Steingarten, Jeffrey

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Steingarten, Jeffrey

PERSONAL: Male. Education: Attended law school at Harvard University.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Knopf Publicity, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

CAREER: Food journalist; formerly worked as a lawyer.

AWARDS, HONORS: Two Beard Awards for outstanding food magazine series; two International Association of Culinary Professionals food journalism prizes; National Magazine Award; Julia Child Cookbook Award; Guild of British Food Writers Prize; named Chevalier of the Order of Merit, 1994, for his writings on French gastronomy.

WRITINGS:

The Man Who Ate Everything: And Other Gastronomic Feats, Disputes, and Pleasurable Pursuits, Knopf (New York, NY), 1997.

It Must've Been Something I Ate: The Return of the Man Who Ate Everything, Knopf (New York, NY), 2003.

Contributor to House & Garden. Columnist, Vogue.

SIDELIGHTS: Once a lawyer, Jeffrey Steingarten changed careers to become a food journalist in the late 1980s, writing first for House & Garden and then becoming a columnist for Vogue magazine. In his new job, he has delivered informative, humorous, often anecdotal articles on a wide range of food subjects. His writing can be described as encompassing food criticism, food science, and food culture. A number of his Vogue articles were collected in his The Man Who Ate Everything: And Other Gastronomic Feats, Disputes, and Pleasurable Pursuits. The first part of this title refers to Steingarten's effort to rid himself of food prejudices by systematically eating foods that he disliked: The writer consumed an unappealing food every day for six months. He did this to make himself a more objective food writer.

Steingarten's columns are characterized by being both well-researched and highly personal, according to critics. They are also global in scope—including foods native to Africa, Asia, and Europe—and encyclopedic in their range of subjects—covering everything from the analysis of Olestra, the "fake fat" being used in snack foods, to a discussion of how to make bread using the yeast organisms found in the air. Steingarten takes credit for having identified what he calls the "French paradox," the fact that the French are second only to the Japanese as the population with the fewest deaths by heart attack, despite the fact that the French national diet contains relatively large amounts of saturated fat and alcohol. The columnist has taken a stance against low-fat diets as a means of weight reduction, having himself tried to shed pounds gained in pursuit of professional interests.

In a Booklist review, Mark Knoblauch recommended the book to Steingarten's fans, though he found that the author's persistent use of the first-person "becomes tiresome," marring his "otherwise evident erudition in food science and lore." Michael Lutes wrote in the Library Journal that the book is "a riveting tour of the world of food," and added that the "recipes and culinary tips included are a magnificent bonus." A Publishers Weekly contributor called the collection an "informative yet hilarious" work filled with "sensible advice and some intriguing recipes."

Steingarten followed The Man Who Ate Everything with a second collection of his columns titled It Must've Been Something I Ate: The Return of the Man Who Ate Everything. Described by a Publishers Weekly contributor as "a mouthwatering collection of nearly forty obsessive essays," Steingarten discusses everything from sushi and sea salt to espresso and pizza. Among the essays touted by critics are his description of a pig slaughter in France and his quest to recreate the perfect pizza in his home oven. A Kirkus Reviews critic commented: "Steingarten sings of his supper, grand cuisine, or Thanksgiving turkey with panache and canny wit." Writing for the New York Times, Corby Kummer explained: "I deny myself the pleasure of reading [Steingarten's] essays until he collects them in one volume so I can indulge in a long, varied meal." Comparing It Must've Been Something I Ate to Steingarten's first collection, Kummer noted: "The voice here is surer, the persona more fixed, the cast of characters comfortably familiar."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 1997, Mark Knoblauch, review of The Man Who Ate Everything: And Other Gastronomic Feats, Disputes and Pleasurable Pursuits, p. 532; September 1, 2002, Mark Knoblauch, review of It Must've Been Something I Ate: The Return of the Man Who Ate Everything, p. 47.

Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2002, review of It Must've Been Something I Ate, p. 1291.

Library Journal, November 1, 1997, Michael Lutes, review of The Man Who Ate Everything, p. 109.

New York Times, January 26, 2003, Corby Kummer, review of It Must've Been Something I Ate, p. 30.

Publishers Weekly, October 20, 1997, review of The Man Who Ate Everything, p. 43; September 9, 2002, review of It Must've Been Something I Ate, p. 51.