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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
An excellent book for any curious gourmets/gourmands who want to learn about some dishes that might be lesser known to their culture, including some that are dangerous or disgusting (depending on POV). There are color photos of most things and tips on how to experience them. If you love food or world culture it makes a great coffee table book.
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
A cookbook this is not. But...a worldwide collection of amazing food stories and findings it is. Read the book, get the newsletter, listen to the podcast. It will enlarge your world.
challenging
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
A cornucopia of the world's amazing food choices. Some sounded mouth-wateringly delicious, while others made me gag and wonder how people could eat that kind of thing. It's a testament to human ingenuity and resourcefulness that any plant or animal can and will be eaten.
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
adventurous
informative
inspiring
This is probably one of the best travel books I have ever encountered. Local restaurants or authentic cuisine are some of the most treasured experiences I have had in the places I have traveled, and this book is a bountiful resource for one-of-a-kind gastronomic experiences. As its companion, Atlas Obscura, it points travelers to gems which might be missed otherwise had they not been covered in this book. Gastro Obscura will improve the culinary experiences of every traveler, and it will point readers into less obvious treasures.
adventurous
funny
informative
slow-paced
Gastro Obscura, like Atlas Obscura before it, is the adult version of the BrainQuest trivia decks held together by a plastic rivet I grew up on. Gastro Obscura covers interesting and little-known food facts from around the globe. The organization is wonderful - first broken down by geographic region, then country. Columns contain the corresponding photo and make reading each section smooth. There was info about everything from blood being added to Soviet-era snakcs for kids to a detective bar in Japan.
I got a digital ARC from NetGalley and a lot of formatting was there, but photos and captions were not. The pandemic lockdowns delayed the final touches and pushed back the publication, which worked out well for me as I got a copy regardless. I can't wait to see the finished product.
I got a digital ARC from NetGalley and a lot of formatting was there, but photos and captions were not. The pandemic lockdowns delayed the final touches and pushed back the publication, which worked out well for me as I got a copy regardless. I can't wait to see the finished product.
So, the good news is this is a really cool and interesting book that foodies and/or world travelers are going to love. The bad news is, it looks like it's not coming out until September 2021. Still, that'll be in time for Christmas more than a year from now, so yay?
This is an interesting book to thumb through even if traveling isn't really a thing right now (at least, not if you're from the U.S.- nobody wants us, and I can't say I blame them). The book is broken up into regions, even including Antarctica, and my, don't we humans eat some interesting things! Learning the history behind these foods made it even more interesting, and seriously, I wish I could visit so many of these places to try out the local fare. Some of the places are no longer in existence, which is sad, but makes this an informative read for food historians as well. I look forward to seeing this book in the flesh, so to speak, when it does come out- the e-book version I was given to review was well put together, with lots of photos and ephemera related to the various foods covered, and I'm sure it will be even more impressive in person.
#GastroObscura #NetGalley
This is an interesting book to thumb through even if traveling isn't really a thing right now (at least, not if you're from the U.S.- nobody wants us, and I can't say I blame them). The book is broken up into regions, even including Antarctica, and my, don't we humans eat some interesting things! Learning the history behind these foods made it even more interesting, and seriously, I wish I could visit so many of these places to try out the local fare. Some of the places are no longer in existence, which is sad, but makes this an informative read for food historians as well. I look forward to seeing this book in the flesh, so to speak, when it does come out- the e-book version I was given to review was well put together, with lots of photos and ephemera related to the various foods covered, and I'm sure it will be even more impressive in person.
#GastroObscura #NetGalley