Majumdar, Simon (2009). Eat my globe: one year to go everywhere and eat everything. New York: Free Press. ISBN: 978-1-4165-7602-0
Just what I’ve been craving. An adventurous food book! A British blogger from a family where food is the primary, or it seems only, past time, finds himself turning forty. It is not surprise that his great mid-life crisis causes him to act on his life goal to “go everywhere and eat everything.” The resulting book is as eclectic as the world’s food cultures.
His schedule for the “year” (p.13):
- March and April: UK and Ireland
- May: Australia
- June: more UK
- July: Japan
- August: Hong Kong and China
- September: Mongolia, Russia and Finland
- October: United States
- November: Mexico, Argentina, Brazil (and Thanksgiving in California)
- January: Germany and Iceland
- February: Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia
- March: The Philippines, India
- April: South Africa, Mozambique, Senegal, Morocco
- May: Turkey, Italy, France, Spain
Part travelogue, part global food profile, part wacky adventure story, the book is full of unexpected bits about food culture (Icelanders are obsessed with hot dogs?) And the book proves the best part of enjoying food is sharing it with others. The people he meets as he travels around the globe are as interesting as the foods he describes. In fact, I wish there were more descriptions of both people and food. Not that the book lacks either, but Majumdar’s style is so familiar, I just want more courses.