What We Eat When We Eat Alone

by Celia Sin-Tien Cheng
July 29, 2009

WHAT WE EAT WHEN WE EAT ALONE
By Deborah Madison and Patrick McFarlin
Gibbs Smith
$24.99

Honestly, I love eating alone. More so at restaurants than at home, but I still enjoy it either way. The problem with eating alone at home is that cooking for one is difficult, especially if you need a lot of variety like I do. But I still cook up a storm because I am not easy to satisfy, so I’m not going to short change myself. At restaurants, I head straight for the bar (if they have one), and I am perfectly content to enjoy my solitude or to strike up a conversation with the bartender or my fellow diners. It’s fun and liberating!

Deborah Madison and Patrick McFarlin have spent a lot of time asking people the question, “What do you eat when you eat alone?” And they have just come out with a book of the same title. The couple have documented a wide variety of answers, from those who eat in bed or over the counter to those who make an elaborate meal or learn to cook to impress.

The book is really a portrait of human behaviors, some predictable and others fascinating. What’s striking is the wide range of behaviors. And it’s also logical to see that men and women have different solo habits. For example, men may even grill steak at home alone, whereas women rarely have that instinct. Here’s an excerpt of further observations:

“In the process of revealing the culinary underbelly of friends and strangers, we discovered that men predictably use a pretty aggressive vocabulary when describing their kitchen actions. They slam tortillas into skillets, break up stuff, smash foods, and stick them in whatever, the last verb being a favorite. Women, we found, tend to dice, sprinkle, and stir until a certain thing happens. They’re generally more civilized.”

One of my favorite parts of the book is a description of Patrick’s experience of taking class with graphic design legend, Milton Glaser. One assignment asked that students document everything they eat and drink for one week, including portion size and length of time it took. The assignments were turned in, anonymously, shuffled around and passed out at random. Then the students were asked to study the record they received, draw a portrait of the person and write a one-page description of their subject’s typical day. You can tell a lot by what and how a person eats.

The book has wonderfully witty illustrations by Patrick McFarlin and includes 100 dining-alone recipes.

Patrick McFarlin

What do you eat when you eat alone? Do you carelessly satiate your hunger pangs with something quick? Or do you make big productions? Either way, we’d love to hear what you do!