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Book Summary and Reviews of A Curious History of Food and Drink by Ian Crofton

A Curious History of Food and Drink by Ian Crofton

A Curious History of Food and Drink

by Ian Crofton

  • Published:
  • Oct 2014, 256 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Ever wondered where noodles came from? How Worcester Sauce was invented? Or even who the "Cucumber King of Burma" was? Beginning with the hippo soup eaten in Africa in 6000 BC, through to the dangerous blowfish enjoyed in contemporary Japan, A Curious History of Food and Drink reveals the bizarre origins of the food and drink consumed throughout history.

From the pheasant brains and flamingo tongues scoffed by the Roman emperor Vitellius, to the unusual uses of licorice (once a treatment for sore feet), Ian Crofton makes use of original sources - including journals, cookbooks and manuals - to reveal the bizarre, entertaining and informative stories behind the delicacies enjoyed by our ancestors.

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This information about A Curious History of Food and Drink was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Ian Crofton

Ian Crofton was formerly editor-in-chief of The Guinness Encyclopaedia, and has written a wide range of other general reference books, including Science Without the Boring Bits, Brewer's Britain and Ireland and Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase and Fable (both with John Ayto), A Dictionary of Musical Quotations (with Donald Fraser) and A Dictionary of Art Quotations.

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