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Fed, White, and Blue: Finding America with My Fork
by
Simon Majumdar is probably not your typical idea of an immigrant. As he says, “I’m well rested, not particularly poor, and the only time I ever encounter ‘huddled masses’ is in line at Costco.”
But immigrate he did, and thanks to a Homeland Security agent who asked if he planned to make it official, the journey chronicled in Fed, White, and Blue was born. In it, Simon sets ...more
But immigrate he did, and thanks to a Homeland Security agent who asked if he planned to make it official, the journey chronicled in Fed, White, and Blue was born. In it, Simon sets ...more
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Hardcover, 308 pages
Published
April 7th 2015
by Avery
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Start your review of Fed, White, and Blue: Finding America with My Fork

This book is as much about the people Simon meets on his travels as it is about the food he eats. His authorial voice is great (watching "Cutthroat Kitchen" helps a little with this) and I can hear the man's voice in my head as I read. Also, while he is very much a Brit, I suspect he is a far more sentimental man than he claims to be in the book and a fantastic addition to American culture. This was a fun and educational read. I hope someday to meet the man.
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My favorite hybrid genre is travelogue mixed with food memoir. This is a wonderful example of that - British man (who happens to be a Food Network personality) wants to decide if he should become an American citizen. He decides to figure out what America is all about via food.Travels the country and eats with people. The book will induce both hunger and wanderlust.

A book has never made me hungrier than this one, and my desire to go out and buy roasted green chiles has never been greater. Thanks Mr. Majumdar, my food budget isn't large enough to support the amount of things I now feel compelled to eat.
The book outside of the talk about food is also good, it's full of funny stories and moments with genuinely good people that made me feel better about the country I live in. ...more
The book outside of the talk about food is also good, it's full of funny stories and moments with genuinely good people that made me feel better about the country I live in. ...more

This was an interesting food travel journal about food and food issues from all over the United States. It was well written and factual but just didn't grab me in any sort of super exciting way. I did learn from it and think others would enjoy it, but it was just not what I was really looking for at the time.
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Didn't change my life but a fun read nonetheless! I like Majumdar's writing style and the amount of travel and research he did is pretty staggering.
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2019 bk 121. When Simon Majundar is confronted by a U.S. Customs official upon returning from England to his wife and home in the U.S. he has to ask himself, why not become a United States Citizen? This follows with, if I'm to become an American, I need to know more about America. And, thus begins the journey of this book. Seeking to know the essence of America through his world of food - but not the television world of food - the local world of food, Majundar uses his contacts and blog to seek
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Read this review and others at https://readingforsanity.blogspot.com...
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I knew who Simon Majumdar was from seeing him as an Iron Chef judge and on other Food Network shows, so I was interested to see what this book would be like. The premise is that when trying to decide if he wants to become a US citizen (after marrying his US citizen wife) he decides to find out more about America through food. He spends two years traveling all over the US eating all kinds of food and meeting all kinds of different people. He experiences everything from a competitive eating event,
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Simon Majumdar is a British chef and food critic and a long-time contributor to the Food Network and Food Channel. He also serves as a celebrity judge on such shows as Iron Chef, Cutthroat Kitchen, and Extreme Chef, and is the fine living correspondent for AskMen.com. Mr. Majumdar knows about food and food preparation. So when he decided to apply for American citizenship, it wasn't enough for him to simply fill out the forms; no, he decided to travel around the country for a solid year learning
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When you are a foodie and a man of the world, and you decide at long last to become an American citizen, what do you do to learn about your new home country? You eat yourself from one end of the country to the other, of course. And that is exactly what food writer and well known culinary competition judge Simon Majumdar did. The result: one more American citizen, stories of vibrant American dishes to savor, and a book that details all of those amazing food adventures: Fed, White, and Blue.
From ...more
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It's on my cookbook shelf, although it isn't a cookbook. It's just about food. I'm too lazy to make another shelf just for food.
It's about a British foodie who marries an American and decides he needs to travel America and try various food things before he decides if he really wants to be a citizen.
Yes, I think it's a really odd basis for deciding to be a citizen, but then food doesn't matter to me in the same way it does to Majumdar. He really gets into it, and the more exotic, the better (as ...more
It's about a British foodie who marries an American and decides he needs to travel America and try various food things before he decides if he really wants to be a citizen.
Yes, I think it's a really odd basis for deciding to be a citizen, but then food doesn't matter to me in the same way it does to Majumdar. He really gets into it, and the more exotic, the better (as ...more

I passed this book by
several times until I noticed
the author.
Simon Majumdar
is one of my favorite people.
I have watched him eat & critique 100s
of dishes on the Food Network.
His charm
His love of food
His inherent smart assery
not to mention his accent
all make him a joy to watch.
This ALL comes through
in this amazing book.
As Majumdar considers US citizenry
he decides to find the essence
OF AMERICA
by eating.
A great idea
America is defined by it's food.
Be it festival : 4th of July
Immigrant cooking : a The ...more
several times until I noticed
the author.
Simon Majumdar
is one of my favorite people.
I have watched him eat & critique 100s
of dishes on the Food Network.
His charm
His love of food
His inherent smart assery
not to mention his accent
all make him a joy to watch.
This ALL comes through
in this amazing book.
As Majumdar considers US citizenry
he decides to find the essence
OF AMERICA
by eating.
A great idea
America is defined by it's food.
Be it festival : 4th of July
Immigrant cooking : a The ...more

Married to an American of Filipino descent, Simon Majumdar (the product of a Welsh mother and Indian father) is wrestling with becoming an American citizen. He decides to embark on a food tour of America to decide what it really means to be an American. During the next year, he travels the country and explores many hidden food corners -- competitive food eating contests, Wampanoag cuisine on Plimoth Plantation, a sanctioned barbecue contest in snowy central Nebraska, a Shabbat dinner in Kansas C
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The book itself likely would have been a 3 out of 5, but the style (accent) and personality of the voice actor, Tim Andres Pabon, is so different from the text, of Simon Majumdar, that it bothered me through my whole listening experience.
There were bites of great material, but it is clear that Mr. Majumdar struggled to put it all together. And the chunks where he was describing non-food related details of American culture and history felt out of place.
I couldn't enjoy a book full of overeating. ...more
There were bites of great material, but it is clear that Mr. Majumdar struggled to put it all together. And the chunks where he was describing non-food related details of American culture and history felt out of place.
I couldn't enjoy a book full of overeating. ...more

Simon Majumdar discovers the abundance and diversity of the USA through its food, and it was fun to go along for the ride. His self-deprecating humor lends itself well to this travelogue, and by the end he’s created a genuine memoir fitting to his conversion to US Citizen. At times I felt some of his choices of where to visit (and what to eat) lacked cohesion and depth, but then it all made sense: our diverse nation is anything but cohesive, and the sheer variety of food adventures that await ar
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The author who is seen on the Food Network decides to visit various locations across America that have a meaning to being an American. Each chapter is a new destination. He visits Plymouth,Massachusetts, Los Angeles where he lives, a Longhorn tailgating, Alaska for salmon and many other places. It was a very enjoyable book. It was an easy fast read.

The Plimouth Historical Foubdation was the most interesting story in this collection of his eating his way through America. It was an okay read better photos would have made the book better but the book appeared to be a cheap version of Diners and Dives. I did like the Love Aapple Farm in Santa Cruz. The Chili section about Santa Fe , NM did not do justice to the area or the Chile King.

This is a much better book than its predecessor - more informative, more detailed information about the people and the food he finds, more positive in response to what he encounters, less snarky, less whiny. Perhaps he's over his midlife whatever, or perhaps a happy marriage has turned his attitude around. In any case, it's a welcome change and makes for a decent light read for foodies.
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Very much enjoyed Simon's trek through the US to experience not only different food, but the culture and people of the area. Not only was there ethnic foods, but beer, cheese, kosher, and a chapter both on food desserts and fast foods. I will definitely review some of the chapters before I travel to these regions and it has heightened by desire to make it to specific places in the US.
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I read this book for my Book Riot 2016 book challenge for "A food Memoir". But It may not have been the best time for me to read this book as it is diet season and I felt myself getting distracted
A LOT. I enjoyed many of the stories especially Plymouth Plantation since I have been there myself and It brought back pleasant memories of traveling with my family. ...more
A LOT. I enjoyed many of the stories especially Plymouth Plantation since I have been there myself and It brought back pleasant memories of traveling with my family. ...more

A delightful look at many of the people & culinary treasures of the USA. The descriptions were so vivid I often felt like I could taste the dishes being described and I loved the amount of time spent in so-called flyover country. It was nice to see Midwestern cuisine represented in a positive light.

I have been laid up in bed after surgery and catching up on my reading. This book was a great read for my recovery as I got to travel with the author, a well known foodie, as he traveled America. He did so to get to know the people and the food that makes America as he journeyed towards gaining his U.S citizenship. A good read for those interested in food and America.

A wonderful book that starts off as an idea to travel and eat and experience the people of the USA before he becomes a citizen. It's not just an adventure in food but a veritable history of the USA. You can definitely hear the author, Simon Majumdar throughout this book if you've seen him on any Food Network shows
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This is a well-written book, and I found parts of it to be quite interesting. As much as I love to eat, I got tired of reading so many descriptions of food. This would be a good pick for a real foodie. (4/21/15)
I received an ARC from NetGalley! (3/19/15)
I received an ARC from NetGalley! (3/19/15)

(Really 3.5 stars) Quick, enjoyable read. I picked it up at the library when I was locked out of my apartment for a few hours and it certainly made the waiting time more fun. It's your basic travelogue of the US but with a food focus. Nothing too serious or mind-blowing, just a nice, easy read!
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Rounding up from 3.5. A fun and funny series of essays about American food. Don't read on an empty stomach!
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Simon Majumdar's exploration of America through food is a lot of fun. His vivid descriptions of the food he ate along the way also made me hungry.
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I'm sorry --probably just a mood thing, but I was really bored with this. Giving up.
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