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The Science and Adventures Behind Food Delicacies
Penguin
June 2007
On Sale: May 28, 2007
192 pages ISBN: 1552638820 EAN: 9781552638828 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
Find out the hidden secrets behind the worlds most bizarre
food. Why would anyone pay $600 per pound to drink coffee
brewed from coffee beans extracted from the feces of a
cat-like creature? Or drool over a slice of cheese infested
with squirming maggots, or salad dressing oil pressed from
argan nuts excreted by goats? In his book, In Bad Taste?,
scientist Dr. Massimo Marcone investigates and reveals the
hidden secrets behind these bizarre foods. The objects of
his curiosity are simply variations people commonly enjoy:
coffee, cheese, oil, mushrooms, and caviar. Intuitively one
would expect that once Dr. Marcone had revealed their
secrets, no one would go near nor even eat them, let alone
pay a small fortune for the privilege, but many people do!
Part travelogue, part scientific investigation, Dr. Marcone
describes his journeys into remote regions around the world,
often risking life and limb at the hands of rebel warlords,
corrupt police, international smugglers, and hungry
crocodiles. His travels to Indonesia and Ethiopia in search
of Kopi Luwak scat coffee, to Morocco for argan oil, and to
Malaysia for edible birds nests, have led many to call him
the Indiana Jones of the food world. His investigations lead
to fundamental questions: Why do people eat this food, and
what makes it a delicacy? Is it a delicacy simply because it
is rare or odd? Why is it so expensive? Is it truly
quantifiably different or better than their more
conventional varieties? Although not every reader is ready,
or even willing to try the delicacies described in this
entertaining book, all will surely consume them if only as
food for thought. Bon Appetito!
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