Cookbook Review: Munchies by J.J. Goode & Helen Hollyman

Title: Munchies: Late-Night Meals from the World's Best Chefs
Authors: J.J. Goode & Helen Hollyman
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: October 24th 2017
Source: Ten Speed Press


Book Description:

This cookbook, based on the game-changing web series Chef's Night Out, features stories of the world's best chefs' debauched nights on the town, and recipes for the food they cook to soak up the booze afterwards.

MUNCHIES brings the hugely popular show Chef's Night Out (on VICE Media's food website, MUNCHIES) to the page with snapshots of food culture in cities around the world, plus tall tales and fuzzy recollections from 65 of the world's top chefs, including Anthony Bourdain, Dominique Crenn, David Chang, Danny Bowien, Wylie Dufresne, Inaki Aizpitarte, and Enrique Olvera, among others. Then there are the recipes: dishes these chefs cook when they're done feeding customers, and ready to feed their friends instead. With chapters like "Drinks" (i.e., how to get your night started), "Things with Tortillas," "Hardcore" (which includes pizzas, nachos, poutines, and more), and "Morning After" (classy and trashy dishes for the bleary-eyed next day), MUNCHIES features more than 65 recipes to satisfy any late-night craving and plenty of drinks to keep the party going.

Review:

★★★★

Hangover food and top chefs, what can be better?

This cookbook is divided by the type of meal including: Drinks, Sandwiches, Things with Tortillas, Hardcore, Noodles Rice and Grains, Meat and Seafood, Dessert, and The Morning After. I appreciate this type of organization, because I have told my girlfriend on more than one occasion that require "something with a tortilla". This book gets me.

I appreciate that there is a photo to go with every recipe. I find these helpful even on a normal day, but if I'm making middle of the night munchie food, I'm going to need those photos even more. Plus, they looked delicious.

The steps aren't numbered and can get pretty long. But that being said, they're in layman terms and are pretty easy to follow.

I think the book is a bit too long. There's a lot of stories, which are relatively interesting, but they dragged on a little too much and took up a bit too much of the story. When reading a cookbook, I want the bulk of it to be recipes with complementary stories, not the other way around.

The actual recipes were hit and miss for me. The ones that sounded good sounded AMAZING. But there were a bunch that just seemed kind of boring, especially when you're looking for something that's next-level delicious after a long night out.

Some of the recipes that sounded the best to me include Fried Shrimp and Bacon Grilled Cheese, Smoked Bologna and Raclette Sandwich, and Goat Poutine with Redeye Gravy.

Overall, this book is worth a look through and it's something I'd like to have on hand, even though I might not have the ingredients when I want them. It's a good gift for the foodie and/or stoner in your group.

I received a copy in exchange for my honest review.