Michael Stern (1) (1946–)

This was a fun book. I finished it during breakfast on Thursday. I haven't read Jan and Michael Stern's other book - Roadfood, but I might now. This book gives little encyclopedic entries for all types of regional cuisine, A - Z, plus some other common food words we know are thrown in there. Lots of hot dogs and chili! Lots of beef and pork and good Mexican food! Here are some examples of the entries: Barbecue Spaghetti (from Memphis, Tennessee), Boiled Peanuts, Fish Tacos, Green Corn Tamales (a favorite of my husband's but he no longer lives in Tucson), Pop-Tarts (did you know one single Pop-Tarts is still plural? Go figure.), Moxie (great to read about after finishing Stephen King's 11/22/63), Red Bull, and 1000 Islands Dressing (I never knew Islands is supposed to be plural). If a big juicy hot dog smothered with chili, cheese, and onions is one of your favorite meals, this book will make you HUNGRY.… (mer)

3.5 stars

Jane and Michael Stern are married and have been travelling across the US since just after they married in 1970 to find local eateries (aka “roadfood”) and review them. This is a memoir of their travels and the food.

This was entertaining. Many chapters focused on an area and at the end of each chapter they included a couple of recipes of things they mentioned in the chapter. (Except the chapter on the awful food they tried (or smelled and didn’t try!) The recipes at the end of that chapter included foods that many people dislike). I’m not one who reads recipes, but each recipe had a story to go with it, so I did read that. I bake more than cook, and I’m not an adventurous eater. That was one of the nice things about this book – though there were some odd things, much of it was just “American” food (bbqs, pies, ice cream, steak, etc.). Although I don’t eat meat often, I really want to try a steamed cheeseburger (head to Meriden, Connecticut for that one)!… (mer)