Omg this book ended up being so much fun and possibly one of my top reads!! I didn't even know what food writing was. I just requested it because these essay collection books look cool and I've always been curious. I loved the immigrant writers and immigrant highlights, the history, and even the gossip! I definitely need to check more of these out

Food writing is often my favorite quick and enjoyable read (along with book reviews) and this is a collection that I was so excited about after seeing El-Wally's name attached. Is a great book to pick up when you have a few free moments.

5/5 stars

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This collection of essays centered on food was masterfully executed. The vivid imagery from many of the pieces, especially the Nina Li Coomes and Jiayang Fan pieces, was evocative and made me feel like I was in the restaurants or the kitchens with the writers. I enjoyed the diversity of the writing and perspectives included.

There's so much good food writing that I missed this year and really enjoyed this selection, curated by one of my BA Test Kitchen faces Sola el-Waylly. Looking forward to 2023's edition!

This anthology started on a high note – I was completely sucked in by the first four essays, especially “The Man Who Didn’t Invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos”, the perfect intersection between food writing and con artist exposés.

But I found the rest of the essays to be fairly uneven in tone, quality, and length. It may that that’s the nature of an anthology, though, as I’m new to this genre.

That said, alongside the Cheeto essay, I’m also still laughing when I think of the Margaritaville review and almost considering visiting it on my next trip to New York City. I’ve told numerous people about the story of the writer who ate rodent-repelling tape. And I’m regularly searching for updates on the groups of delivery workers mentioned in Josh Dzieza’s story. So clearly I found the book to be pretty memorable!

I’d recommend this book to lovers of food writing who don’t mind the nature of anthologies.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this title. I always enjoy these compilations as a reflection of the past year or so and to highlight the essays I may have missed during another busy year. This one was no different: teaching me through the language of food and continuing to open my eyes to things I might now have found out otherwise.

I found the book allowed me to discover new narratives I may have missed in the past year. There were a variety of diverse voices as well.

The Best American Food Writing 2022 is a multicultural collection that made me want to eat Spam, hot chicken, curry, tofu, and peaches. All while drinking bubble tea in someone else's kitchen listening to Jimmy Buffett. Anyone who enjoys food, cultural history and different cuisines will love the variety and content of these informative and entertaining essays. I know I did.

#NetGalley #TheBestAmericanFoodWriting2022

NetGalley provided a digital ARC for my honest review.

These stories were written during the pandemic which made food the focus of our entertainment as it was a boundary we could explore. For example, one story is about staying in a Japanese hotel and picking up food from the nearby convenience stores. The collection of stories is both entertaining and informative.

A very nice and broad assortment of essays on food and eating. The content is what you expect of these yearly collections, but I thought this one was particularly interesting and designed to appeal to an even wider range of readers. But really... who doesn't like food and vicarious travel to other locals?!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. It's very yummy!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Like with all books that are written by multiple authors, some of the essays were stronger than others. But, overall, I enjoyed this book!

The Best American Food Writing is a collection I look forward to every year - the diversity of perspectives, essays and writers is always a treat. Sohla's editing brought together diverse authors who shared stories about food, culture, and what immigrant food means. It was super enjoyable and I would recommend this collection to anyone!

Thank you to Netgalley and Mariner Books for the ARC - The Best American Food Writing 2022 is out now!

The Best American Food Writing 2022 is a compilation of food essays, and like any anthology, there are some highs and lows. Some of the essays meander a bit and were a bit of a slog to get through, so the essence of the article was lost, at least to me.

As with any anthology, there are always favorites, and I had two -- "I Tasted Honda's Spicy Rodent-Repelling Tape" by Liz Cook (a humorous look at how one person's insatiable curiosity will make them do some questionable things) and "A Year of Cooking with My Mother" by Eric Kim (a lovely look at the bonds between mother and son and how they reconnect through cooking).

So, while not all of the essays resonated with me, I will say that I learned something from each one -- a solid read.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I received an advance copy via NetGalley.

If you love food, if you love understanding it at its deepest, most psychological and personal levels, this book is for you. Every piece in this book has something to teach, whether about the current effort of Black American farmers to reclaim land, or how the Mussel Slough Tragedy of 1881 (which happened 3 miles from where I grew up) is part of the loss of Tulare Lake and the industrialization of Manchester in England, to the bizarre and sordid ways that food can be forms of both love and abuse. All of the publications were originally in 2021, meaning stories of the pandemic are threaded throughout along with tales that touch on other very contemporary things, like injustices committed against bike food deliverers and the current craze of Nashville hot chicken. I loved the diversity of perspectives, cultures, and places. It made me hungry. It made me sad. It made me feel connected to people who understand the beautiful, horrible relationships we all have with the food that sustains our bodies and memories.

I have read many editions of the “Best American” series, mostly mysteries and travel writing, and I thought I have read food writing before as well, but Goodreads tells me otherwise. So here we go with “The Best American Food Writing 2022” edited by Sohla El-Waylly, Silvia Killingsworth. Like all collections, there are highs and lows. But it seems to me that this collection had more lows than highs, and some of the essays had a tenuous connection to food at all. Hopefully as we move out of the pandemic we will see more of a celebration of food than what we have today.

“If Silence Is the Cost of Great Ramen, So Be It” by Nina Li Coomes: Covid hits a Japanese ramen shop, it makes for an interesting experience.

“The Limits of the Lunchbox Moment” by Jaya Saxena: How often do we actually experience the stereotype of “foreign” kids being bullied for their different (ethnic) lunches?

“Starving Towards Deliverance” by Julia Sonenshein: a depressing story about the connection between dieting and extremist Christians.

“The Man Who Didn’t Invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos” by Sam Dean: an interesting story about who created a trendy snack.

“The Gatekeepers Who Get to Decide What Food Is “Disgusting”” by Jiayang Fan: a visit to a Swedish museum dedicated to disgusting foods.

“Fruits of Empire” by Willa Glickman: The history of trying to bring fruits to the US.

“Chronicles of a Bubble-Tea Addict” by Jiayang Fan: the author’s history with bubble-tea and her Asian identity.

“Let Them Eat Fakes” by Ligaya Mishan: The history of deceptive foods.

“The Queen of Delicacies” by Shane Mitchell: peaches in Georgia, and how they got there.

“Ghost Acres: Tulare Lake and the Past Future of Food” by Tom Finger: how a valley in the Sierra Nevada mountains went from native Americans to settlers to farmers and is now coming back.

“Revolt of the Delivery Workers” by Josh Dzieza: New York bicycle delivery workers try to fight back against those that prey on them.

“How Vietnamese Americans Made San Jose America’s Tofu Capital” by Adesh Thapliyal: the title says it all.

“I Ate Like a Boy to Avoid Being a Queer Man” by Logan Scherer: adolescent food as a connection to coming out.

“The Humble Beginnings of Today’s Culinary Delicacies” by Ligaya Mishan: how the food that was once considered “poor” has become the delicacies of today.

“After a Century of Dispossession, Black Farmers Are Fighting to Get Back to the Land” by Tom Philpott: once again, the title says it all. Not really about food.

“Innovation and the Incinerated Tongue: Notes on Hot Chicken, Race, and Culinary Crossover” by Cynthia R. Greenlee: the history of Nashville Hot Chicken as an example of how food defines culture.

“A Year of Cooking with My Mother” by Eric Kim: getting mother’s recipes right for a cookbook leads to a better appreciation of how and why.

“Other People’s Kitchens” by Bryan Washington: Covid leads to a chef cooking for others.

“Margaritaville and the Myth of American Leisure” by Jaya Saxena: can a restaurant/hotel in Times Square really transport you to the beach?

“It’s Hospital Soigne” by Chris Crowley: a chef moves from high end restaurants to cooking at a hospital.

“The Wild and Irresistibly Saucy Tale of the Curry Con Man” by Mayukh Sen: an Indian chef becomes the first celebrity chef in New York, with the inevitable downfall.

“Tokyo Convenience Store Chicken Saved My Life” by Andrew Keh: Covid and the Olympics lead to the discovery of Japanese convenience store cuisine.

“I Tasted Honda’s Spicy Rodent-Repelling Tape” by Liz Cook: once again, the title says it all.

“The Grapefruit Spoon Makes Life Easier” by Rachel Levin: all about the little pleasures that can be found in the kitchen. Sorry Alton Brown!

“I Was a Lifelong Vegetarian. I Decided to Taste What I Was Missing” by Rajesh Parameswaran: I guess if you are going to taste beef, Argentina is a pretty good place to start.

“In My Childhood Kitchen, I Learned Both Fear and Love” by Hannah Selinger: a disturbing tale of cooking and abuse.

“I Recommend Eating Chips” by Sam Anderson: the comfort of junk food.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Mariner Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

The Best American Food Writing 2022 is an excellent collection of articles published in 2021. I had only known of the "Best American" short story and essay collections in the past, so was intrigued by this collection. All in all it was a good read!

*This book was received as an Advanced Reviewer's Copy from NetGalley.

This is the first time I've read one of the "Best of" writing anthologies. Of course, it had to be about food, my favorite. And I'm delighted that I did. I probably wouldn't have seen any of these articles, not subscribing to various publications, and would have missed out on some really interesting perspectives and the history of food.

The articles chosen for this collection are varied, complex, and full of not only food details but also sociological ones as well. From the lunchbox debate, to understanding a love of bubble tea and the cultural implications around it, to how food can help or hinder trauma, there was a lot of ground covered. That's not to say all were emotional or covered tough topics; we also just plain had a person eating spicy rodent tape and seeing what came of it.

I found the article, 'Fruits of Empire' particularly interesting as I've read some previous books on the sourcing of various crops for the United States by the USDA and the implications of such actions on our ecology. 'If Silence is the Cost of Great Ramen, So Be It', covered the effects of Covid-19 on the restaurant population and the changing of 'dining out' in uncertain times. I could keep going; with the breadth and depth of the different topics covered.

This has definitely made me want to check out the previous years collections, and I for sure will be looking forward to the next!

Review by M. Reynard 2022

I love reading food writing and I really enjoyed this one. It is a delicious book and has lots of different cuisines to read about and think about.

A fun foodie read.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

Another wonderful edition of this yearly journal.Wonderful essays delicious food interesting chefs.A pleasure to read and delve into the world of food#netgalley#marinerbooks

If your’e like me and enjoy reading cookbooks even if you aren’t planning on making the recipe, this book is for you. From casual dining to Michelin Five Star reviewed restaurants, you can live (eat) vicariously through this tasty tome