1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List

by Mimi Sheraton

The ultimate gift for the food lover. In the same way that "1,000 Places to See Before You Die" reinvented the travel book, "1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die" is a joyous, informative, dazzling, mouthwatering life list of the world's best food. The long-awaited new book in the phenomenal 1,000 . . . Before You Die series, it's the marriage of an irresistible subject with the perfect writer, Mimi Sheraton-award-winning cookbook author, grande dame of food journalism, and former restaurant critic for "The New York Times." "1,000 Foods" fully delivers on the promise of its title, selecting from the best cuisines around the world (French, Italian, Chinese, of course, but also Senegalese, Lebanese, Mongolian, Peruvian, and many more)-the tastes, ingredients, dishes, and restaurants that every reader should experience and dream about, whether it's dinner at Chicago's Alinea or the perfect empanada. In more than 1,000 pages and over 550 full-color photographs, it celebrates haute and snack, comforting and exotic, hyper-local and the universally a Tuscan plate of Fritto Misto. Saffron Buns for breakfast in downtown Stockholm. Bird's Nest Soup. A frozen Milky Way. Black truffles from Le Perigord. Mimi Sheraton is highly opinionated, and has a gift for supporting her recommendations with smart, sensuous descriptions-you can almost taste what she's tasted. You'll want to eat your way through the book (after searching first for what you have already tried, and comparing notes). Then, following the romance, the where to taste the dish or find the ingredient, and where to go for the best recipes, websites included."

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Cooking, Cookbooks, Travel, Reference, Food and Drink

1008 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 13, 2015

About the author

In 1975 she became the food critic for the New York Times. She held that position for 8 years after which she became the food critic for Time magazine.

She freelanced for New York Times, Vanity Fair, Food and Wine, and other magazines.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Present me with a checklist and I’ll promptly start counting. I’ve tried 209 of these dishes/ingredients, which isn’t a bad showing but reminds me that I’m not very adventurous when it comes to Asian, African or Caribbean food. Most of my ticks were for Western European and North American cuisines. As a Maryland native, I was appalled to learn I had no idea what a Lady Baltimore cake is.

I was left with a few questions:
• Who doesn’t regularly eat things like hummus and couscous nowadays? If foods are entirely mainstream, do they really have to be mentioned in a guide to world cuisines?
• How much of something do you have to have tasted? One mouthful? A whole plate?
• How authentic does it have to be? Does takeout chow mein count? How about bobotie as approximated from a Waitrose recipe card?

I suppose everyone will make up their own rules.

The frequent photographs and occasional recipes make this an entertaining book to browse, but unlike some of the other books of this type, it’s not one I need to have on the shelf.

My favorite random fact: “durians are banned on public transport in Indonesia and in hospitals in Bangkok” (with a photo of the sign reading “No Durians Allowed”).

Related reading: The Edible Atlas by Mina Holland

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hook - I'm a huge fan of Workman's 1,000 series and thought this one couldn't miss. Part travelogue, part sheer pleasure for the palate.

The Line – Quote from the Mimi Sheraton in the introduction "My problem was not arriving at a thousand entries but whittling down the final tally from twice that number."

The Sinker – Some may think 1,000 of anything is way too much. It works for me. If this were the 100 Foods to Eat Before I Die, I know I'd be in some kind of challenge with myself to eat them all. With 1,000 foods to choose from, I have the opportunity to explore.

Like the best of appetizers this addition to Workman Publishing's 1,000 series will stimulate your appetite for the main course. Food lover's will delight in these culinary selections touted as "The World On a Platter". Dip in, dip out, and savor.


My sincere appreciation to Workman Publishing for providing 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die in both e-galley and trade paperback.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has two of my favorite passions rolled into one: food and travel. The book is organized by country/region and offers a wide variety of foods with the traveler in mind. Even if you are just an armchair traveler. Restaurants are listed under each new food item, but they are limited. Of course, if you travel to the local region that the food is known for you most likely won't have trouble finding the tasty treat because it will be available everywhere. Although she does list American restaurants throughout the book in New York City, Chicago, California and others where her recommendations can be found. Not all of the restaurant listings come from the country of origin, but that may make the cuisine more accessible to most people.



*Note I received a free digital copy for my honest opinion

[Marjolein (UrlPhantomhive) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

I have to confess: according to my parents I'm obsessed with talking about food. And when I start to think about it, yes, I like talking about food (and browsing recipes) at least as much as the food itself. But I'll try to keep it short.

I'm not even that much of an exotic eater. Yes, I like my curry and I've eaten Chinese in China, but I wouldn't really buy something on the street I think. (The book gives some tips on what to buy, and more useful what foods not to buy on the street). This doesn't mean that I did not enjoy this book. The 1000 recipes (and foods, shops etc) that are presented come from all different kitchens,

While it's obviously not a book to read from A to Z I do think it has something for everyone (if you like food that is). I was especially pleased with the part on the Dutch and Belgian cuisine (since the talk is always in the Netherlands that there is no such thing. I mean, imagine going to a Dutch restaurant instead of, like, an Italian one. Now I come to think about it, there is a Dutch 'pannenkoeken' (pancakes) restaurant in London, but I digress). The other parts also have some interesting stories, and also some of the foods come with a recipe.

Would recommend!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

[Dirty Dayna · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 looks like I'm dying fat stars


This is like an almanac of the best place to eat each item with research that isn’t compltly dry and boring

You want the best deep fried mars bar well at the carron fish bar in Scotland
You want the best Haggis ..well at the white hart inn in edinburg Scotland
What about the best bread fried in bacon grease? Why that’s at myers of kewsick in New York

This book is a gem and I wish I could just pick this up and travel to all these mouth watering establishments!

I was sold at the word FOOD anyways

[Lili · Rating 5 out of 5]

From Netgalley for a review:

Ok, I am a foodie, it is no lie! And when I saw that this book was recommended by Anthony Bourdain my interest was peaked. First thing off, the book is divided by countries, which is an excellent way to sort the book, also there are pictures! I could have used more, but I can see why this already massive book did not have a picture of every single food mentioned. It gives a place to order/buy the foods at the end of each food's entry along with a place to mail order from (if applicable) which is very helpful if you are unable to travel to the particular food's destination. If you are feeling particularly brave there are even recommended cook books to try your hand at cooking the food.

I drooled a lot while reading this book, I kept a running list of foods I have not tried and ones I have, the descriptions are spot on and made each of the foods sound if not desirable at the very least interesting.

I need this book for my collection, it fits perfectly with my other Gastronomy books and would be a great addition.

[Aasinathena · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the book title says ... Its the ultimate list :D ! I loved every word of this ! Around the world with food is a great nourishment to mind,body and soul !

[Jillian Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great and terrible book to read during a global pandemic. The wanderlust you find yourself experiencing is nothing short of overwhelming, and the cravings are almost torturous. It was a welcome escaoe during lockdown, but good grief, I now have an unscratchable itch to travel the world and sample each food mentioned in these pages.

[Chris Torretta · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, this wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. This wound up being more but still different than what I imagined.

The more

This is dividing into cultures. The best of the best foods from many cultures around the world. I really enjoyed when I got to the England and Ireland portion as my family is from England however I have sadly never been there! This brought back a lot of memories from my grandmother’s cooking. Oh, and I learned why afternoon tea is such a lovely idea! My absolute favorite meal of all time, Roast and Yorkshire Pudding! YUMS! I get this for my birthday every year. Although we have a recipe I’m curious about the recipe she put in here from The Ploughman’s Lunch and the Miser’s Feast by Brian Yarvin. Yet another good place for food apparently!

So, on and on and ON this goes. 1,000 different foods that are from around the world. Amazing that the author was able to compile such a complete and very satisfying list. I have already wanted to travel the world but this just makes that wish greater. Now when I travel I’ll have many places to eat.

The different, sort of…

The author also puts in a few recipes. I was hoping for more, sadly. Summer Pudding is one of the ones that I cannot wait to try! Says it serves 6 to 8 but I don’t know if I’ll be sharing. There are only a few but they all look great. Maybe this is a downer because I am curious about making Boef Bourguignon but I don’t know if I’m that adept in the kitchen! Mimi makes it sound so easy! Or to try the Poulet Farnese! I may not be able to pronounce it but chicken, hazelnuts, and cognac?! Yes please!

In short:

Although there weren’t not as many recipes as I originally hoped, this does give me places to start. Maybe I will not be traveling the world anytime soon, but I can look up the recipes from the books the author graciously provided and take my taste buds on a tour! With recipes like the above and African Ginger Beer? You will not want to put this book down.

4.5/5
Received from the publisher for an honest review.

[Zita H. K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book which should be read by everyone who likes to eat, cook or traveling and learning about new cultures. This is another book of the series 1000 ... Before You Die, and in my opinion it is once again outstanding. The book is divided into sections according to the various types of cuisine - British and Irish, French, Italian, Scandinavian, Eastern European, Caribbean, African, Chinese, and more. There are always presented typical ingredients and foods used in the particular cuisine, and also some interesting recipes - I tried some and it's certainly worth it! Also, in each region, it presents several places that we should not miss, including all necessary basic data. For me, the most interesting is to read about the places and regions that I have visited, or cultures to which I have a personal bond.
I definitely want to recommend this book to anyone who wants the perfect entertaining and also informative read, and loves food!

---I recieved my copy via Netgalley in exchange for honest review.---

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting from the title but an interesting browse which I looked through while eating one of my favorite supper dishes of which two of the major ingredients do not rank in the index -- tempeh and tomatillos.

Divided into sections by "geography of flavor" rather than geographical borders, then foods, restaurants and sometimes markets are listed alphabetical. Each entry (of which there may be more or less than 1000, since they are not numbered) includes information about where it can be found in a restaurant (lots of NYC and New Orleans, and not necessarily by the part of the world where the food originates, e.g. Korean food in NYC), cookbook, or websites for more information.

Would probably make a good gift for a foodie. Looked better on an empty stomach than after I finished my supper. Personally I would have appreciated an index by location of where the food/dish can be sampled -- i.e. what restaurants in Chicago are mentioned -- and an index by country.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really what I was expecting. My main gripes are that this book is quite a hefty chunk, the print is small and there are too many fonts going on! Additionally, I was browsing through the British and Irish section noting the usual fare such as "Bangers and Mash" and "Fish and Chips," when "Deep-Fried Mars Bar" (labeled as Scottish) caught me up short! Indeed some foods were a little bewildering, and others seemed underwhelming such as, "whipped cream" in Vienna, Austria (note to self: would you really travel that far for whipped cream?), or "Olive Oil" in the Greek, Turkish, and Middle Eastern section that is available via mail order according to the author. My overall impression is that while it's worth a browse, it isn't a candidate for my personal library.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whaaaaat?? I hear you now. 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die? That's a book?

Yes, it is, my friend, and before you start squawking, you need to take a look at it. It's a book about all the best foods you should try. And it's not just strange things like fried grasshoppers and calf brains either. It will put you in-the-know about what these dishes you've always heard about actually are. It's browsable, too, so you needn't worry yourself about reading it straight through.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful, scrupulously-researched compendium. The photos and descriptions are lush. Lots of recipes, markets, and some, though not a lot, specific restaurants are in the volume, with listings of restaurants specializing in an item, as well as mail order and search info with each item. This is organized by regional cuisines. Truly a fascinating read.

[Laura Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series. Great book.

[Ariadna73 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a masterpiece of around the world culinary research. It has a thorough description of the most representative foods of each part of the planet, and the fancier places where you can eat them. The author says that she has been researching and writing about food for about 60 years, and that this book is the culmination of a career full of gastronomic adventures.

This is the cover box and the editorial information of the book I read. She published this book in 2014, and dedicated it to her family; especially her late husband whom she adored, according with the dedication lines she wrote.



Here are the acknowledgments and the table of contents. You can tell that she went all around the place, and did not leave any rock unturned.



The following is an excerpt of the first pages of the book. As you can see, she also knows how to write a beautiful paragraph. I liked her style very much:



One of my favorite dishes: "Floating islands"... she uses another, fancy name in french, but the spirit is the same.



She also writes a little bit about markets and places where you can buy ingredients. I love going to markets, only to feel the energy of the people. Here are a few lines about the Borough Market:



Some seafood and the food court at Harrods:



Something I had no idea about: soda bread... what the...?



Some mouth-wathering french dishes:



More french delicacies:



And yet some more:



Truffes... I have never tried those. They say that truffes are really truly expensive. I hope I can try some someday.



Now, moving on to Italy...











And then, to Spain she goes... El Bulli, tapas bars, tortilla de patatas, paella, all those good things that life offers to all of us...











Then she takes us to Switzerland. I am not used to that kind of food, but it sounds interesting too:



Then she talks a little bit about jewish food. I never new that my favorite fried eggplants was a jewish invention. It was news for me, and I read them in this book!





It is time to go to Turkey and try a delicious Baklava. I love this dish!



And now, why not Mexico and their glorious huachinango, mole, and all the other good dishes of that good land.







Here are some arepas... heaven on earth!



We can't forget about the islands. The Caribbean is the best place ever. To eat, enjoy the landscape, enjoy life:





More food from Latin America... How good is that!



Moroccan food... this is one of the best too!







And finally, food from Asia... so many different dishes, that one can write an encyclopedia out of their variety...



Well, this is a great book to have in your living room. I liked the texts and the pictures. However, I found it physically too heavy due to the high quality paper, so I wouldn't take it on any trips, and it is not hardcover, so it does not look great in the kitchen or the coffee table. It seems to be meant to stay hidden away in a bookshelf, and that is such a shame because it is such a great book!

***

I also have a blog! Link here:

http://lunairereadings.blogspot.com

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have been going through these foods systematically off and on for literally years (I've had about 600 of them!) and while I like some things about this book I also have serious problems with it, most predominantly the unnecessary endless repetition of various foods throughout the entries. This is not a thousand foods in this book because for some reason she often uses variations of the same food. There is no need to have about six entries for brains, many eel entries, to have sorrel be an entry and then sorrel soup. Surely there are 1000 singular foods she could have used. There is also much too much use of offal in this book. I would seriously guess up to 10% of this book, maybe more, includes foods with some type of offal. Also the foods come out to be extremely expensive overall when you consider foods that should be eaten in a restaurant or mail ordered. She has many, many entries for truffles for example, but does she really need to add black truffle soup which calls for a pound of truffles? Unnecessary. It really doesn't feel like a thousand foods a person should try but just instead foods that she likes. I do like her essays and there is useful information on where to find the foods. I like following it to try new foods but I really don't think this is a list of must-try foods.

[Desiree Koh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve dug into 340 of the world’s 1,000 definitive dishes.

Embarking on this pretty definitive, immersive tome was an odyssey. Not only is there a banquet of knowledge for anyone interested in the themes and minutiae of global cuisine, anyone who makes food writing any part of their career needs to get schooled by one of the greatest contemporary maestros in the business, Mimi Sheraton. Dieters, modernists and hipsters need not apply to her matter-of-fact expositions - because, why wouldn’t you just spend a winter week on the Brittany coast eating oysters, just because? Preposterous as that fantasy might be for a regular eater-reader, that’s exactly what the book does. Through mostly objectively informed yet deftly opinionated narratives and tutelage, there’s no better way to armchair travel... and tick off how many of the world’s definitive 1,000 dishes you’ve dug into.

For the personal record: 340.

[Chelsea Hepburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an entertaining and enjoyable read. I loved seeing the top foods listed for my own country, but especially enjoyed all the different foods and meals listed for counties I’ve visited , being reminded of the ones I tried and being inspired to try others! It gives interesting food insight into how other cultures eat! The pictures and descriptions are great. Highly recommend for any food lovers or those who enjoy cooking or trying different foods!

[James Kirby · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF.. this is way too long and probably not meant to be read cover-to-cover. Besides, almost half of the entries involve some kind of meat I don't want to eat (especially some that involve cruelty, e.g. veal). But personal dietary restrictions aside, the author carries a tone of an elitist foodie snob that is really hard to like.

I might skim through this before visiting new foreign countries, but that's it.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book deserves nothing but scatologica. And obscenities.


REALLY?

No mention of Chili con Carne, ( which predates white settlers) or even Southern Fried Chicken
in American foods.


It does, however comment and provide the recipe for 'Green Eggs and Ham'. How wonderful!... and so cute!


It is a travesty for American cuisine.

Michael McConnell

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

A gift book that non-foodies buy for their foodie friends, kind of like all the weird cat books that pop up during the holidays. There are a few recipes scattered about along with food travelogue snippets. This is one approach, but I prefer making new friends and eating their cuisine as opposed to food tourism.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find the subject of food totally interesting and I also love to travel. So this was a great find for me. It was fun to see how many of the features foods I've already sampled, as well as so many of the places. When we can really travel again, I'm sure I'll find myself rereading about the places I plan to visit.

[Ellie Mackin · Rating 2 out of 5]

She makes sweeping generalisations, gets so much wrong and repeats herself over and over and yet somehow I couldn't give up on the book. Yes I learnt a lot, yes some of what I learnt was probably wrong but I had fun doing it.

[Don Gubler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Keep this handy if you travel and want to sample the culinary diversity of the world. Consult it when you do travel and make notes about what you want to try. If you are stuck at home then don't bother.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this as my starting point for putting together a food bucket list! Lots of good information, but a bit outdated now, more than 10 years later. Just have to verify that restaurants are still open, but that’s okay!

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My take on this book....try just about anything once!

[Marsha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have used some closer editing. There are several instances where Sheraton had clearly done no research, and evidently the editor didn't either.

[Skye · Rating 2 out of 5]

In places dull and inaccurate this still makes an interesting look at the cuisines of the world

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not great but definitely interesting. I’m using this book to help me add to my bucket list. Basically, things I want to try at least once before I did.