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How to Eat a Lobster: And Other Edible Enigmas Explained
Learn the answers to modern food and etiquette questions with this beautifully illustrated guide.
Sometimes an evening is going great . . . until the crawfish arrive. Then what do you do? (Answer Twist and snap off the head. Peel the tail and pull out the meat. Then suck the juicesfrom the head. Seriously: you re supposed to!)
For every tricky dining situation you can imagine (and a few you can t), How to Eat a Lobster willshow you how to navigate the meal with grace, style, and minimal splatter. With easy-to-followinstructions and helpful illustrations, you ll learn the answers to 50 food-related questionsyou ve been afraid to ask. Equal parts cheat sheet and cheerleader, How to Eat a Lobster notonly shows you how to open a coconut it shows that you can!"
Sometimes an evening is going great . . . until the crawfish arrive. Then what do you do? (Answer Twist and snap off the head. Peel the tail and pull out the meat. Then suck the juicesfrom the head. Seriously: you re supposed to!)
For every tricky dining situation you can imagine (and a few you can t), How to Eat a Lobster willshow you how to navigate the meal with grace, style, and minimal splatter. With easy-to-followinstructions and helpful illustrations, you ll learn the answers to 50 food-related questionsyou ve been afraid to ask. Equal parts cheat sheet and cheerleader, How to Eat a Lobster notonly shows you how to open a coconut it shows that you can!"
160 pages, Hardcover
Published April 4, 2017
17 people are currently reading
419 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 3, 2019
As an asian, Ive known how to eat most of those mentioned in this book but some facts are still interesting.
the Vietnamese translation is kinda too formal and hard to follow though. Maybe because the tone is much from North Vietnam and I'm not really familiar to it.
the Vietnamese translation is kinda too formal and hard to follow though. Maybe because the tone is much from North Vietnam and I'm not really familiar to it.
October 31, 2021
There are several issues, a few of which should have been caught by the editor, the rest lacking pertinent information.
>>Technical Difficulties<<
•Images do not display consistently or well in landscape mode on an iPhone, and presumably, any similar phone. Not having a tablet, I cannot speak to this.
In the chapters below:
•How to eat a lobster
You will need:
>Lobster or crab cracker, nutcracker, or scissors…
>Lobster fork or crab pick (optional)
>Step 4.5 or 8.5 Break each of the smaller legs in the middle of the longest section. Using a lobster or crab pick, extract the small piece of meat.
•How to Go Nuts
>Cashews: “and other recipes”. *What* other recipes?
>Pecans: let the [carefully washed] pecans dry in a strainer 24 hours before eating or cooking with them—why?
•How to Taste Wine
>Watch out for corked wine—At a restaurant, you may be offered another bottle, or the charge is removed from your tab.
¥How to Drink Tea
You will need:
>Add lemon to the list
>How to Eat Sushi
You will need:
>Add Wasabi (optional) to the list
>Under Step 4, it is mentioned that one doesn’t mix soy sauce & wasabi, but in California sushi bars I’ve been to, no-one has heard of this rule, much less followed it. In Japan, I would expect to see non-mixing.
>How should wasabi ‘be applied to the fish’? Few I’ve seen are able to put an appropriately small amount using the standard wood chopsticks seen at most restaurants.
•How to Handle Beans
Add
>Crumble some dried epazote, found in Central and South American groceries in the US, into the beans while cooking. The pungent odor will disappear in the cooking, and it’s Nature’s Bean-o.
Other than these issues, the book was informative, well-organized, and well-laid-out, making it easy to read.The list of Foodie Fixes is great to know.
>>Technical Difficulties<<
•Images do not display consistently or well in landscape mode on an iPhone, and presumably, any similar phone. Not having a tablet, I cannot speak to this.
In the chapters below:
•How to eat a lobster
You will need:
>Lobster or crab cracker, nutcracker, or scissors…
>Lobster fork or crab pick (optional)
>Step 4.5 or 8.5 Break each of the smaller legs in the middle of the longest section. Using a lobster or crab pick, extract the small piece of meat.
•How to Go Nuts
>Cashews: “and other recipes”. *What* other recipes?
>Pecans: let the [carefully washed] pecans dry in a strainer 24 hours before eating or cooking with them—why?
•How to Taste Wine
>Watch out for corked wine—At a restaurant, you may be offered another bottle, or the charge is removed from your tab.
¥How to Drink Tea
You will need:
>Add lemon to the list
>How to Eat Sushi
You will need:
>Add Wasabi (optional) to the list
>Under Step 4, it is mentioned that one doesn’t mix soy sauce & wasabi, but in California sushi bars I’ve been to, no-one has heard of this rule, much less followed it. In Japan, I would expect to see non-mixing.
>How should wasabi ‘be applied to the fish’? Few I’ve seen are able to put an appropriately small amount using the standard wood chopsticks seen at most restaurants.
•How to Handle Beans
Add
>Crumble some dried epazote, found in Central and South American groceries in the US, into the beans while cooking. The pungent odor will disappear in the cooking, and it’s Nature’s Bean-o.
Other than these issues, the book was informative, well-organized, and well-laid-out, making it easy to read.The list of Foodie Fixes is great to know.
May 24, 2017
I picked up How to Eat a Lobster: And Other Edible Enigmas Explained by Ashley Blom. I followed her when she blogged at Quarter Life (Crisis) Cuisine, then she started the blog Forking Up last year. We travel in some of the same food blogging circles, so when I saw that she had a book coming out, I ordered it. I figured: How can I resist a book written by a gal who posts Bacon Pancakes, Danger Scones, or a Tequila Old Fashioned on her blog?!?
I enjoyed the book. It's cute. It's clearly written. It has beautiful illustrations by Lucy Engleman.
But I will admit that it's definitely not intended for the experienced eater. Most of the "Tricky Techniques" I tackled before my kids were ten years old. Topics include...
How to Eat Crawfish. Check.
How to Eat Raw Oysters. Check.
How to Slice an Avocado. Check.
The titular section - How to Eat a Lobster. Check.
How to Eat Durian. Check.
How to Drink Tea. Check.
How to Eat Noodles. Check.
So, I liked reading it. Once. I loved supporting Ashley, but it's not a book I'll pull off my shelf very often.
I enjoyed the book. It's cute. It's clearly written. It has beautiful illustrations by Lucy Engleman.
But I will admit that it's definitely not intended for the experienced eater. Most of the "Tricky Techniques" I tackled before my kids were ten years old. Topics include...
How to Eat Crawfish. Check.
How to Eat Raw Oysters. Check.
How to Slice an Avocado. Check.
The titular section - How to Eat a Lobster. Check.
How to Eat Durian. Check.
How to Drink Tea. Check.
How to Eat Noodles. Check.
So, I liked reading it. Once. I loved supporting Ashley, but it's not a book I'll pull off my shelf very often.
October 24, 2017
I'm biased, obviously, because Ashley was my first friend in college, the last wedding I went to was hers, and my copy of the book is signed by her and she gave me a tote bag (so I've happily been doing free advertising for her). During her bachelorette weekend, she had to break open my crawfish for me because I couldn't do it.
This book is great if you're new to cooking, or are going somewhere fancy and have no idea how to act. There are instructions on how to do things like cut open a pomegranate, as well as etiquette tips and instructions on how to do things like taste wine. If you're well-versed in cooking and food and etiquette, this isn't for you, but if you've recently looked at a mango and thought "how the hell do I open this?," this book will have tips on similar things. The bits about how to act at parties and stuff are also great if you have social anxiety and want to make sure you're doing things correctly. The book also is sprinkled with random facts and other fun things.
I'm glad I have this because I will definitely need it in the future.
This book is great if you're new to cooking, or are going somewhere fancy and have no idea how to act. There are instructions on how to do things like cut open a pomegranate, as well as etiquette tips and instructions on how to do things like taste wine. If you're well-versed in cooking and food and etiquette, this isn't for you, but if you've recently looked at a mango and thought "how the hell do I open this?," this book will have tips on similar things. The bits about how to act at parties and stuff are also great if you have social anxiety and want to make sure you're doing things correctly. The book also is sprinkled with random facts and other fun things.
I'm glad I have this because I will definitely need it in the future.
May 5, 2017
I won this as a Goodreads giveaway and I enjoyed it. The book is easy to follow and really helps to break down things that I would not normally know how to do without prior experience. For instance, there was a section on how to eat Crawfish, as well as how to extract and eat Escargot. These are not normally things that I would know without a bit of direction. This book takes the embarrassment out of asking someone else, because it shows step by step with illustrations exactly what to do. Cute and helpful book!
August 18, 2017
This is very cute. I skimmed it more than read it, but everything is explained in simple, easy to understand language, and it's funny at times too. Will definitely be keeping this in mind as a potential housewarming or college graduation present for folks in the future.
November 24, 2021
Nicely illustrated very short read of possible food dilemmas and how to tackle them. Not much here was new to me- but probably a great boon for someone who feels insecure or under-experienced in dining at 'fancy' restaurants!
May 27, 2017
Fun, interesting facts and tidbits about food.
June 11, 2017
Informative
June 29, 2017
A delicious diversion.
August 3, 2019
A cute little book about eating different foods properly!
August 25, 2019
Quyển sách thú vị, tips dành cho những ai muốn học hỏi các nguyên tắc bàn tiệc. Cuối quyển giới thiệu một vài website hay ho nữa :)
December 16, 2021
Vetsinou velmi basic veci, neni to ani nijak originalne podane, skoro nic jsme se nedozvedela.
January 18, 2022
Kniha o základech stolování, aneb jak jíst třeba humra. V knize jsou ilustrace, ale ty mohli být lepší. Ale jako odpočinková četba a něco málo jsem se i dozvěděla.
March 3, 2022
I wouldn’t bother, written for people who do not know how to eat.
Nice illustrations through.
Nice illustrations through.
May 19, 2025
Fun for most readers, informative for those who want to know restaurant etiquette and how to eat certain foods.
April 11, 2017
Cute book (I love Lucy Engelman's illustrations), but there was really nothing in here that isn't common knowledge.
April 24, 2017
What a delightful little book, chock full of tips and information about eating unusual or tricky foods. In addition, the section on etiquette is sorely needed in today's busy world. Each food describes what is needed to enjoy and properly eat certain foods and has a small alert section that gives little extra pieces of information that is both informative and enjoyable.
This is a book that would be perfect for a small gift at quinceanera, graduations, or weddings for younger couples.
This is a book that would be perfect for a small gift at quinceanera, graduations, or weddings for younger couples.
April 25, 2017
This is a charming little book. Part 1 is devoted to tips on how to eat unusual foods, accompanied by clear drawings. As a life-long foodie, I have already encountered most of these, but even I found one or two surprises. Part 2 focuses on etiquette, in simple and logical terms. I think this would be a great college or high school graduation gift for people setting out into the "real" world. Thanks to Goodreads for sending me a copy!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews