cover image Eat My Globe: One Year to Go Everywhere and Eat Everything

Eat My Globe: One Year to Go Everywhere and Eat Everything

Simon Majumdar, . . Free Press, $26 (279pp) ISBN 978-1-4165-7602-0

In this ballsy, often hilarious foodie travelogue, British blogger Majumdar sets out on a yearlong, round-the-world flavor forage. At the age of 40, Majumdar found his old note-to-self: “go everywhere and eat everything.” In search of out-of-comfort-zone foodstuffs like Mongolian fermented mare’s milk, he quit his loathed publishing job and, still mourning his mother’s recent death, he sketched out, booked and impressively adhered to an itinerary from the U.K. to every continent except Antarctica. Unpleasant surprises included cod sperm sushi in Kyoto, but his experiences and descriptions, however brief, of the global gastronomic sublime, such as his sunset supper in the Filipino countryside, are appetite-whetting, and his take-no-prisoners attitude and opinions match the project’s ambitions. He champions street-food surprises over more urbane examples of cuisine, while his affection and gratitude for the individuals and families met and the hospitality received amply humanized both his wanderings and writings. Majumdar’s comic-yet-brazen voice carries the reader swiftly and winningly from foul to fowl in a book that’s funny and delectable. (May 19)