What do you think?
Rate this book
Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin: A Cookbook
"Pancakes are a luxury, like smoking marijuana or having sex. That’s why I came up with the names Ho Cakes and Slutty Cakes. These are extra decadent, but in a way, every pancake is a Ho Cake.” Thus speaks Kenny Shopsin, legendary (and legendarily eccentric, ill-tempered, and lovable) chef and owner of the Greenwich Village restaurant (and institution), Shopsin’s, which has been in existence since 1971.
Kenny has finally put together his 900-plus-item menu and his unique philosophy—imagine Elizabeth David crossed with Richard Pryor—to create Eat Me, the most profound and profane cookbook you’ll ever read. His rants—on everything from how the customer is not always right to the art of griddling; from how to run a small, ethical, and humane business to how we all should learn to cook in a Goodnight Moon world where everything you need is already in your own home and head—will leave you stunned or laughing or hungry. Or all of the above.
With more than 120 recipes including such perfect comfort foods as High School Hot Turkey Sandwiches, Cuban Bean Polenta Melt, and Cornmeal-Fried Green Tomatoes with Comeback Sauce, plus the best soups, egg dishes, and hamburgers you’ve ever eaten, Eat Me is White Trash Cooking for the twenty-first century, as unforgettable and mind-boggling as its author.
Kenny has finally put together his 900-plus-item menu and his unique philosophy—imagine Elizabeth David crossed with Richard Pryor—to create Eat Me, the most profound and profane cookbook you’ll ever read. His rants—on everything from how the customer is not always right to the art of griddling; from how to run a small, ethical, and humane business to how we all should learn to cook in a Goodnight Moon world where everything you need is already in your own home and head—will leave you stunned or laughing or hungry. Or all of the above.
With more than 120 recipes including such perfect comfort foods as High School Hot Turkey Sandwiches, Cuban Bean Polenta Melt, and Cornmeal-Fried Green Tomatoes with Comeback Sauce, plus the best soups, egg dishes, and hamburgers you’ve ever eaten, Eat Me is White Trash Cooking for the twenty-first century, as unforgettable and mind-boggling as its author.
260 pages, Hardcover
First published September 23, 2008
21 people are currently reading
1078 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews
May 20, 2012
i have been meaning to add this link forever - an adventure!!
http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/2...
this is probably my favorite cookbook of all time. i have read it cover to cover, and when i am feeling culinarily uninspired, i will pick it up and flip through it and let the personality of kenny shopsin wash all over me. i bought this cookbook, and the movie about kenny, i like killing flies for my dad, and i know he loves it as well, because my dad is a wise man.
this is more than a cookbook. it is a way of life. it is a philosophy of food and how to make food last and how to make food interesting, and what part of the health code is...optional, and how not to freak out over food preparation.
but make no mistake - he isn't here to hold your hand and tell you it's gonna be all right.
kenny shopsin is a new york institution. he is a badass motherfucker in the kitchen, and while he will treat you like family, you are going to have to pass some basic tests first.family gets earned. basic rules - no more than four people per party. seriously. not even if you sit at different tables. he will indeed throw you out. no substitutions. just eat what is on the menu - it's not your restaurant, dude. you need to be willing to talk to him and the servers and other customers - he is big on repeat customers. but he will throw you out if you transgress. forever. and he will remember you, so don't even try it.
not too long ago, melinda gave me a check for a burrito that normally came with cheese, only with no cheese. the customer said she was lactose intolerant. but that same customer got a side order of pancakes, and pancake batter is all milk. her need to make her burrito special was not about wanting to or not being able to drink milk. it was about her need for control. i didn't just tell her i wouldn't do it. i gave minda back the check and told her to get rid of the whole table.
some people tell me they're deathly allergic to something and that i have to make sure it's not in their food. i kick them out, too. i don't want to be responsible for anyone's life-or-death situation. i tell them they should go eat at a hospital. often after i do that, they'll back down and tell me, well, they're not THAT allergic. and then i REALLY want them to leave because now i know they're assholes
so, yeah, he is an asshole, and a little bit of a control freak himself, but honestly - with a menu that has 76 different flavors of pancakes, 45 different milkshake flavors, and over 100 different soups, and i don't feel like counting sandwiches, burgers, breakfast plates, enchiladas, etc etc etc - i mean - surely everyone can find something on the menu to suit them.this is a huge menu. no need for substitutions.
all of this has terrified me so much, i have never actually eaten at the restaurant. a large part of this is the hours. he is not open on sundays or mondays, which are my two days off, and there is no way i could eat there and then go to work afterward - the food is just too too rich, and most days they are only open like 4 hours. and they keep changing locations. so i know this will be my one huge regret in life.
i want to go here like most people want to go to paris. i have been to paris. and it's fine. but honestly, the food here looks better. macaroni and cheese pancakes? a "jewboy" sandwich? cheeseburger salad?? mojo cactus and parmesan cheese soup? kenny shopsin cooks like a fucking stoner, and i want to live in his menu.lavender soda!! artichoke and okra parmagiana!! goat cheese pesto rice!! i need it all!!! pop tart pancakes!!
i love everything about him. i love how disdainful he is of foodies and foodie websites. i love how if he hears about an unfamiliar dish, he will try to recreate it with no research, no fussing over authenticity: think of my mexican food as culinary fiction. if any of the dishes here resemble an authentic mexican dish, it is a total coincidence.
i love this man. i love him.
menu: (get ready to be amazed)
http://www.shopsins.com/wp-content/up...
(although it looks as though it is much smaller than last time i looked at it - and much smaller than the one in the book)
however - in going to get the link, i just discovered something amazing. they are now open on sundays. this is going to be an AIFAF. maybe several. maybe i will go nowhere else for the rest of my life. this has changed my life, and i am saying this with no sense of humor or hyperbole. this is literally the best thing that has ever happened to me. and on my birthday, too. this makes up for everything that has ever gone wrong in my life.
i love all of it - the stories of his family, the tales of his customers, and who he has kicked out, and why, his musings on food and its place in people's lives. even just reading the recipes makes me smile. he is so passionate and hilarious and irreverent and abrasive. such a nice change of pace from chefs who take themselves too seriously.
i do not have enough good things to say about this book. the recipes are great, and frequently call for ingredients to be added "in large handfuls", but this book is more wonderful to just read about him, and his early years as a restaurant owner with his whole (actual) family running things, and watching his children grow up in the business.
on making stuffing:
after you have found the sausage (twss), the next big hurdle comes when you cook it. as you brown the sausage, you are going to discover that is is probably 70 percent fat. it is LOADED. the far just pours out of it when it cooks, but you have to leave the fat in the pan. you can't drain it no matter how tempted you are to do so. and here is the clincher: just as you start to feel a really strong impulse to drain some of the fat, not only do you have to leave the fat there, but you have to add a stick of butter to the pan. you HAVE to do it. the fat is what makes the stuffing taste good. when people order something with stuffing, no matter that the stuffing is supposed to be an accoutrement, what they really want to do is eat stuffing. so whenever i give stuffing, i give a lot of it. it's like bacon: no matter how much i put on a plate, the one thing i can count on is that it will all get eaten.
this man is my cooking soulmmate. please read this book. it is bound to make you happy.
and the pictures...
and if you aren't sold yet - here is an article calvin trillin wrote:
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2002...
http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/2...
this is probably my favorite cookbook of all time. i have read it cover to cover, and when i am feeling culinarily uninspired, i will pick it up and flip through it and let the personality of kenny shopsin wash all over me. i bought this cookbook, and the movie about kenny, i like killing flies for my dad, and i know he loves it as well, because my dad is a wise man.
this is more than a cookbook. it is a way of life. it is a philosophy of food and how to make food last and how to make food interesting, and what part of the health code is...optional, and how not to freak out over food preparation.
but make no mistake - he isn't here to hold your hand and tell you it's gonna be all right.
kenny shopsin is a new york institution. he is a badass motherfucker in the kitchen, and while he will treat you like family, you are going to have to pass some basic tests first.family gets earned. basic rules - no more than four people per party. seriously. not even if you sit at different tables. he will indeed throw you out. no substitutions. just eat what is on the menu - it's not your restaurant, dude. you need to be willing to talk to him and the servers and other customers - he is big on repeat customers. but he will throw you out if you transgress. forever. and he will remember you, so don't even try it.
not too long ago, melinda gave me a check for a burrito that normally came with cheese, only with no cheese. the customer said she was lactose intolerant. but that same customer got a side order of pancakes, and pancake batter is all milk. her need to make her burrito special was not about wanting to or not being able to drink milk. it was about her need for control. i didn't just tell her i wouldn't do it. i gave minda back the check and told her to get rid of the whole table.
some people tell me they're deathly allergic to something and that i have to make sure it's not in their food. i kick them out, too. i don't want to be responsible for anyone's life-or-death situation. i tell them they should go eat at a hospital. often after i do that, they'll back down and tell me, well, they're not THAT allergic. and then i REALLY want them to leave because now i know they're assholes
so, yeah, he is an asshole, and a little bit of a control freak himself, but honestly - with a menu that has 76 different flavors of pancakes, 45 different milkshake flavors, and over 100 different soups, and i don't feel like counting sandwiches, burgers, breakfast plates, enchiladas, etc etc etc - i mean - surely everyone can find something on the menu to suit them.this is a huge menu. no need for substitutions.
all of this has terrified me so much, i have never actually eaten at the restaurant. a large part of this is the hours. he is not open on sundays or mondays, which are my two days off, and there is no way i could eat there and then go to work afterward - the food is just too too rich, and most days they are only open like 4 hours. and they keep changing locations. so i know this will be my one huge regret in life.
i want to go here like most people want to go to paris. i have been to paris. and it's fine. but honestly, the food here looks better. macaroni and cheese pancakes? a "jewboy" sandwich? cheeseburger salad?? mojo cactus and parmesan cheese soup? kenny shopsin cooks like a fucking stoner, and i want to live in his menu.lavender soda!! artichoke and okra parmagiana!! goat cheese pesto rice!! i need it all!!! pop tart pancakes!!
i love everything about him. i love how disdainful he is of foodies and foodie websites. i love how if he hears about an unfamiliar dish, he will try to recreate it with no research, no fussing over authenticity: think of my mexican food as culinary fiction. if any of the dishes here resemble an authentic mexican dish, it is a total coincidence.
i love this man. i love him.
menu: (get ready to be amazed)
http://www.shopsins.com/wp-content/up...
(although it looks as though it is much smaller than last time i looked at it - and much smaller than the one in the book)
however - in going to get the link, i just discovered something amazing. they are now open on sundays. this is going to be an AIFAF. maybe several. maybe i will go nowhere else for the rest of my life. this has changed my life, and i am saying this with no sense of humor or hyperbole. this is literally the best thing that has ever happened to me. and on my birthday, too. this makes up for everything that has ever gone wrong in my life.
i love all of it - the stories of his family, the tales of his customers, and who he has kicked out, and why, his musings on food and its place in people's lives. even just reading the recipes makes me smile. he is so passionate and hilarious and irreverent and abrasive. such a nice change of pace from chefs who take themselves too seriously.
i do not have enough good things to say about this book. the recipes are great, and frequently call for ingredients to be added "in large handfuls", but this book is more wonderful to just read about him, and his early years as a restaurant owner with his whole (actual) family running things, and watching his children grow up in the business.
on making stuffing:
after you have found the sausage (twss), the next big hurdle comes when you cook it. as you brown the sausage, you are going to discover that is is probably 70 percent fat. it is LOADED. the far just pours out of it when it cooks, but you have to leave the fat in the pan. you can't drain it no matter how tempted you are to do so. and here is the clincher: just as you start to feel a really strong impulse to drain some of the fat, not only do you have to leave the fat there, but you have to add a stick of butter to the pan. you HAVE to do it. the fat is what makes the stuffing taste good. when people order something with stuffing, no matter that the stuffing is supposed to be an accoutrement, what they really want to do is eat stuffing. so whenever i give stuffing, i give a lot of it. it's like bacon: no matter how much i put on a plate, the one thing i can count on is that it will all get eaten.
this man is my cooking soulmmate. please read this book. it is bound to make you happy.
and the pictures...
and if you aren't sold yet - here is an article calvin trillin wrote:
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2002...
May 19, 2015
There are funny cookbooks with crappy joke recipes, and serious cookbooks that read like instruction manuals for farm equipment, and then there is this book, which manages to be full of very serious recipes but which is written with a unique and hilarious voice.
It's full of recipes that you simply will NEVER find anywhere else. Kenny Shopsin is an experimental maniac who relies not on throwing fancy-ass ingredients into things but simply putting things together in ways you'd never think. My favorite example: pancakes with centers of pumpkin and peanut butter, which taste not unlike a pumpkin pie covered in Reece's peanut butter cups. Amazing. He's not above experimenting with the hard-to-find, but usually it's stuff you can dig up without ordering it from an online specialty shop (e.g. pomegranate molasses).
The recipes are as he makes them in his oddball professional kitchen for his NYC haunt (which is fantastic, by the way), so some can't really be done right in the home kitchen. He gives a lot of tricks to make things work, and he's honest about what you can and can't do the same as him, but it can be frustrating in a "why bother?" kind of way.
It's full of recipes that you simply will NEVER find anywhere else. Kenny Shopsin is an experimental maniac who relies not on throwing fancy-ass ingredients into things but simply putting things together in ways you'd never think. My favorite example: pancakes with centers of pumpkin and peanut butter, which taste not unlike a pumpkin pie covered in Reece's peanut butter cups. Amazing. He's not above experimenting with the hard-to-find, but usually it's stuff you can dig up without ordering it from an online specialty shop (e.g. pomegranate molasses).
The recipes are as he makes them in his oddball professional kitchen for his NYC haunt (which is fantastic, by the way), so some can't really be done right in the home kitchen. He gives a lot of tricks to make things work, and he's honest about what you can and can't do the same as him, but it can be frustrating in a "why bother?" kind of way.
November 28, 2015
Read Karen's comments for a thorough description of this cookbook. It starts with this character buying a small grocery store in Greenwich village where he starts making one or two dishes to becoming a diner will over 700 items most of his own invention. The recipes order follow this progression. It's strangely fascinating......
I also saw the documentary "I like killing flies" about Shopsin's.
I also saw the documentary "I like killing flies" about Shopsin's.
Read
October 29, 2022Calvin Trillin's article in the New Yorker (also published in Feeding a Yen and as the foreword to Eat Me) introduced me to Shopsin's. I had the great good luck to read this article while I was eating dinner at a restaurant in New York (one of only two visits in the last ten years), and I went straight to Shopsin's for breakfast the next morning, keeping a low profile so I wouldn't out myself as a scorned "review trotter." (This was my lottery win, I've come to think, because when I ate there it was early 2002. The original location closed and Kenny's wife Eve died later that year.)
I was just expecting this book to be wacky/quirky, but it's really delightful and has a lot of interesting thoughts about food. Kenny and co-writer produced a well-written, funny, and unique cookbook. His distinctive voice comes through in the essays and lengthy headnotes, just as it does in his menu and his food. I laughed aloud several times, and we have already tried a couple of the recipes. Kenny's fondness for avocados is endearing to me. Matthew, December, and I are all enjoying this book. (December is enamored of the Shopsin's menu that is reproduced in the middle of the book, as well as the pancake photos.)
Kenny Shopsin only cares about whether something tastes good. He's not interested in healthy, seasonal, local, homemade--those things are OK, but it has to TASTE GOOD.
"I do not believe in making things from scratch just to say I did." He uses a lot of commercial products, some of which might surprise you, but he also makes more things fresh than just about any other restaurant. His writing is by turns strikingly erudite and startlingly (and hilariously) dirty. Despite his reputation as a grouch, in this book he comes across as a real sweetheart (his five children, who feature prominently in this book, appear to adore him). Eat Me is a charmer.
I was just expecting this book to be wacky/quirky, but it's really delightful and has a lot of interesting thoughts about food. Kenny and co-writer produced a well-written, funny, and unique cookbook. His distinctive voice comes through in the essays and lengthy headnotes, just as it does in his menu and his food. I laughed aloud several times, and we have already tried a couple of the recipes. Kenny's fondness for avocados is endearing to me. Matthew, December, and I are all enjoying this book. (December is enamored of the Shopsin's menu that is reproduced in the middle of the book, as well as the pancake photos.)
Kenny Shopsin only cares about whether something tastes good. He's not interested in healthy, seasonal, local, homemade--those things are OK, but it has to TASTE GOOD.
"I do not believe in making things from scratch just to say I did." He uses a lot of commercial products, some of which might surprise you, but he also makes more things fresh than just about any other restaurant. His writing is by turns strikingly erudite and startlingly (and hilariously) dirty. Despite his reputation as a grouch, in this book he comes across as a real sweetheart (his five children, who feature prominently in this book, appear to adore him). Eat Me is a charmer.
February 5, 2009
What a great book! No breathless reverence for consomme, aspic or super-expensive totally organic produce grown in soil that has only been touched by virgins baloney.
Great ideas about cooking and using your own ideas about food to create the food you want to eat. He addresses the difficulty of cooking like a restaurant when you don't have industrial appliances.
I would love to go to his restaurant. His rules for the most part make a lot of sense. I'd like to think that my husband and I would connect with this man, but more likely we'd be thrown out.
Great ideas about cooking and using your own ideas about food to create the food you want to eat. He addresses the difficulty of cooking like a restaurant when you don't have industrial appliances.
I would love to go to his restaurant. His rules for the most part make a lot of sense. I'd like to think that my husband and I would connect with this man, but more likely we'd be thrown out.
September 6, 2009
If the Gaia book was me gardening, this book is me cooking, minus all the expletives. Ok, with all the expletives. I had heard rumours of Shopsin's existence for awhile now, but without any clear idea of what we were talking about.
The place ran for awhile like the restaurant I always wanted to open, where you could order anything you want. But he says, that put too much onus on the customer. His menu ran at one time to 900 items, and it seems that if you can't pick quickly then he is quite willing to throw you out.
This cookbook is a rare melding of memoir and functional recipes. He 'deconstructs' categories of foods like soups and pancakes, and reassembles them according to his and his customer's wishes.
If I ever go, I have settled upon the mac n cheese pancakes, just so I don't get tossed on my rear.
The place ran for awhile like the restaurant I always wanted to open, where you could order anything you want. But he says, that put too much onus on the customer. His menu ran at one time to 900 items, and it seems that if you can't pick quickly then he is quite willing to throw you out.
This cookbook is a rare melding of memoir and functional recipes. He 'deconstructs' categories of foods like soups and pancakes, and reassembles them according to his and his customer's wishes.
If I ever go, I have settled upon the mac n cheese pancakes, just so I don't get tossed on my rear.
March 17, 2014
Saw the documentary ["I like Killing Flies"]about Kenny Shopsin on Netflix, later discovered he had co-authored this autobiography/cookbook, and ordered it. It's more of the same, which means outrageous, very entertaining, insightful, plus it taught me a better way to cut up peppers.
Sometimes before I go to sleep, I imagine pushing open the door to Kenny Shopsin's restaurant in New York City and then, alternatively,
1) Kenny looks up from slicing onions and snarls, and I get thrown out as totally inappropriate, exposed as a faker; or
2) Kenny smiles and points with a ladle at a table, I'm one of the family and I feel warm inside.
First I imagine one scenario, then the other. It's very ying, yang, like counting sheep, very restful.
I'm not kidding. Kenny Shopsin isn't either. Good book.
Sometimes before I go to sleep, I imagine pushing open the door to Kenny Shopsin's restaurant in New York City and then, alternatively,
1) Kenny looks up from slicing onions and snarls, and I get thrown out as totally inappropriate, exposed as a faker; or
2) Kenny smiles and points with a ladle at a table, I'm one of the family and I feel warm inside.
First I imagine one scenario, then the other. It's very ying, yang, like counting sheep, very restful.
I'm not kidding. Kenny Shopsin isn't either. Good book.
March 9, 2011
This book is not for everyone. First, it's a lot of things rolled into one: a little bit of a memoir, a little bit of philosophy, a lot about psychology (under the surface), a lot about food, and a bunch of recipes. Second, the author is blunt, profane, and even crude sometimes, but very honest. I find who Kenny Shopsin is, what he does, and why he does it absolutely fascinating (and yes, I've seen the documentary on him and his restaurant, I Like Killing Flies, and I recommend that too). Oh, and I'm delighted that he has no trouble with sharing his signature recipes. I look forward to trying some, and I'd love to go to his food booth in NYC if I ever get the chance--I just hope he doesn't throw me out.
May 24, 2019
This book was amazing. It is inspirational to read about someone who does something for the love of doing it and who tolerates absolutely no nonsense while he's doing it. The "rules" may be perceived as arbitrary and quirky, but really they aligned perfectly with his worldview: his restaurant was meant to connect people as much as it was about serving food.
I also learned cooking things from this book. I now make pancakes that are to die for. I am no longer afraid of making soup. I don't feel guilty for keeping things simple in the kitchen.
Recommended for people who like memoirs, people who like cookbooks, people who like quirky characters.
I also learned cooking things from this book. I now make pancakes that are to die for. I am no longer afraid of making soup. I don't feel guilty for keeping things simple in the kitchen.
Recommended for people who like memoirs, people who like cookbooks, people who like quirky characters.
August 12, 2010
Fantastic book. Shopsin's restaurant is a hidden NY gem and Kenny himself is the reason for it. I think I learned as much about following one's passion, running a business, and loving your family as I did about cooking. While his personality may seem abrasive to some, I totally respect his uncompromising vision of what he wants out of life and (by extension) business. His recipes are simple but contain some great tips for making the perfect eggs, pancakes, and soup. His innovations have inspired me.
September 23, 2018
Fuck, this was good. Got the book a few weeks before he died, started it a few days after I heard the news. I am grateful I got to eat there over the years. Not only do I feel like I have a better grip on how to make eggs, but the book gives you an inside peek in someone's mind that probably doesn't think like you do. There were even a few casually sexist and racist things but I couldn't get mad about it. He was a character that meant well and made delicious food while he was at it.
Want to read
September 25, 2008I have tried to go to Shopsin's at least five times, and each time it's mysteriously closed (though people are inside eating), there's no tables, the whole freaking restaurant has moved across town, etc. Shopsin's has such a crazy mythology built up around it, you can't help but want to see it for yourself. But maybe I can just get this book instead and save myself the trek.
October 1, 2009
This is awesome you should read it.
February 18, 2019
This is about cooking and eating with a New Yorker attitude. If you don't appreciate that attitude, you can leave the restaurant on your own or will be kicked out. Your choice. If you stay, you probably have to have a particular sense of humor and an attitude of your own....
What I like about the book is how he explains his attitude and shows how that attitude expresses itself in his cooking and his entire lifestyle.... Not all New Yorkers have the same attitude, but Shopsin certainly represents a certain type of New Yorker that natives will recognize....
What I like about the book is how he explains his attitude and shows how that attitude expresses itself in his cooking and his entire lifestyle.... Not all New Yorkers have the same attitude, but Shopsin certainly represents a certain type of New Yorker that natives will recognize....
Read
February 17, 2023Bang average cookbook that's worth reading for the occasional completely insane anecdote sprinkled throughout. Some corking unpretencious recipes tho.
June 22, 2023
I ate, uh, read it in one gulp, er, sitting. An "Alice B. Toklas Cook Book" from a grumpy/avuncular New York City food legend. Much in here for me to try out, now that I now have some sense of how to navigate the kitchen without cutting my thumbs off.
February 9, 2017
Earlier this week I read Kenny Shopsin's cooking/philosophy book. Shopsin's is a very unique dining establishment in NYC which I make certain to eat at every time I visit NY. He has a very quirky personality, and it's sometimes said that the Seinfeld Soup Nazi episode is modeled after him.
This book had a massive impact on my home cooking philosophy. In addition to pointing out how he embraces the characteristics of poorly cooked eggs for certain dishes in his egg chapter, his soup chapter was particularly life changing. I've always followed the "big batch" soup method, where I make my soups in very large batches and tune as needed. This has the effect of making all of the flavors mingle together. Kenny's philosophy is that this is not always ideal, and haven eaten many of his soups, I never realized the contrast but now agree. He keeps an assortment of broths on hand for his soups, but makes each bowl to order. Each time an order for a bowl comes in, he will prepare the additions as needed, usually by sauteing. This gives more distinct separation of the flavors.
To put this into practice this week, I used a mushroom/asparagus/onion dish that I created to serve as a side with some steak this week. This gave me three different soups in practice:
Soup A: Chunky Mushroom and Asparagus Soup (I just heat the broth and filling, and combine, season to taste. The veggies stay Al dente without turning into mush.)
Soup B: Creamy Mushroom and Asparagus Soup (Same as Soup A, I just stir in some Creme Fresh)
Soup C: Mushroom and Asparagus Bisque (Same as Soup B, just Vitamixed)
I like adding crushed cashews to all three soups at serving.
I don't think I'll go back to huge batches of soups that I get bored with. While I always have a fresh batch of broth from the previous couple of weeks scraps, I can now change which soups I make out of the broth each day.
This book had a massive impact on my home cooking philosophy. In addition to pointing out how he embraces the characteristics of poorly cooked eggs for certain dishes in his egg chapter, his soup chapter was particularly life changing. I've always followed the "big batch" soup method, where I make my soups in very large batches and tune as needed. This has the effect of making all of the flavors mingle together. Kenny's philosophy is that this is not always ideal, and haven eaten many of his soups, I never realized the contrast but now agree. He keeps an assortment of broths on hand for his soups, but makes each bowl to order. Each time an order for a bowl comes in, he will prepare the additions as needed, usually by sauteing. This gives more distinct separation of the flavors.
To put this into practice this week, I used a mushroom/asparagus/onion dish that I created to serve as a side with some steak this week. This gave me three different soups in practice:
Soup A: Chunky Mushroom and Asparagus Soup (I just heat the broth and filling, and combine, season to taste. The veggies stay Al dente without turning into mush.)
Soup B: Creamy Mushroom and Asparagus Soup (Same as Soup A, I just stir in some Creme Fresh)
Soup C: Mushroom and Asparagus Bisque (Same as Soup B, just Vitamixed)
I like adding crushed cashews to all three soups at serving.
I don't think I'll go back to huge batches of soups that I get bored with. While I always have a fresh batch of broth from the previous couple of weeks scraps, I can now change which soups I make out of the broth each day.
July 31, 2012
A good friend took me to Shopsin's General Store for breakfast back in late 2007 when I was visiting NYC. I knew nothing about the restaurant, and so was surprised that this tiny place in a market stall was so packed with people. Eager diners hovered around the perimeter like wolves, waiting for a seat to be vacated. It was like a more anxious and perverse game musical chairs. After we got seats ourselves, ordered, and ate, we left supremely satisfied. Oddly, I don't even remember exactly what it was I ordered. I just remember the feeling of contentment afterwards.
And really, that's what Shopsin's book is all about. It's not about soaring, high-minded, beautifully plated, edible works of art. It's about good food, comfort, and community. Just don't think it's a "Hey y'all," church lady, down-home country cooking time of book. Far from it. Kenny does his food and community thing his own way. He's crude, abrasive, impatient, and curmudgeonly. Those qualities, mixed with probably the deepest core of love for cooking that I've ever read on the printed page, make the whole enterprise shine -- restaurant, book, recipes and all. I love this guy. Wish I knew him.
Eat Me is the only cookbook I've ever read cover to cover, including all the recipes. Sometimes the intro to the recipes has next to nothing to do with the actual food and more to do about someone or some incident connected to it. It's a cookbook about memories and conflict and constantly growing. And the recipes themselves are amazing and already have me thinking about how to be more creative in my own cooking without getting too stuck-up or complicated about it. Great stuff.
And really, that's what Shopsin's book is all about. It's not about soaring, high-minded, beautifully plated, edible works of art. It's about good food, comfort, and community. Just don't think it's a "Hey y'all," church lady, down-home country cooking time of book. Far from it. Kenny does his food and community thing his own way. He's crude, abrasive, impatient, and curmudgeonly. Those qualities, mixed with probably the deepest core of love for cooking that I've ever read on the printed page, make the whole enterprise shine -- restaurant, book, recipes and all. I love this guy. Wish I knew him.
Eat Me is the only cookbook I've ever read cover to cover, including all the recipes. Sometimes the intro to the recipes has next to nothing to do with the actual food and more to do about someone or some incident connected to it. It's a cookbook about memories and conflict and constantly growing. And the recipes themselves are amazing and already have me thinking about how to be more creative in my own cooking without getting too stuck-up or complicated about it. Great stuff.
July 11, 2015
My one regret in life is that I never got to eat at Kenny Shopsin's original place in the Village, but this book is the next best thing. To get a flavor of the book, the restaurant, and the man, I recommend the movie "I Like Killing Flies" ... it drove me to find this book.
First off, yes, it is a cookbook. I collect cookbooks, all shapes, all sizes. I have so many cookbooks ... if I reviewed them all on goodreads they'd have to start charging users because of the extra storage requirements.
The great thing about this cookbooks is that it can be read as an autobiography. You can't help but glance at the recipes as you go along but the man is ... well, he's interesting. He has that unique ability to have (or create) a clear view of what he wants to do and he does it. And he does it well.
The recipes are quite accessible. I do cook but rarely do I find myself wanting to try NUMEROUS recipes in a new cookbook. I might find one or two sometimes (and I do read my cookbooks, at least when I get them), but Kenny Shopsin's philosophies on cooking and life are compelling. I HAD to try so many of his recipes when I first got this book it was almost absurd.
If you enjoy cookbooks and collect them as I do, this is a MUST BUY.
If you enjoy stories of quirky NY kind of people, this is a MUST BUY.
If you want to find new ways of using every day ingredients, this is a MUST BUY.
Get it, you will not regret it.
First off, yes, it is a cookbook. I collect cookbooks, all shapes, all sizes. I have so many cookbooks ... if I reviewed them all on goodreads they'd have to start charging users because of the extra storage requirements.
The great thing about this cookbooks is that it can be read as an autobiography. You can't help but glance at the recipes as you go along but the man is ... well, he's interesting. He has that unique ability to have (or create) a clear view of what he wants to do and he does it. And he does it well.
The recipes are quite accessible. I do cook but rarely do I find myself wanting to try NUMEROUS recipes in a new cookbook. I might find one or two sometimes (and I do read my cookbooks, at least when I get them), but Kenny Shopsin's philosophies on cooking and life are compelling. I HAD to try so many of his recipes when I first got this book it was almost absurd.
If you enjoy cookbooks and collect them as I do, this is a MUST BUY.
If you enjoy stories of quirky NY kind of people, this is a MUST BUY.
If you want to find new ways of using every day ingredients, this is a MUST BUY.
Get it, you will not regret it.
March 30, 2009
An immensely entertaining and enlightening cookbook. The rhythm of personal philosophy and stories alternating with recipes makes for a very pleasant read. And Shopsin has some extremely intriguing ideas about the way certain types of dishes should be made.
My only disappointment is that I don't think I'll end up incorporating as much of his food into my daily routine as I had expected. The reason gets to the heart of why restaurant cooking and home cooking are very different beasts. Shopsin has a modular system that allows him to prepare hundreds of dishes with a tiny staff and few resources. He has probably a few dozen preparations that he makes ahead of time and freezes in small portions for incorporation into other recipes. This means that if you start from scratch with a recipe you like, you may be in for a lot more work than Shopsin performs each time he makes it.
To his credit, Shopsin lays out this entire strategy very clearly. And I prefer the book as it is to Shopsin having tried to adapt his recipes for the home cook. But it still means that despite the apparent simplicity of his food, it would be a challenging proposition to simply pick a few of his recipes and start making them every so often.
Don't let this discourage you from reading it--the book still offers incredible value in teaching about life and culinary creativity.
My only disappointment is that I don't think I'll end up incorporating as much of his food into my daily routine as I had expected. The reason gets to the heart of why restaurant cooking and home cooking are very different beasts. Shopsin has a modular system that allows him to prepare hundreds of dishes with a tiny staff and few resources. He has probably a few dozen preparations that he makes ahead of time and freezes in small portions for incorporation into other recipes. This means that if you start from scratch with a recipe you like, you may be in for a lot more work than Shopsin performs each time he makes it.
To his credit, Shopsin lays out this entire strategy very clearly. And I prefer the book as it is to Shopsin having tried to adapt his recipes for the home cook. But it still means that despite the apparent simplicity of his food, it would be a challenging proposition to simply pick a few of his recipes and start making them every so often.
Don't let this discourage you from reading it--the book still offers incredible value in teaching about life and culinary creativity.
June 10, 2013
First of all, you cannot call yourself a New Yorker if you have not been to Shopsins . So if you happen to be in that unfortunate category you should immediately cancel your plans for tomorrow and head down to LES in the morning.
The book itself is ostensibly a recipe book (something I would never normally acquire), so despite the fact that the recipes are fantastic and I actually may use a few, the best part is reading how Kenny Shopsins’ seemingly offensive philosophy is reflected in the techniques and practices of his kitchen and vice versa. The man's menu is 400 – 500 items, all of them made to order, all of them completely incomprehensible in their written form on the menu and yet all of them will blow you away when you try them. I still don't quite understand how he does what he does – but every single dish I tried in his place, no matter how simple or complicated made me sit back, turn to my girlfriend and start shaking my head uncontrollably while muttering gibberish and drooling like a little baby. Enough said, forget about the book – and just go. But don't forget the rules: no cell phones, no substitutions, and no parties over 4. Then come back, read the book and convince yourself that customer is always wrong, and that Kenny’s rules are there for a good reason.
The book itself is ostensibly a recipe book (something I would never normally acquire), so despite the fact that the recipes are fantastic and I actually may use a few, the best part is reading how Kenny Shopsins’ seemingly offensive philosophy is reflected in the techniques and practices of his kitchen and vice versa. The man's menu is 400 – 500 items, all of them made to order, all of them completely incomprehensible in their written form on the menu and yet all of them will blow you away when you try them. I still don't quite understand how he does what he does – but every single dish I tried in his place, no matter how simple or complicated made me sit back, turn to my girlfriend and start shaking my head uncontrollably while muttering gibberish and drooling like a little baby. Enough said, forget about the book – and just go. But don't forget the rules: no cell phones, no substitutions, and no parties over 4. Then come back, read the book and convince yourself that customer is always wrong, and that Kenny’s rules are there for a good reason.
October 17, 2016
It's nice to read a cookbook that regards shortcuts as a necessary part of cooking at volume. Instead of long tortured prose about the "integrity" and "meaning" of what he's making, Shopsin talks about why he made something from scratch and why he used a premade ingredient for another. There's a big section where he talks about why he uses bought-in pancake batter that's pretty interesting. It's cool to hear a professional admit that sometimes he just can't do it better with any degree of consistency.
I grabbed this book after catching "I Like Killing Flies" on Netflix. I didn't expect a ton - and to be honest I don't really think I liked Kenny much - but I liked the idea of a restaurant cookbook that didn't aspire to be coffee table art. After reading about how he found himself as a restaurant owner emblematic of a dying breed of New York places, I liked him a lot better. He's an asshole, but he's a better kind of asshole than 98 percent of the cook/authors who think they're heir to Anthony Bourdain.
There's good stuff to use in the kitchen (building soups), and interesting stuff you can probably ignore (don't use a drill to bore out your stove burners). I've forgotten much more lavishly produced and expensive books, but I come back to this one every year or so.
I grabbed this book after catching "I Like Killing Flies" on Netflix. I didn't expect a ton - and to be honest I don't really think I liked Kenny much - but I liked the idea of a restaurant cookbook that didn't aspire to be coffee table art. After reading about how he found himself as a restaurant owner emblematic of a dying breed of New York places, I liked him a lot better. He's an asshole, but he's a better kind of asshole than 98 percent of the cook/authors who think they're heir to Anthony Bourdain.
There's good stuff to use in the kitchen (building soups), and interesting stuff you can probably ignore (don't use a drill to bore out your stove burners). I've forgotten much more lavishly produced and expensive books, but I come back to this one every year or so.
November 1, 2018
Shopsin started out owning a corner grocery store in his NYC neighborhood that eventually became a restaurant. He had a menu with an amazing amount of options on it, sometimes up to 900. He and his wife Eve raised their kids in the family business, now some of them help run it. Kenny certainly has a philosophy and he lives by it. People can get kicked out of his place for doing things that piss him off. He likes cooking for people and talking to customers. He is there to make a living but never to figure out a way to maximize income. I love that his life makes so much sense. On of my favorite quotes, talking about the chicken-fried hamburger, "It is really terrific, although, to be honest, I do't think I have ever eaten one." This book also has a bunch of recipes which makes it a total treasure.
January 28, 2009
Just phenomenal. This is pretty much the only cookbook you can READ, and you should, because Kenny Shopsin is straight-up crazy (and nspiring and sometimes profound, too). He takes all the mystique out of preparing food—all the stuff that scares people like me and forces me to buy entire expensive sprigs of thyme that I then will not be able to find any use for until I find another difficult and time-consuming recipe to prepare. And Shopsin is saying, "All that is crap." Actually, he says it in more foul-mouthed ways than I can type here. And that's what's so wonderful about this cookbook: Shopsin doesn't really care how you prepare any of his food. He just wants you to be happy doing it.
June 29, 2013
For a cookbook, this explodes all boundaries. The narrative is fun, interesting and touching. The book design is like a Being John Malkovich-like tour through the brain of the restaurant. The recipes are excellent, and some of Kenny's little tips on prepping stuff have actually changed the way I cook in subtle, efficient ways, which is pretty uncanny for such a casual book.
Not to mention the fact that I finally ate there this year, after a couple years poring over and cooking from this book, and the food actually exceeded my expectations. It's probably a good thing I don't live nearby.
Not to mention the fact that I finally ate there this year, after a couple years poring over and cooking from this book, and the food actually exceeded my expectations. It's probably a good thing I don't live nearby.
November 11, 2008
Cookbooks are generally hard to review, since most of them are, mostly, recipes, and all you can say is "this sounds good," or "that sounds repulsive." But in addition to recipes, this book gives Kenny Shopshin's "philosophy," which is laugh-aloud funny, stories from his small, eccentric New York restaurant, an introduction by Calvin Trillin, and a reproduction of Kenny's 12-page, small-print menu, with more than 900 different items that he swears he'll have on your table in under five minutes--that is, if you're lucky enough to get in and obey all the rules, like having fewer than five people in your party.
March 4, 2015
This is a very strange cookbook. At first glance it's a collection of classic New York diner recipes. Upon further inspection it is actually the memoirs of a borderline manic depressive Freudian existentialist who by chance happened to become a restauranteur some 30 years ago. His story is told through the recipes from his massive 10 page long menu. His food is often named for or dedicated to particular friends or regulars who have been coming to him for years.
The recipes are very informal. Shopsin admits that he doesn't actually use a set recipe for any of his dishes and often reinvents them at will. So the measurements for the ingredients may be a bit off.
The recipes are very informal. Shopsin admits that he doesn't actually use a set recipe for any of his dishes and often reinvents them at will. So the measurements for the ingredients may be a bit off.
January 21, 2016
Kenny Shopsin is a guy who has done it (feed people) his way. He is unapologetic and he has loved what he has done with his life.
He is not what the driven business mogul would consider successful. He doesn't care about success at any cost and has had the joy of being his own boss and is loved by many for simply being who he is. That is a measure of success I can get behind.
The book is part biography of himself, his family and his eatery with about 100 recipes thrown in. It made me laugh and smile and that is something I can also get behind.
This was a library loan.
He is not what the driven business mogul would consider successful. He doesn't care about success at any cost and has had the joy of being his own boss and is loved by many for simply being who he is. That is a measure of success I can get behind.
The book is part biography of himself, his family and his eatery with about 100 recipes thrown in. It made me laugh and smile and that is something I can also get behind.
This was a library loan.
January 29, 2009
A readable, enjoyable cookbook that's just smart alecky enough to be fun but not annoying. I loved the whole chapter on why Kenny kicks people out of his restaurant and his general philosophy of not trying to be a big enterprise. So far, I've tried just one recipe (the crepes) and they were a big success -- and insanely easy. (He makes his crepes with a 12" flour tortilla... !) Also -- I like this in a cookbook -- the volume is gorgeously designed, with brightly colored, staged photos reminiscent of '70s-era elementary school text books.
April 2, 2018
I finished reading this this morning whilst nursing a hangover, after reading the majority of the book yesterday whilst baking an olive oil cake for the party at which I acquired the hangover. The cake recipe is not in the book.
However, what is in the book is great. I greatly enjoyed thinking about how I cook, and what it means to me, reading about how Kenny cooks and what it means to him. I'm never going to approach making a soup the same way again, and I'm probably going to get fatter. These are good things.
However, what is in the book is great. I greatly enjoyed thinking about how I cook, and what it means to me, reading about how Kenny cooks and what it means to him. I'm never going to approach making a soup the same way again, and I'm probably going to get fatter. These are good things.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews