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The Best American Food Writing
The Best American Food Writing 2023: Eye-Opening Essays on Culture, Inequality, and Justice
"Excellent....Taken as a whole, the volume moves beyond food’s sensory pleasures to investigate it as a cultural vessel, a symbol of inequality, and more. It’s a standout addition to the series." —Publisher's Weekly (starred review)
A collection of the year’s top food writing, selected by prolific food writer and author of How to Cook Everything Mark Bittman.
"In almost any culture, at any time, you can find food writing,” writes guest editor Mark Bittman in his introduction. “Food means growing and hardship, and health and medicine, and work and holiday. In its abundance it is a gift and a joy, and in its absence a curse and a tragedy. If a culture has writing, that culture has food writing.” The stories in this year’s Best American Food Writing are brilliant, eye-opening windows into the heart of our country’s culture. From the link between salt and sex, to Syrian refugees transforming ancient Turkish food traditions, to the FDA’s crusade on alternative non-dairy milk options, to Black farmers in Arkansas seeking justice, the scope of these essays spans nearly every aspect of our society. This anthology offers an entertaining and poignant look at how food shapes our lives and how food writing shapes our culture.
THE BEST AMERICAN FOOD WRITING 2023 INCLUDES JAYA SAXENA • LIGAYA MISHAN • MARION NESTLE TOM PHILPOTT • WESLEY BROWN • ALICIA KENNEDY CAROLINE HATCHETT • AMY LOEFFLER and others
A collection of the year’s top food writing, selected by prolific food writer and author of How to Cook Everything Mark Bittman.
"In almost any culture, at any time, you can find food writing,” writes guest editor Mark Bittman in his introduction. “Food means growing and hardship, and health and medicine, and work and holiday. In its abundance it is a gift and a joy, and in its absence a curse and a tragedy. If a culture has writing, that culture has food writing.” The stories in this year’s Best American Food Writing are brilliant, eye-opening windows into the heart of our country’s culture. From the link between salt and sex, to Syrian refugees transforming ancient Turkish food traditions, to the FDA’s crusade on alternative non-dairy milk options, to Black farmers in Arkansas seeking justice, the scope of these essays spans nearly every aspect of our society. This anthology offers an entertaining and poignant look at how food shapes our lives and how food writing shapes our culture.
THE BEST AMERICAN FOOD WRITING 2023 INCLUDES JAYA SAXENA • LIGAYA MISHAN • MARION NESTLE TOM PHILPOTT • WESLEY BROWN • ALICIA KENNEDY CAROLINE HATCHETT • AMY LOEFFLER and others
199 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 17, 2023
About the author
Mark Bittman
62 books966 followers MARK BITTMAN is one of the country's best-known and most widely respected food writers. His How to Cook Everything books, with one million copies in print, are a mainstay of the modern kitchen. Bittman writes for the Opinion section of New York Times on food policy and cooking, and is a columnist for the New York Times Magazine. His "The Minimalist" cooking show, based on his popular NYT column, can be seen on the Cooking Channel. His most recent book, VB6, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list in its first week on sale.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
May 9, 2024
This read more like an encyclopedia about food politics, rather than an ode to the most artistic articles from the year (the latter is what I think most of us expected, especially given the Best American series we’ve been acquainted with.) Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to talk about the future of food, to address different forms of eating disorders, to explore the politics of fresh produce. However, those pieces didn’t change my mind about anything and they weren’t creatively written — what actually expanded my horizons was reading about the long lost history of resin potatoes and their mysterious origins in turpentine culture. Or reading about how NYC’s original oyster king was a Black man who was born to enslaved parents who ended up making a living by fishing and crabbing and shucking oysters. Those are the types of food stories I wanted — and barely received from this collection.
December 10, 2023
The best food writing of 2023 is some of the poorest food writing ever? Bad collection. Hardly any writing about…food. Just a lot beep bop boop talk about the genre.
February 17, 2024
various essays on history, socio-politics and craft of food and food writing! salt and sex was my fav one.
Read
February 19, 2024a collection of writing always warrants a hit or miss, but personally this felt like it had more misses. i appreciate the diversity of voices and topics included in this and thought they were especially relevant given the socio-cultural politics of our time. however, most of the pieces didn't stand out to me, writing-wise. especially as most of them were too short to actually probe more into the breadth of topics that affects different fronts of identity, race, food, and politics.
October 22, 2023
Like others, I felt last years “best of” was not the strongest I have read. This one, while the shortest (or at least it feels that way) felt like the tightest collection of stories. Each was strong, and I didn’t feel there was a weak one sprinkled in as filler.
January 23, 2025
my first collection of food writing! trying to figure out the right way to talk how i feel about this; food politics are incredibly important and should be discussed when we talk about food (and how its produced, who produces it, where it comes from, the labor that goes into its production)….. i do also just want to learn about food history and its ties to regional or global cultures. this collection does do that, but maybe not to the full degree that i wanted. the writings that had the right balance of history/politics/culture were my favorites, but some of the writings felt more food-adjacent than about food itself. i’ll still be reading more of these collections though, because i learned so much from this.
favorites: salt and sex, border lines, elusive roots of rosin potatoes, tales of an accidental cooking club
favorites: salt and sex, border lines, elusive roots of rosin potatoes, tales of an accidental cooking club
January 29, 2024
I ended up enjoying this year’s edition more than I thought I would, especially given the other reviews. It’s not that I disagree with some of the concerns, but on the whole I enjoyed many of the entries, some were neutral, and only a few were the preachy lesson-giving entries folks have discussed in their reviews.
There were some entries I very much enjoyed: “Salt and Sex,” “The Double Life of New York’s Black Oyster King,” and “There is No Such Thing as Italian Food” were interesting historical and geographical entries. “Teach a Man to Fish,” “Black Farmers in Arkansas Still Seek Justice a Century After the Elaine Massacre,” “Kimchi with a side of Whale,” and “‘You Don’t Look Anorexic’” highlighted important aspects of history and American society that were fascinating, and were well-written. Other favorites were “The Elusive Roots of Rosin Potatoes,” “Detroit’s Chinatown and Gayborhood Felt Like Two Separate Worlds. Then They Collided,” and “Foraging New York City’s Wild, Edible Margins with Journei Bimwala.”
One problem was the book opened with a piece called “Restriction as possibility; Lifestyle as Politics.” The title is really emblematic of the feel of this piece - I felt like I was getting lectured on the politics of food and climate. And I mean lectured in both ways - the definition of like attending a speech where you’re talked at for a period of time, and also the connotation of someone who knows better than you telling you the facts of the matter. In terms of the former, that’s not always engaging or enjoyable. In terms of the latter, it’s not typically how you inspire people. Take this excerpt: “How we live our lives, how we choose to move around the world and consume, has effects: Maybe we just feel slightly better, maybe we influence change in our immediate communities, maybe that change in our communities causes local policy change and eventual regulation of deeply destructive industries.” It’s the classic writing fault of telling, not showing. And, it being the opening piece in the book made me wonder if the whole book was going to be a food politics textbook.
And I need to add - I care about food politics! And believe we do need to understand that aspect of food, not just the more fun aspects. But I also pick up this book every year because I want to read quality writing. And the above “Restriction” article, and ones about oat milk and ultraprocessed food—they’re fine. Marion Nestle is a goddess in this work, and her work should be read. But her article about ultraprocessed food was written for a professional society of those who work in public health. I read articles like that for work - they are important and interesting and I learn a lot and should be read. I think there are better ways to reach people.
This series should be making folks think while featuring quality writing and engaging them with a fascinating story. The entry “Black Farmers in Arkansas Still Seek Justice a Century After the Elaine Massacre” is an entry like that. It was a fun story about the history of yummy food. It was about how white Americans stole black folks’ land. I mean talk about heavy and political. But it was well-written, engaging, was a story I wasn’t very familiar with, and connected it to today without lecturing me. It’s the type of writing that should be featured in this series and meets the same goals of the editors that it wanted to make with the less-than-engaging entries mentioned above.
There were some entries I very much enjoyed: “Salt and Sex,” “The Double Life of New York’s Black Oyster King,” and “There is No Such Thing as Italian Food” were interesting historical and geographical entries. “Teach a Man to Fish,” “Black Farmers in Arkansas Still Seek Justice a Century After the Elaine Massacre,” “Kimchi with a side of Whale,” and “‘You Don’t Look Anorexic’” highlighted important aspects of history and American society that were fascinating, and were well-written. Other favorites were “The Elusive Roots of Rosin Potatoes,” “Detroit’s Chinatown and Gayborhood Felt Like Two Separate Worlds. Then They Collided,” and “Foraging New York City’s Wild, Edible Margins with Journei Bimwala.”
One problem was the book opened with a piece called “Restriction as possibility; Lifestyle as Politics.” The title is really emblematic of the feel of this piece - I felt like I was getting lectured on the politics of food and climate. And I mean lectured in both ways - the definition of like attending a speech where you’re talked at for a period of time, and also the connotation of someone who knows better than you telling you the facts of the matter. In terms of the former, that’s not always engaging or enjoyable. In terms of the latter, it’s not typically how you inspire people. Take this excerpt: “How we live our lives, how we choose to move around the world and consume, has effects: Maybe we just feel slightly better, maybe we influence change in our immediate communities, maybe that change in our communities causes local policy change and eventual regulation of deeply destructive industries.” It’s the classic writing fault of telling, not showing. And, it being the opening piece in the book made me wonder if the whole book was going to be a food politics textbook.
And I need to add - I care about food politics! And believe we do need to understand that aspect of food, not just the more fun aspects. But I also pick up this book every year because I want to read quality writing. And the above “Restriction” article, and ones about oat milk and ultraprocessed food—they’re fine. Marion Nestle is a goddess in this work, and her work should be read. But her article about ultraprocessed food was written for a professional society of those who work in public health. I read articles like that for work - they are important and interesting and I learn a lot and should be read. I think there are better ways to reach people.
This series should be making folks think while featuring quality writing and engaging them with a fascinating story. The entry “Black Farmers in Arkansas Still Seek Justice a Century After the Elaine Massacre” is an entry like that. It was a fun story about the history of yummy food. It was about how white Americans stole black folks’ land. I mean talk about heavy and political. But it was well-written, engaging, was a story I wasn’t very familiar with, and connected it to today without lecturing me. It’s the type of writing that should be featured in this series and meets the same goals of the editors that it wanted to make with the less-than-engaging entries mentioned above.
May 19, 2024
So many fascinating articles revolving around food. Some of it is loose but regarding farming, racial politics of being a food writer, etc. Very cool and I'm glad I was inspired to read it when I saw it.
July 24, 2024
I was saddened by reading about the Elaine massacre, and the injustice suffered by the black farmers. However, much of the book was political, and had little to do with food and cooking. A disappointment.
Read
December 31, 2023Another great collection from this series. These food essay books have become one of my new favorite things I look forward to at the end of each year.
May 20, 2026
I picked this up because I had just attended an author talk with Curtis Chin and was eager to read his writings; a quick search revealed that one of his paywalled essays was in this anthology. I’ve become super interested in foodways and how a single dish can represent, and share, so much about colonial histories, America’s lesser-known (and deliberately buried) history, diasporas, race, and class - the sociological, anthropological and social work/social justice intersections of cuisine and dishes - so I knew I’d also be into the other essays.
My favorite two essays that I personally connected with the most were Jaya Saxena’s (Is The “Future of Food” the Future We Want?) and Mike Diago’s (Tales of An Accidental Cooking Club). Both essays had strong storytelling abilities and a more narrative structure.
As an anticapitlist whose favorite genre is lowkey “late stage technocapitalist hellscape dystopias”, and someone who worries often about what the continued mechanization/automation/AI-ification of so-called “low-level” work will mean for the humans who currently find employment through those jobs (because I’ve personally held a lot of those jobs before: food deliveryperson, warehouse receiver, stocker), this was right up my alley and I f*cked with it heavy. Jaya’s hilarious, terrifying, and scathing encapsulation of the food delivery drone/robot startups phenomena so closely mirrored my own concerns and thoughts, and I loved that this essay made me wryly laugh out loud multiple times even as it described the late-stage horrors of capitalism that await us all and are already in motion. (“Is the American dream never having to go outside?” is indeed a thought I had more than a few times while delivering groceries, often to the tune of abusive texts and no tips, to the wealthiest hilltop residents of select affluent cities in Michigan who evidently did not care to ever once personally descend into any plebeian-filled grocery stores). The essay, too, captured my feelings gazing out upon gentrified shopping/dining strips of Detroit; that feeling of a lack of sense of specificity and place, where everything essentially becomes colonized through Capitalism and melds into a ubiquitous beige sameness targeted at a suburban upper-crust demographic: “If they’re bringing the world to the block, the block they’re modeling it after is the Vegas strip”; “like the real world, the virtual restaurant world is driven mostly by people who already have a ton of money and influence”; “this is meant…to make one feel both comfortable and pampered…buffered by the safety of familiarity. Yes, you have the world at your fingertips, but you know all the names - it’s nothing you haven’t heard of before…it…becomes uncanny. [You’re] essentially in a mall food court, not a neighborhood.” “Like Vegas itself, it’s not about creating anything new, just giving you more of it.” Companion media I couldn’t help but think of to pair with this essay: the graphic novel Boys Weekend by Mattie Lubchansky (if you want to lean into the Vegas dystopian playground aspect of it, and the drones), the tv show Black Mirror (perhaps S7Ep1, as it pertains to the ensh*ttification of so-called “services” that are supposed to “make our lives easier”), the dystopian fiction/satire novel Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart (though outdated and involving uncomfortable relationship dynamics, he definitely called this sh*t 10+ years ago), and the podcast The Spoon (a pro-AI, pro-technocapitalist show that interviews the very leaders and business insiders who are busy automating various aspects of the food industry through their terribly-named startups: because we need to know what our opps are up to).
I loved Mike Diago’s essay because it offered a humble, honest, and powerful look into the real struggles, skills needed, and impact he had with his students as a social worker supporting a specific community of intersecting identities/a culture he also belongs to. I’m an aspiring social worker who’s also obsessed with food and the potential cooking and sharing dishes from one’s culture - but also educating on the history of those dishes and how they came to be, aka “foodways” - has for social justice and societal impact, so naturally I found this essay really intriguing. It’s about how he accidentally launched a cooking club at the underresourced, predominantly Latino high school where he works. Key quotes: “I’m not saying that cooking is the solution to the nation’s adolescent mental health epidemic, but a low stakes fun environment where kids can stay connected to an adult is life-saving,” “you don’t need to look like or act like…[Gordon] Ramsey to lead [fine dining] kitchens,” “when they followed [CDC] Garnica through the swinging kitchen door and were met with bright lights, loud bachata music (just like in our kitchen) and a huge synchronous ‘Hola!’ from the entire kitchen staff they felt at home,” “[the group’s] moans and exclamations reached the point of being disruptive - but the server never stopped smiling and joking with them.” What I thought was beautifully captured in this essay is how much peoples’ experience can transform from apprehensive and guarded, to excited, free and full of possibility - just by being treated inclusively, efforts to find common ground, being met halfway, and realizing their prior knowledge was not just valid but abundant (there are mentions of witnessing nixtamalization in the kitchen “in a way that one of the boys recognized from his own home”). Chef Garnica offering an open-door policy to let any of the high school boys stage for a few days really showed advocacy; someone willing to use their platform or station in life to uplift and provide opportunities for others. And, at the same time, this is absolutely an essay that touches on code switching and respectability politics and provides food for thought on those topics. I would suggest that fans of this essay follow some of the numerous chefs who’ve appeared on Top Chef or Food Network who are championing Latin cuisine; if they want to learn more about some of the realities facing underresourced schools, they can visit the Hechinger Report blog. That kitchen work can and often does start out practical to provide a wage, employment, compensated food source - that can in turn develop into a stabilizing sense of purpose and even a passion for professional chefhood - is a reality that I recognized in several of the contestants on Next Gen Chef, but particularly Chef Peter, so that show is worth checking out too. Shows leaning into Latine culture in the U.S. with realistic, comedic social commentary that might be up your alley as well include Gentefied and This Fool (the former having a bit of a “gentrifying chef” character; the latter casting many of the same actors). Fine (& even unfine) dining establishments certainly do depend, in an almost shrouded way, on the hard, hard cognitive, time-sensitive and physical labor of working class folks. It’s always interesting to consider that contrast between who is served and what’s “acceptable” out on the dining room floor vs. behind the curtain in the kitchen.
I also learned a sh*t ton of other fascinating things I never knew from this essay collection. Like, apparently during reconstruction, formerly enslaved folks were literally *outlawed* from foraging their own food and thereby gaining the self-sufficiency needed to fully feed themselves. Wtf!!! There were a lot of other historical horrors against Black Americans explored and exposed, like in the last essay (which was way too heavy and information-dense for my taste) - a lot of farms stolen from Black families - or even the essay that explores the historical reasons why there aren’t more Black fisherman, which of course can’t be discussed without further understanding of how segregation forever altered and harmed Black folks’ relationship to and comfort with the water. (I’d recommend the middle grades graphic novel Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas for a super accessible crash course of the realities of what happened with segregated public pools back in the day). But there were uplifting tales, too - like the one about the 19th century Black oyster entrepreneur. The essay on rosin potatoes was almost excruciatingly frustrating with all its false leads and continued mysteries, but I was hooked enough on this obscure special interest to keep reading and try to uncover the truth. The essay on people with anorexia who aren’t skinny and don’t visibly present as obviously having anorexia was super valuable and thought-provoking, too: I’m really glad that perspective was shared, as that experience goes invisibilized and doesn’t get talked about.
It’s worth noting, however, that a few of the essays in this book straight-up suck. I had zero clue what was going on with the plot in the “Time Is Strong” essay, and the essay selected as the book’s opener - “Restriction as Possibility; Lifestyle as Politics” - was as vague, shaming, non-intersectional, and devoid of realistic solutions or actual impact as it was incessantly preachy and self-righteous (just my humble two cents: and trust me, I care about climate change, but I don’t think plopping the onus squarely on the individual when there are massive agribusiness corporations responsible for the vast majority of the damage is appropriate or fair). In that sense, this anthology had really bizarre and IMO ineffective choices for its amuse-bouche and dessert course. But what you’ll find in the middle as the meal progresses is absolutely worth it and going to contain some interesting bites!
My favorite two essays that I personally connected with the most were Jaya Saxena’s (Is The “Future of Food” the Future We Want?) and Mike Diago’s (Tales of An Accidental Cooking Club). Both essays had strong storytelling abilities and a more narrative structure.
As an anticapitlist whose favorite genre is lowkey “late stage technocapitalist hellscape dystopias”, and someone who worries often about what the continued mechanization/automation/AI-ification of so-called “low-level” work will mean for the humans who currently find employment through those jobs (because I’ve personally held a lot of those jobs before: food deliveryperson, warehouse receiver, stocker), this was right up my alley and I f*cked with it heavy. Jaya’s hilarious, terrifying, and scathing encapsulation of the food delivery drone/robot startups phenomena so closely mirrored my own concerns and thoughts, and I loved that this essay made me wryly laugh out loud multiple times even as it described the late-stage horrors of capitalism that await us all and are already in motion. (“Is the American dream never having to go outside?” is indeed a thought I had more than a few times while delivering groceries, often to the tune of abusive texts and no tips, to the wealthiest hilltop residents of select affluent cities in Michigan who evidently did not care to ever once personally descend into any plebeian-filled grocery stores). The essay, too, captured my feelings gazing out upon gentrified shopping/dining strips of Detroit; that feeling of a lack of sense of specificity and place, where everything essentially becomes colonized through Capitalism and melds into a ubiquitous beige sameness targeted at a suburban upper-crust demographic: “If they’re bringing the world to the block, the block they’re modeling it after is the Vegas strip”; “like the real world, the virtual restaurant world is driven mostly by people who already have a ton of money and influence”; “this is meant…to make one feel both comfortable and pampered…buffered by the safety of familiarity. Yes, you have the world at your fingertips, but you know all the names - it’s nothing you haven’t heard of before…it…becomes uncanny. [You’re] essentially in a mall food court, not a neighborhood.” “Like Vegas itself, it’s not about creating anything new, just giving you more of it.” Companion media I couldn’t help but think of to pair with this essay: the graphic novel Boys Weekend by Mattie Lubchansky (if you want to lean into the Vegas dystopian playground aspect of it, and the drones), the tv show Black Mirror (perhaps S7Ep1, as it pertains to the ensh*ttification of so-called “services” that are supposed to “make our lives easier”), the dystopian fiction/satire novel Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart (though outdated and involving uncomfortable relationship dynamics, he definitely called this sh*t 10+ years ago), and the podcast The Spoon (a pro-AI, pro-technocapitalist show that interviews the very leaders and business insiders who are busy automating various aspects of the food industry through their terribly-named startups: because we need to know what our opps are up to).
I loved Mike Diago’s essay because it offered a humble, honest, and powerful look into the real struggles, skills needed, and impact he had with his students as a social worker supporting a specific community of intersecting identities/a culture he also belongs to. I’m an aspiring social worker who’s also obsessed with food and the potential cooking and sharing dishes from one’s culture - but also educating on the history of those dishes and how they came to be, aka “foodways” - has for social justice and societal impact, so naturally I found this essay really intriguing. It’s about how he accidentally launched a cooking club at the underresourced, predominantly Latino high school where he works. Key quotes: “I’m not saying that cooking is the solution to the nation’s adolescent mental health epidemic, but a low stakes fun environment where kids can stay connected to an adult is life-saving,” “you don’t need to look like or act like…[Gordon] Ramsey to lead [fine dining] kitchens,” “when they followed [CDC] Garnica through the swinging kitchen door and were met with bright lights, loud bachata music (just like in our kitchen) and a huge synchronous ‘Hola!’ from the entire kitchen staff they felt at home,” “[the group’s] moans and exclamations reached the point of being disruptive - but the server never stopped smiling and joking with them.” What I thought was beautifully captured in this essay is how much peoples’ experience can transform from apprehensive and guarded, to excited, free and full of possibility - just by being treated inclusively, efforts to find common ground, being met halfway, and realizing their prior knowledge was not just valid but abundant (there are mentions of witnessing nixtamalization in the kitchen “in a way that one of the boys recognized from his own home”). Chef Garnica offering an open-door policy to let any of the high school boys stage for a few days really showed advocacy; someone willing to use their platform or station in life to uplift and provide opportunities for others. And, at the same time, this is absolutely an essay that touches on code switching and respectability politics and provides food for thought on those topics. I would suggest that fans of this essay follow some of the numerous chefs who’ve appeared on Top Chef or Food Network who are championing Latin cuisine; if they want to learn more about some of the realities facing underresourced schools, they can visit the Hechinger Report blog. That kitchen work can and often does start out practical to provide a wage, employment, compensated food source - that can in turn develop into a stabilizing sense of purpose and even a passion for professional chefhood - is a reality that I recognized in several of the contestants on Next Gen Chef, but particularly Chef Peter, so that show is worth checking out too. Shows leaning into Latine culture in the U.S. with realistic, comedic social commentary that might be up your alley as well include Gentefied and This Fool (the former having a bit of a “gentrifying chef” character; the latter casting many of the same actors). Fine (& even unfine) dining establishments certainly do depend, in an almost shrouded way, on the hard, hard cognitive, time-sensitive and physical labor of working class folks. It’s always interesting to consider that contrast between who is served and what’s “acceptable” out on the dining room floor vs. behind the curtain in the kitchen.
I also learned a sh*t ton of other fascinating things I never knew from this essay collection. Like, apparently during reconstruction, formerly enslaved folks were literally *outlawed* from foraging their own food and thereby gaining the self-sufficiency needed to fully feed themselves. Wtf!!! There were a lot of other historical horrors against Black Americans explored and exposed, like in the last essay (which was way too heavy and information-dense for my taste) - a lot of farms stolen from Black families - or even the essay that explores the historical reasons why there aren’t more Black fisherman, which of course can’t be discussed without further understanding of how segregation forever altered and harmed Black folks’ relationship to and comfort with the water. (I’d recommend the middle grades graphic novel Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas for a super accessible crash course of the realities of what happened with segregated public pools back in the day). But there were uplifting tales, too - like the one about the 19th century Black oyster entrepreneur. The essay on rosin potatoes was almost excruciatingly frustrating with all its false leads and continued mysteries, but I was hooked enough on this obscure special interest to keep reading and try to uncover the truth. The essay on people with anorexia who aren’t skinny and don’t visibly present as obviously having anorexia was super valuable and thought-provoking, too: I’m really glad that perspective was shared, as that experience goes invisibilized and doesn’t get talked about.
It’s worth noting, however, that a few of the essays in this book straight-up suck. I had zero clue what was going on with the plot in the “Time Is Strong” essay, and the essay selected as the book’s opener - “Restriction as Possibility; Lifestyle as Politics” - was as vague, shaming, non-intersectional, and devoid of realistic solutions or actual impact as it was incessantly preachy and self-righteous (just my humble two cents: and trust me, I care about climate change, but I don’t think plopping the onus squarely on the individual when there are massive agribusiness corporations responsible for the vast majority of the damage is appropriate or fair). In that sense, this anthology had really bizarre and IMO ineffective choices for its amuse-bouche and dessert course. But what you’ll find in the middle as the meal progresses is absolutely worth it and going to contain some interesting bites!
October 20, 2023
I was disappointed in last year’s edition but I still wanted to check this one out and I’m glad I did! I think that every topic was interesting but there were some articles that the writing style wasn’t for me. I do love that there’s a list of additional reading at the end of every edition.
Here are my personal favorite articles from this edition:
-What Counts as Fresh Food? by Bee Wilson
-The Double Life of New York’s Black Oyster King by Briona Lamback
-Foraging New York City’s Wild, Edible Margins with Journei Bimwala by Grey Moran
-He Knew It All by Hugh Merwin
-Is the “Future of Food” the Future We Want? By Jaya Saxena
-“You Don’t Look Anorexic” by Kate Siber
-What We Write About When We Write About Food by Ligaya Mishan
-On the Road, a Taste of Home by Madhushree Ghosh
-The FDA is Coming for Your Almond Milk by Tom Philpott
-Tales of an Accidental Cooking Club by Mike Diago
Here are my personal favorite articles from this edition:
-What Counts as Fresh Food? by Bee Wilson
-The Double Life of New York’s Black Oyster King by Briona Lamback
-Foraging New York City’s Wild, Edible Margins with Journei Bimwala by Grey Moran
-He Knew It All by Hugh Merwin
-Is the “Future of Food” the Future We Want? By Jaya Saxena
-“You Don’t Look Anorexic” by Kate Siber
-What We Write About When We Write About Food by Ligaya Mishan
-On the Road, a Taste of Home by Madhushree Ghosh
-The FDA is Coming for Your Almond Milk by Tom Philpott
-Tales of an Accidental Cooking Club by Mike Diago
April 27, 2025
This book complies 20-22 of the best food writing articles of 2022 as determined by the series guest editor for the year, Mark Bittman. I really enjoyed this book, there were only one or two articles that didn't connect with me. Restriction as Possibility; Lifestyle as Politics was written with a very argumentative, aggressive style that didn't sit well with me. It was as if the author of that article was treating the readers like they don't know anything at all. I really wanted to like Teach A Man to Fish, but the author of the article literally devoted less than half the article focusing on Captain Fred who wants to make commercial fishing more accessible to Black people and other minorities in the future. The author details a lot of reasons why fishing on water matters to black people and how racist polices prevent minorities from having the same access to water as white people. While I get that this is important, I wanted to learn more about the man, Fred, and his background and journey and how he is trying to make commercial fishing more accessible to minorities in the future. He seemed like a really interesting, humble, down to earth man and I really wanted to know more about him which the article did not provide.
Overall, this book is significantly smaller than previous editions due to numerous 3-5 page articles. Nonetheless, this edition still provides some solid food writing that I enjoyed, but was left wanting longer articles that were able to go more in depth on some of the topics being highlighted.
Top Five Articles:
1. The Elusive Roots of Rosin Potatoes
2. Salt and Sex
3. Is the "Future of Food" the Future We Want?
4. Kimchi With a Side of Whale
5. Tales of an Accidental Cooking Club
Honorable Mentions: There is No Such Thing as Italian Food, Thanksgiving is an RPG, and Black Farmers in Arkansas Still Seek Justice a Century After the Elaine Massacre.
Overall, this book is significantly smaller than previous editions due to numerous 3-5 page articles. Nonetheless, this edition still provides some solid food writing that I enjoyed, but was left wanting longer articles that were able to go more in depth on some of the topics being highlighted.
Top Five Articles:
1. The Elusive Roots of Rosin Potatoes
2. Salt and Sex
3. Is the "Future of Food" the Future We Want?
4. Kimchi With a Side of Whale
5. Tales of an Accidental Cooking Club
Honorable Mentions: There is No Such Thing as Italian Food, Thanksgiving is an RPG, and Black Farmers in Arkansas Still Seek Justice a Century After the Elaine Massacre.
July 11, 2024
I was a big fan. This edition taught me about Rosin Potatoes, New York's Black Oyster King, and the Elaine Massacre. I also got a piece from one of my favorite food journalists, Jaya Saxena. It also prompted me to subscribe to Alicia Kennedy's newsletter and buy a copy of "Everything I Learned I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant" by Curtis Chin.
But it seems like many weren't as crazy about this edition of the perennial "Best American Food Writing" series.
Maybe this isn't a universal thought, but I always consider these volumes a kind of "sample sale." It's not only about the information but also about how the information is delivered. It's a festival of twenty-odd hamburgers, all cooked by different chefs. You get to sample them all and decide which restaurants are worth visiting for the full menu.
Many of the more negative reviews seem to be upset that a book on food writing is largely political. Food is always political. Even if you choose not to address the political aspects of your food, that, too, is a political stance. I prefer my politics plain-faced. Let me have it: stems, seeds, and all.
I want all types of "hunger" addressed.
As someone who has worked in the food industry for 25+ years, I found the 3-star reviews on this book to read a bit like Yelp! reviews. Some people seemed upset that they couldn't order pizza in a Chinese restaurant. Their reviews may be "correct" (this is a political collection), but I'm not sure they're right.
(If Mike Diago's piece didn't make you tear up, then okay, yeah, this volume is not for you.)
But it seems like many weren't as crazy about this edition of the perennial "Best American Food Writing" series.
Maybe this isn't a universal thought, but I always consider these volumes a kind of "sample sale." It's not only about the information but also about how the information is delivered. It's a festival of twenty-odd hamburgers, all cooked by different chefs. You get to sample them all and decide which restaurants are worth visiting for the full menu.
Many of the more negative reviews seem to be upset that a book on food writing is largely political. Food is always political. Even if you choose not to address the political aspects of your food, that, too, is a political stance. I prefer my politics plain-faced. Let me have it: stems, seeds, and all.
I want all types of "hunger" addressed.
As someone who has worked in the food industry for 25+ years, I found the 3-star reviews on this book to read a bit like Yelp! reviews. Some people seemed upset that they couldn't order pizza in a Chinese restaurant. Their reviews may be "correct" (this is a political collection), but I'm not sure they're right.
(If Mike Diago's piece didn't make you tear up, then okay, yeah, this volume is not for you.)
January 14, 2024
4.5 Stars
I saw this book in a bookstore and ended up being too curious to avoid it. I am a food lover. I love cooking food, eating food, learning about food and reading about food. So I felt like this book would be right up my alley. The book is a compilation of articles relating to food that were written during 2023. They are chosen by the editors to be included in the compilation.
This compilation had a wonderful variety of articles surrounding food. You are not going to find recipes or restaurant reviews in this collection. The topics ranged from the origins of rosin potatoes and atypical anoreixa nervosa, to foraging through New York City and regulating the food industry, to whale with kimchi and the creation of a cooking class for highschool boys. I really enjoyed every single article in this book and I loved that it covered so many aspects of food and really opened my eyes up to new perspectives. I don’t think I could even choose a favorite article as they were all so unique. Some articles were slower reads for me, but they were still wonderful and eye-opening.
Each article is related to food in some way and they cover a wide variety of topics. I learned so much and I am so glad I picked up this collection.
I saw this book in a bookstore and ended up being too curious to avoid it. I am a food lover. I love cooking food, eating food, learning about food and reading about food. So I felt like this book would be right up my alley. The book is a compilation of articles relating to food that were written during 2023. They are chosen by the editors to be included in the compilation.
This compilation had a wonderful variety of articles surrounding food. You are not going to find recipes or restaurant reviews in this collection. The topics ranged from the origins of rosin potatoes and atypical anoreixa nervosa, to foraging through New York City and regulating the food industry, to whale with kimchi and the creation of a cooking class for highschool boys. I really enjoyed every single article in this book and I loved that it covered so many aspects of food and really opened my eyes up to new perspectives. I don’t think I could even choose a favorite article as they were all so unique. Some articles were slower reads for me, but they were still wonderful and eye-opening.
Each article is related to food in some way and they cover a wide variety of topics. I learned so much and I am so glad I picked up this collection.
August 20, 2026
OK so I feel like my rating is a bit unfair since the subtitle of this book describes that the essays are on culture, inequality and justice. This does not show up on the cover of the book though and so I wasn't really expecting it until I went through the preface which does discuss the theme of the book.
Like what others have said, this book is more focused on culture and how it relates to food. I would say that the food is more of a tangential, loosely associated topic that takes a secondary role. Some of the essays are quite short and didn't leave much of an impact on me, and I had to puzzle over why they were included (for example, the piece of writing detailing the intersection of 1980's Detroit’s Chinatown, gay culture, and food writing). I later looked it up, and that excerpt is from Curtis Chin and his award-winning 2023 memoir, Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant. That makes more sense, as the included morsel of writing in this book felt rather incomplete and does Chin's writing a disservice.
Like what others have said, this book is more focused on culture and how it relates to food. I would say that the food is more of a tangential, loosely associated topic that takes a secondary role. Some of the essays are quite short and didn't leave much of an impact on me, and I had to puzzle over why they were included (for example, the piece of writing detailing the intersection of 1980's Detroit’s Chinatown, gay culture, and food writing). I later looked it up, and that excerpt is from Curtis Chin and his award-winning 2023 memoir, Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant. That makes more sense, as the included morsel of writing in this book felt rather incomplete and does Chin's writing a disservice.
December 8, 2023
I have read all of the "Best American Food Writing" books in the series by this publisher. And enjoyed quite a few of them. While there have been some collections that haven't quite been what I would have gone for, there were others that were simply wonderful. This one ranged average for me. It had a few standout stories, but largely it seemed like I was reading the same thing over and over again.
Bittman collected several examples of food writing that spanned from about food itself, food sociology and societal impact, and food politics. These are all wonderfully diverse and nuanced, although some felt too short or maybe not as impactful as they could have been. I will say, I now want to seek out a rosin potato. I am so curious as to what those might taste like. I also enjoyed the cooking class to encourage school participation story.
Overall still fun to read, but maybe not the strongest of the collections.
Review by M. Reynard 2023
Bittman collected several examples of food writing that spanned from about food itself, food sociology and societal impact, and food politics. These are all wonderfully diverse and nuanced, although some felt too short or maybe not as impactful as they could have been. I will say, I now want to seek out a rosin potato. I am so curious as to what those might taste like. I also enjoyed the cooking class to encourage school participation story.
Overall still fun to read, but maybe not the strongest of the collections.
Review by M. Reynard 2023
February 13, 2024
I like the essays in this book because of the references of foods that I haven't heard of before. My favorite essay is about kimchee and whale skin. I have eaten kimchee all my life, but I have never eaten kimchee with whale skin before. I would love to try this appetizing pairing if I ever visit Alaska. There is a reference to jujubee fruit. I learned that a jujubee is a fruit that looks like an olive, but it tastes like a sweet apple. Gai Lan is another food I have never eaten, but I learned that Gai Lan is a Chinese broccoli. I love to eat new vegetables and fruits so I would love to eat all these foods. I have tried Indian food before. I like the essay that makes reference to garam masala. I have tried nutmeg cardamon, black pepper and cinnamon individually, but I've never tried to blend them together and put this delicious topping on my chicken or rice dishes before. I will try to broaden my culinary palate because of the food references in this book.
October 23, 2023
The Best American Food Writing is my favorite series within the Best American family. Each volume is, unsurprisingly, shaped by its editor. As a result, some volumes are stronger than others. This volume ticks what I think is one of the most important boxes: the articles are from a diverse set of writers and publications. Often in these volumes, there are multiple stories that really grab me - they make me laugh, or cry, or wonder...and most importantly they make me keep thinking after I read them. In this 2023 edition, however, that didn't happen. That's not to say the writing in this volume was bad or uninteresting. It just didn't hit me the way entries in past volumes have. Other people will, I'm sure love this volume and give it 5 stars, which I would not argue with. Mark Bittman and I just have different taste in food writing and that's fine.
February 12, 2024
A variety of interesting articles Most interesting to me were 1. Border Lines, (Syria and Turkey),
2. Time is Strong (MFK Fisher)
3.He Knew it All ( Chef Alain Saihac).
4. There is No Such Thing as Italian Food.
5.On the Road, A Taste of Home. (Finding Sikh foods in the US -learned a bit about the history of the Sikh people and their immigration to the US.)
6. Regulating the Food Industry: An Aspirational Agenda.( Exposing the problems ultra processed foods take on people in the US)
7. The FDA is Coming for Your Almond Milk. ( disagreed with this author)
8. Tales of an Accidental Cooking Club (using cooking club in a HS to engage with kids with mental health issues)
2. Time is Strong (MFK Fisher)
3.He Knew it All ( Chef Alain Saihac).
4. There is No Such Thing as Italian Food.
5.On the Road, A Taste of Home. (Finding Sikh foods in the US -learned a bit about the history of the Sikh people and their immigration to the US.)
6. Regulating the Food Industry: An Aspirational Agenda.( Exposing the problems ultra processed foods take on people in the US)
7. The FDA is Coming for Your Almond Milk. ( disagreed with this author)
8. Tales of an Accidental Cooking Club (using cooking club in a HS to engage with kids with mental health issues)
July 18, 2024
3.5 stars
Read this to get a feel for food writing, which is a genre I'd love to read and write more in. There's a lot of article type writing/reporting, which is sparingly my jam when it's done on a compelling original topic. I much more gravitated to the personal stories in this collection and wish there were more personal peices in the collection overall. Some of the reported peices were very compelling, and some of them felt more rote. I'd keep reading other installments to get more of a feel for the industry and scope out publications to keep in mind.
Read this to get a feel for food writing, which is a genre I'd love to read and write more in. There's a lot of article type writing/reporting, which is sparingly my jam when it's done on a compelling original topic. I much more gravitated to the personal stories in this collection and wish there were more personal peices in the collection overall. Some of the reported peices were very compelling, and some of them felt more rote. I'd keep reading other installments to get more of a feel for the industry and scope out publications to keep in mind.
November 2, 2023
Fun as always! Shorter than last year. My favorite was “Is the Future of Food the Future We Want?” by Jaya Saxena. I also liked the one about the cooking class at the high school and the New York Times magazine piece on anorexia. I learned about Thomas Downing, foraging in NYC parks, rosin potatoes, and the Elaine Massacre in Arkansas. For the first time, there were some where I disliked the writing. Too bad.
April 3, 2024
This is the 2023 edition of the popular food-writing anthology “The Best American Food Writing.” Food is influential in all parts of life and the anthology expresses that with its diverse range of food-related topics: the real meaning of “fresh,” the significance of kimchi on Eskimo whale cuisine, the feeling of being forgotten as a black food critic, the history of food-writing itself. I enjoyed the eclectic essays, and it confirms that food-writing is still relevant to this day.
November 27, 2023
I love this series, but a lot of these were too short to have much impact. My favorites were Kimchi with a Side of Whale, the research-filled The Elusive Roots of Rosin Potatoes, and Effortless Anonymity, about being the first Black female restaurant critic in Detroit. "You Don't Look Anorexic" was also eye-opening.
December 27, 2023
This "Best of" anthology is the most eclectic I've read in 10+ years. Bittman, a stellar writer himself, shows the range of what food writing can be. There is very little descriptive food porn that plagues many stories. Bittman shows food through the prism of politics, government policy, history, and yes, family. I'm happy I continued this series this year.
July 22, 2024
The best edited edition in years. A tight 169 pages of varied topics and lengths, and a stronger lean toward my preference of educational and investigative pieces instead of the last two years of so many personal stories. Wondering what next year’s edition will bring without Killingsworth at the helm.
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November 9, 2024Best essays:
• “What counts as Fresh Food”
• “Detroit’s Chinatown and Gayborhood Felt Like Two Separate Worlds. Then They Collided”
• “Is the ‘Future of Food’ the Future We Want?”
• “The Is No Such Thing As Italian Food”
• “What We Write About When We Write About Food”
• “Regulating the Food Industry: An Aspirational Agenda”
• “The FDA Is Coming for Your Almond Milk”
• “What counts as Fresh Food”
• “Detroit’s Chinatown and Gayborhood Felt Like Two Separate Worlds. Then They Collided”
• “Is the ‘Future of Food’ the Future We Want?”
• “The Is No Such Thing As Italian Food”
• “What We Write About When We Write About Food”
• “Regulating the Food Industry: An Aspirational Agenda”
• “The FDA Is Coming for Your Almond Milk”
November 6, 2023
This collection had more skips for me this year and I think there was a lot to say/write/think about as we head into a post-pandemic world but only a few stuck out like delivery drones and food regulation.
February 20, 2024
This is my second year reading this set of essays all connected by the topic of food. It’s amazing how eclectic the topics can be, including merging Turkish and Syrian cultures, expanding mental health definitions, and restoring stolen land rights.
March 17, 2024
I love this collection every year. These essays are about our past, like black farmers working to get land back that was stolen in the 20th century; our present, how Syrian refugees and native Turks are influencing each other's cooking; and our future, looking at ghost kitchens and drone delivery.
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