and her thoughts on the world of food