Gastropolis

This irresistible sampling of NYC’s rich food heritage takes readers on a cultural and historical journey from Brooklyn to the Bronx and beyond.

 

Whether you're digging into a slice of cherry cheesecake, burning your tongue on a piece of Jamaican jerk chicken, or slurping the broth from a juicy soup dumpling, eating in New York City is a culinary adventure unlike any other in the world.

Gastropolis explores the historical, cultural, and personal relationship between New Yorkers and the food they eat. Beginning with the origins of local favorites, such as Mt. Olympus bagels and Puerto Rican lasagna, the book looks back to early farming practices and the pre-European fare of the Leni Lenape. Essays trace the function of place and memory in Asian cuisine, the rise of Jewish food icons, the evolution of food enterprises in Harlem, the relationship between restaurant dining and identity, and the role of peddlers and markets in guiding the ingredients of our meals.

Touching on everything from religion to nutrition; agriculture to economics; and politics to psychology, Gastropolis tells a multifaceted story of immigration, amalgamation, and the making of New York’s distinctively delicious flavor