A review by rebecita
Feeding a Yen: Savoring Local Specialties, from Kansas City to Cuzco by Calvin Trillin

2.0

There's probably more to Trillin than self-important globe-trotting gluttony. Unfortunately that's what this collection showcases. It's not that he doesn't write authoritatively and respectfully about a whirlwind of food cultures. Everything he says about Ecuadorian cuisine (fanesca!! chifas!!) rings true, for example. It's more his tone, which he thinks is delightfully witty (he's forever quoting himself) but which reeks of entitlement and appropriation. I mean, clearly the people of the world exist just for the honor of feeding him untouched regional cuisine - bonus points if they immigrate and deliver in Manhattan.

Trillin's at his best when he humbles himself to write about someone else's tastebuds and when he takes on the truly local - I loved the chapter on "alternative eaters" in New York like chowhound.com founder Jim Leff.