annieb123's Review of The World Eats Here

by John Wang and Storm Garner

Prized recipes and tales of home, work, and family--from the immigrant vendor-chefs of NYC's first and favorite night market On summer Saturday nights in Queens, New York, mouthwatering scents from Moldova to Mexico fill the air. Children play, adults mingle . . . and, above all, everyone eats. Welcome to the Queens Night Market, where thousands of visitors have come to feast on amazing international food--from Filipino dinuguan to Haitian diri ak djon djon. The World Eats Here brings these incredible recipes from over 40 countries to your home kitchen--straight from the first- and second-generation immigrant cooks who know them best.

With every recipe comes a small piece of the American story: of culture shock and language barriers, of falling in love and following passions, and of family bonds tested then strengthened by cooking. You'll meet Sangyal Phuntsok, who learned to make dumplings in a refugee school for Tibetan children; now, his Tibetan Beef Momos with Hot Sauce sell like hotcakes in New York City. And Liia Minnebaeva will blow you away with her Bashkir Farm Cheese Donuts--a treat from her childhood in Oktyabrsky in western Russia.

Though each story is unique, they all celebrate one thing: Food brings people together, and there's no better proof of that than the Queens Night Market, where flavors from all over the world can be enjoyed in one unforgettable place.

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The World Eats Here is a glorious celebration of street food at the Queens Night Market. Due out 12th May 2020 from The Experiment, it's 256 pages and will be available in flexibound and ebook formats.

This is a lovingly crafted tribute, wonderfully photographed, with recipes (yay!) about the Queens Night Market in NYC. The recipes are listed grouped by continent (with a second table of contents listing recipes by type of dish - finger foods, main dishes, sandwiches, crepes, etc) and each of the listings includes a story about the cook and a recipe from their menus. I'm 100% serious. I had to stop and go eat because the book made me so hungry. Everything looks amazing and I fully intend to work my way through the recipes.

Each of the listings include a picture of the cook, recipe introduction with ingredients in the sidebar (measurements in US standard and metric), and step by step instructions. The ingredients are mostly relatively easily sourced and should be available from any well stocked international grocery or large supermarket. The foods themselves are mostly not photographed but the illustrations are very well done and easy to follow.

This is such a vibrant book full of world cuisine and entrepreneurial spirit. The bios are fascinating and the food is just gorgeous.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

The World Eats Here

by John Wang and Storm Garner

Reviewed by annieb123 on May 11, 2020

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