Pot on the Fire by John Thorne

Some people read mysteries for their brain candy. I read books about food. Here we have yet another entry in the Anecdotes about Food category, and this one is uneven. His chapter on Vietnamese sandwiches had me wanting to leap out of bed and head to the little knot of Vietnamese businesses near 183 and Lamar in search of one; his chapter on cioppino had me skimming and watching the clock. The essay on potatoes, heavy on the Irish famine, had me enthralled and wondering if there is a good book-length treatment of the famine. Anyone know?