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The True Story of Rebuilding Puerto Rico, One Meal at a Time

Also written by Richard Wolffe (co-author)

From the publisher:

The true story of how a group of chefs fed hundreds of thousands of hungry Americans after Hurricane Maria and touched the hearts of many more

Chef José Andrés arrived in Puerto Rico four days after Hurricane Maria ripped through the island. The economy was destroyed and for most people there was no clean water, no food, no power, no gas, and no way to communicate with the outside world.

Andrés addressed the humanitarian crisis the only way he knew how: by feeding people, one hot meal at a time. From serving sancocho with his friend José Enrique at Enrique’s ravaged restaurant in San Juan to eventually cooking 100,000 meals a day at more than a dozen kitchens across the island, Andrés and his team fed hundreds of thousands of people, including with massive paellas made to serve thousands of people alone. At the same time, they also confronted a crisis with deep roots, as well as the broken and wasteful system that helps keep some of the biggest charities and NGOs in business.

Based on Andrés’s insider’s take as well as on meetings, messages, and conversations he had while in Puerto Rico, We Fed an Island movingly describes how a network of community kitchens activated real change and tells an extraordinary story of hope in the face of disasters both natural and man-made, offering suggestions for how to address a crisis like this in the future.

Beyond that, a portion of the proceeds from the book will be donated to the Chef Relief Network of World Central Kitchen for efforts in Puerto Rico and beyond.

This was an upsetting and eye-opening read. It is also an important one; we need to learn from our mistakes. Not that the current president would ever admit to making one. I’m not going to get too political here, but only because Chef Andres does it way better than I possibly could. In case you’ve forgotten, this book is about the rescue efforts after the devastating hurricane nearly destroyed the island of Puerto Rico.

Chef Andres pulls no punches and he names names. In fact, there is an entire chapter about the incompetence of the Red Cross alone. But they are not the only ones to blame. It all starts, and ends, with FEMA and the current administration.

“We knew that downed communications and electricity would make life difficult, but Puerto Rico was still the United States,” Andrés writes in his introduction. “It couldn’t be as bad as Haiti. We thought we’d be back by the end of the week. We were wrong.”

This book is not an easy read. A lot of it is upsetting. There are bright spots, of course, and Chef Andres’s big, sunny personality shines light on every page, even when he’s crying. And he cries a lot, with good reason. It is also not an easy read because it is chock full of statistics and numbers, which are not my forte. But even I was able to understand this nightmare and why the numbers were so important.

“Even the measures of food were confusing and FEMA had no way of understanding what was going on. The Red Cross talked about pounds of food, while others were talking about pallets. We preferred to talk about meals, which was actually what FEMA’s contracts specified. All these counts went into a big Excel spreadsheet that FEMA maintained and emailed every day. At the bottom of the spreadsheet, the total count of food was supposed to be there for everyone to see. Instead, the count was a calculating error because there was no standard unit of food that everyone used. If FEMA couldn’t manage a spreadsheet, how could it manage an emergency?”

I chose this book to read with my Foodie Book Club at Lynn University. I selected it for a few reasons, one being that the university takes seriously its role in educating students on the importance of civility and giving back. In a really big way. The other is a more personal tie. Chef Andres started his World Central Kitchen foundation after the earthquake in Haiti. Lynn University also suffered a devastating loss to that earthquake.

Honoring their legacy: 10 years since the Haiti earthquake

Ten years ago, 12 Lynn University students and two faculty members visited Haiti as part of a humanitarian course called Journey of Hope. They served the poor and brought hope to countless people with visits to a children’s handicapped home and an all-girls orphanage.

Following their service on Jan. 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Port-au-Prince. It devastated the island and took the lives of four of the 12 Lynn students and both faculty members. The university remembers Stephanie Crispinelli, Britney Gengel, Christine Gianacaci, Courtney Hayes, Dr. Patrick Hartwick and Dr. Richard Bruno every year, at the moment the earthquake struck.

There is a beautiful memorial on campus, and the university remembers everyone they lost each year.

Since the World Central Kitchen finished their work in Puerto Rico, they have been very busy. Most recently they sent meals to the people on board the Princess cruise ship that was quarantined in Japan. It is easy to understand why Chef Andres gets the accolades he does; he is an extraordinary man, and this book is just a small part of his legacy. Don’t miss it.

3/2020 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

WE FED AN ISLAND by Jose Andres.  Anthony Bourdain/Ecco; Reprint edition (September 3, 2019). ISBN 978-0062864499. 288.

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Four Centuries of Food-Making in New York

When a book is a labor of love, it shows on every page, and it truly does in Food City. Joy Santlofer was chair of New York University’s Food Studies Program, and she passed away in 2013, leaving her book to be published posthumously. Her colleague Marion Nestle wrote the forward.

This book explores the history of New York City through food. I was expecting bagels, roasted chestnuts and Chinatown. Instead, I got a fascinating education about beer, bread and so much more. I learned that the early Dutch settlers in the 1600’s drank beer – all of them, including the children, because it was cleaner than the water. I learned that the hipster paradise of Brooklyn was all farmland, and later on that giant of the food industry, Nabisco, got its start there making hard crackers for the Union army. I learned that there was a New York Tea Party four months after the Boston Tea Party.

German frankfurters paved the way for Coney Island hot dogs. Many of our most beloved foods started out in New York – Oreos, Hellman’s Mayonnaise, Thomas’s English Muffins, Gulden Mustard, and Twizzlers.

Santlofer isn’t just dispensing facts here, she makes it really interesting and fun to read. I loved the stories about George Washington being sworn in as president (which for some reason I assumed had been done in Philadelphia,) John Jacob Astor’s first job as a delivery boy for a bakery, and I could easily visualize the herds of cattle being moved across 42nd Street to the slaughterhouses. I learned what life was really like for those first New Yorkers and how those lives changed over the years.

You don’t have to be a New Yorker to appreciate this book. Foodies will love it, as will history buffs. There really is something for everyone.

It seemed somehow fitting to write about this extraordinary book on Thanksgiving, a time when we are all thinking about food, and maybe thinking about those no longer sharing our table. I miss my mom and dad every day, but especially on Thanksgiving, it was her favorite holiday.

I didn’t know Joy, but I know her husband, the über talented Jonathan Santlofer – author, artist, and teacher at the Crime Fiction Academy at the Center for Fiction in New York City. It was Jonathan’s diligence and determination to honor his wife’s work, and their daughter Doria’s to honor her mother, that got her book published, and readers everywhere should be grateful. I know I am. 

11/16  Stacy Alesi AKA the BookBitch™

FOOD CITY by Joy Santlofer. W. W. Norton & Company (November 1, 2016). ISBN: 978-0393076394. 480p.

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Why You Don’t Know What You’re Eating and What You Can Do about It

I’ve had this book on my Kindle for a while now, and I would start reading, get upset, close that book and go on to something else. After several false starts, I steeled myself and got into it. It’s not that it’s a difficult read in the sense of being wordy or high brow or too scientific for this English major, but rather that I found the subject matter upsetting.

Several years ago my husband had a very mild heart attack followed by not so mild surgery. Since then I’ve been intent on feeding my family healthy foods, and let me tell you, those parameters seem like they change weekly sometimes. Drink coffee, don’t drink coffee, drink coffee. Same with wine. Eat lots of fruit, eat only berries, limit fruit. Vegan or Paleo? Vegetarian or pescatarian? Mediterranean, carb free, gluten free, dairy free, the list goes on and on and on.

What I finally decided on, what works best for me and my family, is basically living by Michael Pollan’s golden rule:

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

 We usually limit red meat – grass fed, organic – to a couple of times a month. Wild fish. Organic, free range poultry. Same with eggs. Mostly organic fruits and vegetables, I try to shop with the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 as my guide whenever possible. You get the idea.

So to read this book and learn that I may be spending money, lots of money, on foods that aren’t what they purport to be is upsetting. The Tampa Tribune did that year long investigation into restaurants and how they lie about grass fed and organics and so forth and that was bad enough, but this book takes it even further.

Extra virgin olive oil? Don’t hold your breath, you’ve probably never even tasted it. What is commonly sold in American supermarkets is something that may have started with olive oil, then had other oils like soybean or sunflower oil added to it, which is bad enough, but also has chemical additives. I’ve been buying olive oil from California, which is delicious and even more importantly, is what it professes to be. I used to have to buy it online, but now most supermarkets carry at least one or two varieties, from Walmart to Publix to Fresh Market. I’ve heard that there are some Florida farms that were devastated by the citrus greening that are now experimenting with growing olives for oil, but it will take a few years to see how it works out.

Fish? Unless you’ve caught it yourself, you just have no idea what you’re getting. Red snapper is one of the worst, it’s usually tilapia or tilefish. And shrimp? OMG – Olmsted writes:

In 2007, the FDA banned five kinds of imported shrimp from China; China turned around and routed the banned shrimp through Indonesia, stamped it as originating from there, and suddenly it was back in the US food ­supply.

And that’s not even the worst seafood culprit. Escolar is a fish so toxic that it is outlawed in Japan, but somehow it makes its way to US tables, often as white tuna in sushi restaurants. In fact, Olmsted says the odds of actually getting white tuna in an American sushi restaurant is about 0%.

I could go on and on, and Olmsted does – but he also offers some good news. Big box stores like Costco, BJs, Trader Joe’s and even Walmart are as stringent with their food labeling as the much more expensive Whole Foods. Bison is a cleaner and healthier alternative to beef. If you buy food live – like lobsters – that can’t be faked. Buy coffee beans and grind them yourself at home or the supermarket, at least you know you are getting 100% percent coffee in your bag. Check the label for country of origin when purchasing cheese, and the rinds – Reggiano Parmigiano and Pecorino Romano are stamped on the rind of those cheeses from Italy.

If you care about what you eat, or are a foodie of any kind, this is fascinating and elucidating reading.

For more information, check out Diane Rehm’s interview with Larry Olmsted:

5 Foods You Can Trust-And 5 To Avoid, From The Author Of ‘Real Food/Fake Food’ – The Diane Rehm Show

Larry Olmsted titled his book ” Real Food/Fake Food,” instead of “Fake Food/Real Food,” he told us during his July 6 interview on our show, because he’s passionate about high-quality, natural meals – and he wants others to have the same approach, too. “These real foods are so good,” he said.

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8/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

REAL FOOD FAKE FOOD by Larry Olmsted. Algonquin Books (July 12, 2016). ISBN: 978-1616204211. 336p.

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A Food Lover’s Life List

So let me get the food metaphors out of the way by saying this book is yummy – do not read on an empty stomach!

I remember when Mimi Sheraton was the restaurant critic for the New York Times, back in the 1970’s (yes, I am that old!) She is a James Beard award winning journalist and has written about food for more magazines that I can name. Oh, and she’s also written several cookbooks. So what I’m saying is Mimi Sheraton is uniquely qualified to write this book. And it was a joy reading it.

So what’s in this book? Lots. Laura Kiniry of Smithsonian Magazine said it succinctly; “1,000 must-try dishes, restaurants, markets, cultural feasts, and even some relatively universal foods (such as bananas, olive oil, and whipped cream) that transcend regional categorization.” Sit down with this book, a pen and paper (or tablet or computer) and start making your own food bucket list.

Sure, it won’t be easy to get to some of these things. I think all the Chinese dishes are meant to be eaten in the various provinces of China, German food in Germany, and so forth but with many dishes, there are recommended restaurants in major cities like New York as well.

The book is organized more or less geographically, so if you’re an expert on French and Italian, skip over to the chapters on Belgian & Dutch or Scandinavian food or even Jewish food, for example. Lots of recipes are included if you want to try making some magic yourself. And if the recipe isn’t provided, there are usually notes on particular recipes that work. For instance, Candied Citrus Peel, not the dreck you find stuffed in fruitcakes but handmade candied citrus is explained, but then the notes suggest recipes from Chocolates and Confections by Peter Greweling, The Joy of Cooking (2006), The Fannie Farmer Cookbook (13th edition,) and Mimi’s own My Mother’s Kitchen.

The foods range from the simple – Sour Cream, Cape Cod Potato Chips, Oreos! to the sublime – the “great cheeses of Spain”, caviar, truffles. The research is meticulous. I’ve been eating Gefilte Fish my whole life and never knew its history, or even how it’s made. Even though a recipe isn’t provided, the basic steps are, as well as where to buy it – Barney Greengrass in NY, Kenny & Ziggy’s New York Delicatessen in Houston, and where to “dine-in” or mail order it, and finally referrals to recipes in The New York Times Jewish Cookbook, Joan Nathan’s Jewish Holiday Cookbook, and so forth.

This book is to be savored and is a real treat. (Sorry, thought I got the food metaphors out of the way earlier, guess not!) Buy it for your favorite foodie and they will thank you.

4/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

1,000 FOODS TO EAT BEFORE YOU DIE by Mimi Sheraton. Pinnacle (March 31, 2015). ISBN: 978-0786034239. 352p.