Reviews - Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef's Journey to Discover America's New Melting-Pot Cuisine [ARC]

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207 reviews for:

Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef's Journey to Discover America's New Melting-Pot Cuisine [ARC]

There was so much to love in here. And sometimes I was uncomfortable. Or hungry. Or inspired. Or sad. It was like a very mixed up menu of delightful offerings. Read it. It’s what I love about America the melting pot.

tidoublegarrr's review against another edition

5.0

Chef Lee’s writing and take on food are eye opening. I admire his desire to connect with people across the country and learn their history. It focused on different immigrant groups, and how their food has evolved as a result of living in the U.S., while still preserving their cultural roots. I like how he doesn’t put food creation in a box and says that fusion is something to be embraced. Each chapter is organized by a region he visited and there are interesting recipes at the end of each. We tried his DC restaurant Succotash—loved the food!

jocelynmae's review against another edition

1.0

"No one's gonna come to your aid. You're all alone. You either fight like hell or you get your ass kicked. First time a kid gets his head knocked in, you see if he's got any haht. The ones that don't, they go down and they stay down. You see a kid get back up and fight, that's haht.”

I feel like it’s not fair for me to be rating this because it was for an English class…but I’m doing it anyway.
This book was boring as shit.
It was fine at first but then I discovered my hatred for non-fiction is real.

zdriesen's review against another edition

5.0

Buttermilk Graffiti covers Edward's travels around various towns and cities in the United States. At the surface level, the book is about the food of immigrants. After a few chapters, you realize that he is using food as a way to begin discussions about immigrants, their culture, and how it blends into life in America.

This was a fantastic read that I would comfortably suggest to nearly anyone. I hope he published another book someday, and I look forward to am opportunity to visit his restaurant one day.

daumari's review against another edition

4.0

Unintentionally a fitting read for the weekend I traveled to Lexington, KY for a family wedding given that Lee lives and works not too far away in Louisville. More travelogue than cookbook (though every chapter does have recipes from/related to his adventure), there's a lot of discussion about cultural identity through food (the throughline I still have 4 generations in after language has been lost), and the shifting landscape of cities (places with a lot of manufacturing always need labor and it comes in immigrant waves). Lee abhors the word "authentic", something I've started avoiding using as an adjective to discuss foods because what's truly authentic, especially if it's the cuisine of poor people trying to make do with available ingredients, or energetic young chefs trying to revive lost techniques?

Once again I have failed to make something from recipes before I returned it to the library so I can't verify how good they are, but they sounded great.