Fierce Food: The Intrepid Diner's Guide to the Unusual, Exotic, and Downright Bizarre - Softcover

Weil, Christa

  • 3.73 out of 5 stars
    74 ratings by Goodreads
 
9780452287006: Fierce Food: The Intrepid Diner's Guide to the Unusual, Exotic, and Downright Bizarre
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0452287006 ISBN 13: 9780452287006
Publisher: Plume, 2006

Synopsis

Offers an alphabetically arranged survey of some of the world's most unusual edibles, describing the origins, preparation methods, and culinary traditions of such "treats" as Mexican chapulines (grasshoppers), Kazakhstan boiled sheep's head, and Filipino embryonic duck eggs. Original.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

CHRISTA WEIL has sampled two-thirds of the items described in Fierce Foods, will pass on a handful, and has sights on the rest. She is an avid triathlete and climber. Fierce Food is her second book.

Reviews

Fierce food turns eating into a form of an extreme sport," Weil declares, "in which we face our misgivings and dare to plunge into the unknown." In her exhaustive guide to anything and everything edible for those who dare to eat it, London journalist Weil covers it all and then some, from armadillo ("flavorsome as pork") to yuba (bean curd skin). Her descriptions are thorough, including taste, texture, preparation and history of each item: she even includes icons to note important points about each item, for example an icon of a bomb means "eating may cause pain/death" while a sad face indicates "revolting." In addition to the obviously disgusting (various bugs, live monkey brain, etc.), Weil introduces items that may not pop up on even the seasoned traveler's agenda, like foo-foo (a lump of starch in soup) or hakari (putrefied shark meat). There are times when Weil attempts to take up space with descriptions of more pedestrian fare such as coconut, but makes up for these lapses into the mundane when she describes with excruciating detail the experience of biting into a sheep's eyeball. Even if one might not plan on eating a big plate of muttonbird, this book is entertaining enough for the most jaded foodie to enjoy. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Plume
Publication date
2006
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0452287006
ISBN 13 
9780452287006
Binding
Paperback
Edition number
1
Number of pages
240
Rating
  • 3.73 out of 5 stars
    74 ratings by Goodreads

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9781437951189: Fierce Food: The Intrepid Diner s Guide to the Unusual, Exotic, and Downright Bizarre

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  143795118X ISBN 13:  9781437951189
Publisher: Plume/Penguin, 2006
Softcover