The Cook's Alphabet of Quotations

A collection of gastronomic quotations on subjects ranging from airline food to zakuski includes comments from Queen Victoria, Julia Child, James Beard, Oscar Wilde, M.F.K. Fisher, Charles Lamb, and Marcel Proust

"When the valves were pried apart, the rich clam liquor dribbled out. The flesh of the cherries was a delicate pink. . . . Fresh from the coal-black mud and uncontaminated by ketchup or sauce, they were the best clams I have ever eaten." A good portion of the entries in Robbins's concordance of gastronomy are sensuous reminiscences, like the above by Joseph Mitchell. More common are pithy epigrams rendering advice such as "Carve a ham as if you were shaving the face of a friend" (Henri Charpentier). The ingenuous "Isn't there any other part of the matzo you can eat?" is attributed to Marilyn Monroe. Already put through two editions as The Cook's Quotation Book , this expanded work ranges among 87 headings alphabetized under the initial letters of phrases (under D, with others, is "Digestion and Indigestion"). No attribution other than the author's name is given for most citations, perhaps on the assumption that food provides its own context. A range of opinions, almost amounting to polemic in some cases, contributes a dramatic touch for the food lovers who thumb this volume.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.