| Title | : | Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventurers Guide |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1523502193 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781523502196 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 438 |
| Publication | : | First published October 12, 2021 |
Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventurers Guide Reviews
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Review The Chinese do something right! The Antarctic has a lot of research stations on it, and one tiny village with all the children who live on the continent - 21 of them. All the research stations are responsible for their own food. Australia gives all its scientists a whole lb of Vegemite and has a bar. The Argentinians have their steaks. The Italians have one pizza night a week and so on. But eventually they all run out of interesting supplies and are reduced to eating what's left. Except for the Chinese. And that's when all the scientists go visiting.
The Chinese Great Wall Station has a reputation for incredible food, so much so that researchers from other stations will gear up and venture out across the ice just to eat there. Just a short walk (less than a mile!) or snowmobile ride from the Argentinian, Brazilian, Chilean, Polish, Russian, South Korean, Uruguayan, and other Chinese stations, the Great Wall outpost has something no other station can boast: a team of culinary professors and students who have been returning for years to cook for the researchers posted there—and a hydroponic greenhouse that provides the Chinese chefs with fresh vegetables long after the other stations have run out.
Clever, aren't they?
Some people like white eggs, some people like brown ones, lots of people like to buy free-range eggs. But free-range only legally in the US means the chickens have access to outdoors - a small concrete yard is fine. If however, someone introduced blue eggs to the market, we would definitely know the chickens had a proper, free range, natural living life. Domesticated, Chilean Araucana chickens lay beautiful pale aquamarine eggs.In order to lay these enchanted eggs, Araucanas require one thing: the outdoors. The chickens can’t survive in industrial chicken farms, and so the shell’s blue hue has unwittingly become an indicator of a happy chicken with a free-range life.
I think they'd be a big hit in the marketplace. But not for me. The eggs I buy are from the local prison, which has lots of grassy open space where they grow vegetables, herbs and tomatoes with marijuana hiding here there. They build coops for the chickens and collect their eggs but that's about it. The chickens unlike the inmates are free to fly away any time, and occasionally do.
The book is good, it's a dip-into book which is why it took me so long to finish it. Some entries inevitably are more interesting than others, but a lot of research has been done and there isn't much repetition from similar books of unusual foods.
4 stars.
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Reading notes Blood Tofu aka known to the medical profession as blood clots.
"When left out in a clean environment, fresh blood congeals into a jelly-like solid. All it takes is about ten minutes, then the soft block of blood can be cut into pieces and gently boiled to firm up the texture ever so slightly. The result is a silky, ephemeral cube that bursts and melts in the mouth, similar to soft tofu, but with the rich, acerbic flavor of blood. Likely a Chinese invention, blood tofu is eaten across Asian cultures. Duck blood tofu is a staple in hot pot; pig blood tofu tops Thailand’s pork blood soup. In the Philippines, chicken blood tofu is cut into rectangular slabs, skewered, and grilled to make a popular street food called Betamax, named after its resemblance to the old-school video cassettes."
I feel nauseous, describing blood clots as silky is sickening, saying they burst and melt in the mouth is very, very sickening and then describing the taste of blood as something you'd really want to eat is horrible beyond anything I've ever read. Even Norwegian rotten-fish or cheese crawling with maggots. Well perhaps not the last.
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Tiny little snippets of not very interesting foodie information. Perhaps because it is Great Britain and Ireland and I am familiar with these countries and their food that the book lacks interest? Maybe when it gets on to Western Europe (next section), I will be enthralled by all the food I didn't know of and want to try?
"Sugary foods and fresh fruits were a rarity in 16th-century England," the authors say. This is in an introduction to the pineapple "Only the richest and best-connectected had access to the exotic fruit." The richest were then eating such extravagances as glasses moulded from sugar, as well as cakes, pastries, jams, preserved fruit, sugared almonds, marzipan, gingerbread, pastries, cakes and jellies. Even those with out money had honey, apples, strawberries, apples, pears, plums, raspberries, red currants and blackberries.
No wonder Henry VIII got so fat. -
My wife got me this for my birthday or Christmas or something sometime after my son was born. I managed to read it over the past few days.
Like I posted in my status, this is Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods for readers with many fewer testicles than the television show. I'm way more apt to consume the regional delicacies in this book. Sure, there are still weird ass things like a bunch of awks fermented inside a seal skin but that's to be expected.
The book is packed with photos and is a fun read. I grew hungry every time I picked it up. Of course, now that I'm writing the review, I can't remember a single dish or drink. -
This is a strange book that takes you on a trip around the world, exposing you to the weirdest foods and all their odd history. Many are disgusting, some are illegal, and I'm not sure I'd want to eat most of them. It's often fascinating, but gets a bit long. This isn't a book you necessarily want to sit and read cover to cover. It's quite a trip, though, reading the strangest food information for anyplace in the world you want to visit. It's generously illustrated with color photos and drawings, and each food includes a "how to try it" blurb for those who want to sample that particular oddity.
I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review. -
Gastro Obscura explores the world through what it eats, and sometimes, what it shouldn't eat. The book is divided up by location, with lots of illustrations, captions, and sidebars, and most stories take no more than a page or two to tell, so it can be read piecemeal (sorry) or cover to cover. Regular readers of Atlas Obscura, Mental Floss, and other such sites will know some of these stories, but there is still plenty to learn and digest (sorry again). My one wish would be for more citations and/or an index to learn more about certain sections.
Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review. -
This book was a magnificently fascinating foray into the world of obscure eats, many of which take a lot of adjusting to in terms of wrapping your head around the mechanics of them! I think the best thing about a book like this is just how much you can learn- there were so many things in this book that I had no idea about, and this is coming from someone who had read on the topic of strange and wonderful foods before. The amount of research and knowledge that a book like this necessitates is mind-boggling, and I am so appreciative that the writers have made the choice to share this with us.
It is no juvenile book, and for people who don't usually approach factual books as novels to be read in one hit, it makes itself very available for perusal at your leisure. However, I simply could not put it down- I loved every minute of it and found myself just wanting to know more and more about the topics. The sections are also easily navigable and make it simple to find specifics if you're looking- and illustrations are provided for many of the foods, which makes it so much easier to understand precisely how they work. This book also has the incredible capacity to make you feel as though you are genuinely a part of what you're reading, sparking almost a nostalgia about the things you read about. It was simply incredible.
For those of us among us who have a burning curiosity, for the foodies, and for those with just a fascination about the world, this book is perfect. I've not yet read the first book, but after this will be hunting it down- if not just to learn more about this bizarre and wonderful world we live in! -
Gastro Obscura is just a delightful book for all that is interested in food or food history information, as there is something for everyone here.
I enjoyed the format by region and especially liked the sections for the US and was geeked by the Antarctica section which showcased Base Station Cuisine by country. Each page, country, or region provided me with information that intrigued and informed. I liked that the book goes beyond what is often the “signature” food/dish of a place, but gave me a behind scene lesson into lesser known food patterns/habit. I came away better informed of different cultures and traditions and felt more of a participant of the world.
I recommend this book for fans of Atlas Obscura, foodies, trivia fans and curious readers. And just think of all of the interesting conversations this book will generate if you leave it out on the coffee table for others to browse.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. -
Bouncing Meatballs!
Starter Museum!
Spaghetti Ice Cream!
Pretty good grouping though I am wondering why the restaurant in the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian was included - the NAMAAHC is included. The book is nice little short bits so you can dip in and out. I like the bit about the science stations in Antartica. -
This is a trip around the world with photos and descriptions of unique foods, categorized by location. It is an enjoyable and educational read. It is not a cookbook.
If you are interested in the foods and cultures of the world, you will enjoy this book. -
For the longest of time, before traveling to any new destination, I always made it a point to check out Atlas Obscura online. So, as someone who considers themselves a traveling epicurean, it is evident that I picked up this book. If you are a fan of Atlas Obscura, you will love this book. Packed with all sorts of information, it takes us on a journey around the world, highlighting some of the most fascinating culinary adventures possible. Very well structured, full of exciting insights and photos, the book is an informative read that makes for a brilliant guide before any vacation.
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This book serves up a combination of unusual foods, unique restaurants, food customs, and other loosely food-related trivia from around the world.
For example, the section on Mexico features:
*Huitlacoche (mushroom-flavored corn fungus)
*Toloache (a plant in the nightshade family with hallucinogenic propoeries that can be smoked or consumed as a drink)
*El Vilsito (an auto repair shop that turns into a taqueria at night)
*Pulquerias (bars that serve a fermented drink made from the same part of an agave plant as tequila and mezcal)
*Mezcal de Pechuga (mezcal made with raw chicken suspended over the still)
*Escamoles (ant pupae and larvae, fried in butter and served in a tortilla)
*Pasteleria Ideal (an elaborate cake showroom)
*Salsagheti (sweet & spicy gummy strands served with tamarind sauce)
*Mexican candy (a full page photo featuring different types of unique candy)
*Avocados (an explanation of how extinct giant sloths probably spread avocado trees throughout the region)
*Jumiles (cinnamon-flavored stinkbugs that are eaten live...wrapped in a tortilla)
*Molinollo (a 16th-century tool used to froth hot chocolate)
It's a pretty mixed bag, with a lot of foods that might be considered unappealing by outsiders. The focus here is on the unusual, rather than the best, with a lot of food history and food connections. For example, there's a two-page spread on "Yoshoku" (Japanese versions of western food) and another on Italian food in the former colony of Eritrea (East Africa). The section on the United States is the biggest (82 pages out of 411). Yes, there's a lot of diverse food culture in the States, but the book is definitely 'Merica-centric.
Overall, this would be a fun coffee table book for someone who enjoys travel and food. I checked it out from my local library and read it over the course of six weeks, which isn't really ideal. It would be better savored (like maggot cheese from Italy) when a certain country or region catches your interest. -
In diesem Buch findet man die weltweit skurrilsten Essen und Getränke. Von Kontinent zu Kontinent blättert man sich von einem außergewöhnlichen Gericht zum Nächsten.
Mir hat das Durchblättern und Lesen viel Spaß gemacht. Ich mag es, in mir fremde Kulturen und ihre Traditionen einzutauchen. Ich schätze 95 % der aufgeführten Gerichte würde ich nicht essen, aber in dem Buch geht es auch viel mehr um die Geschichte hinter der Mahlzeit. Zu ein paar Gerichten findet man dann aber sogar die Rezepte zum Nachkochen, aber das ist eher die Seltenheit.
Falls man ein Gericht ausprobieren möchte, hat die Autorin die Absätze mit kleinen hilfreichen Randnotizen versehen. Zum Beispiel, zu welcher Zeit man die Mahlzeit wo am besten probieren sollte.
Die Aufmachung des Buches ist einfach schon sehr hochwertig und es eignet sich perfekt zum Verschenken. Auch kulinarisch interessierte Menschen, die eher ungern lesen, werden mit dem Buch eine Freude haben. Die Texte sind kurz und werden mit anschaulichen, farbigen Bildern aufgelockert. -
Travel all around the world and sample the most intriguing foods of every continent. This book is made to be read-at-will, to browse through, to linger over. Made by the same folks who brought you Atlas Obscura.
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Gastro Obscura is a brilliant, endlessly fascinating romp through strange foods around the world (and the occasional world-class, actually-enticing food). You're probably never going to try any of these dishes or restaurants (spit-based alcohol - "chicha" - anyone?), but that shouldn't stop you from reading about them. The only downside to the book is the sheer mass of content: it overwhelms! But when the content is this neat, being overwhelmed is kind of a good thing.
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‘*‘ Meine Meinung ‘*‘
Es dürfte mittlerweile klar sein, dass ich gern reise und ich gestehe, ich esse auch gern. Also ist dieses bebilderte Buch wie für mich geschrieben.
Zuerst habe ich nach den beiden im Klappentext erwähnten Besonderheiten geschaut. Dabei fiel mir sofort auf, dass es nicht nur um die kulinarischen Genüsse, sondern auch um Geschichte und Informationen zum jeweiligen Land bzw. zur jeweiligen Stadt.
Anschließend war ich natürlich neugierig, was in den Ländern, die ich bereits bereist habe, an Spezialitäten vorgestellt wird. Also im Inhaltsverzeichnis nachgeschaut und sofort fiel mir auf, dass Jordanien gar nicht erwähnt wird. Okay, dachte ich mir, dann sind Maqluba und Kanafeh bestimmt in einem anderen Nachbarland erwähnt. Aber leider nicht, schade.
Nun gut, also weitergeblättert und mir Asien vorgeknöpft. Yeah, den Egg Coffee, Eierkaffee, konnte ich finden und ja, er ist total lecker. Dank der Erklärung im Buch, kann ich jetzt auch den Geschmack zuordnen. Ich habe die ganze Zeit überlegt und nun weiß ich es, es erinnert an Tiramisu.
Auch Pad Thai, ein super- geniales Gericht aus Thailand hat seinen Weg in dieses Buch gefunden und ich verrate euch, dass es in Krabi mal den besten Pad Thai Stand auf dem Night Market gab. Ob dem immer noch so ist, weiß ich nicht, aber ein Versuch ist es wert.
Als nächstes habe ich mir Panama vorgenommen, denn dies ist mein nächstes Reiseziel und ich bin jetzt noch neugieriger. Logischerweise habe ich mir dann alles in Mittelamerika angeschaut und mein Magen freut sich jetzt schon auf die Reise *lippenleck
Ich könnte euch jetzt noch von vielen bekannten und unbekannten Gerichten erzählen, aber einerseits sprengt das den Rahmen und andererseits sollt ihr euch das Buch selber zulegen.
Mir hat das Buch, auch wenn Jordanien nicht erwähnt wurde, sehr gut gefallen. Die Aufmachung ist ansprechend und entspricht dem jeweiligen Gebiet. Hintergründe zum Gericht oder zum Land runden das Gesamtbild ab. Mir gefällt das Buch sehr gut und ich habe noch lange nicht alles gelesen. Ich werde es noch häufiger in die Hand nehmen, durchblättern und lesen. Klare 5 kulinarische Sterne.
‘*‘ Klappentext ‘*‘
„Gastro Obscura“ nimmt uns mit auf eine kulinarische Entdeckungsreise und zeigt, was Menschen rund um den Globus essen und trinken. Dieser außergewöhnliche Reiseführer führt auf alle sieben Kontinente und serviert jede Menge unglaublicher Zutaten, kulinarischer Abenteuer und kurioser Gerichte. Cecily Wong und Dylan Thuras führen uns so in die Geheimnisse internationaler Küchentraditionen ein und feiern ihre Vielfalt: Bereit für ein Bier aus Nebel in Chile oder Sardiniens »Fäden Gottes«, eine der seltensten Pastasorten der Welt? Tauchen Sie ein in die faszinierende Welt der Kulinarik und entdecken Sie ihre verborgenen Wunder! -
Five Stars!
Gastro Obscura is a well-illustrated coffee table type read filled with fascinating facts and interesting foods from around the world. Anyone from foodies to history buffs will enjoy it whether reading it from cover to cover or just flipping through at leisure. The only problem I had with Gastro Obscura is that after reading it, I now have an almost endless list of fascinating places to visit, though I'm not sure about some of those delicacies.
I'm grateful to Netgalley and Workman Publishing for the opportunity to read and review Gastro Obscura. -
More 3.5. Not quite as good as
Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders, but still a decent book of food facts. A lovely book to flip open every now and then, and a good present for your foodie friends.
Made me salivate all through out. -
As someone who plans what and where she’s going to eat, as a priority when planning any trip, this seemed like just my cup of tea. It is a great gift for the adventurous foodie, with a penchant for the weird and wonderful, and an interest in bizarre historical tidbits. It’s the perfect book to have sitting on the coffee table, to browse and dip into, and read the quirkiest and most fascinating bits aloud to anyone in earshot! My only disappointment was that the photography and design felt a bit dated, but I guess it’s expected for a book gathered from endless sources. Thanks NETGALLEY.
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Gastro Obscura is an amazingly and entertainingly detailed book about food!! From historical background to recent discoveries, long-held myths to unusual facts, this book is a wonder! I imagine that many readers will do as I did, and turn first to the country/countries of their background. (Who knew that Norway has the highest annual per capita pizza consumption of any nation?) With straight-forward writing and vivid pictures, this book can be enjoyed by many.
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I expected to enjoy this book more than I did. It was a strange book, full of the eating habits around the world. Many were disgusting to my American mind.
At first, this information was an interesting view into cultures around the world. By about halfway, it was tedious. And by the end it felt that the authors were attempting to shock and appall the reader.
I would not have finished the book had I not posted on here that I was reading it. -
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This book was so fun! Part cookbook and part short stories, a reader could open this book onto any page and be both entertained and educated. For example, a section on Australia includes a collection of information about a melon festival, a coconut cult, the world's oldest emu farm, and wild rice conversation art. I've been keeping this book in the kitchen to read a little bit when I have a minute or two--you know, when you're waiting for the water to boil or during the last few minutes when dinner is coming together. This would also be a great idea to read with and/or discuss with your family at dinner. What better way to get everyone talking over sandwiches than to discuss that the first sandwich was NOT invented by the Earl of Sandwich, but by the Han Chinese 2,000 years earlier or The Cheese Sandwich Scandal of the Masters Tournament? Got a kid who likes "gross" or "weird" stuff? Talk about how Russians once preserved their milk with frogs, the Inuit tradition of fermenting birds in seal skin, or the Worm Courtship Festival of Indonesia. I definitely suggest adding this book to your kitchen or coffee table. This would be a great book to give as a gift this holiday season.
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A fun read put together by the always entertaining folks at Atlas Obscura. There are some truly strange food products and rituals in the world. I don't exclude the US from that either.
I'm rating it more on my enjoyment than on content. Like all books of this kind, it can get a little tedious if you try to read it cover-to-cover, but it's good for interspersing other, heavier reading material or in small bites. -
I have followed Atlas Obscura for a while. As a lover of travel and food, the gastronomic aspect of Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventurer’s Guide by Cecily Wong and Dylan Thuras. immediately appeals to me. Food is a universal language and a part of every life occasion happy and sad. Food brings people together. In a world so divided, it is wonderful to see every effort to identify that which unites us.
Read my complete review at
http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2020...
Reviewed for NetGalley. -
SO much crazy fun! Not until will it make you hungry, you'll also add to your Places-To-Go list, whether near or far from home. I read it cover to cover, but you could also just dip in here and there, or visit, however you like to read. What a treat.
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4.5 stars
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It's the next best thing to traveling-- no, it's probably better than traveling now in these times to read the comprehensive and far-ranging articles on the quirky and rich details of foods around the world. Beautiful work.
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An interesting read, but hardly features anything you wouldn't find for free on the Gastro Obscura website. That being said, it is, for the most part, a beautiful book that might serve as a reminder for many of us about the simple pleasures of physical media vs. its digital counterparts.
My main issue here is that I don't think the title of authors for Cecily Wong and Dylan Thuras is genuinely justified. I'm sure a whole lot of effort went into editing and compiling the book, so perhaps "edited/compiled by" would make the most sense. To me, the true authors are the people who wrote the original articles that make the bulk of the wonder within.
From paid writers to volunteer contributors, it's them that made most of the research and heavy lifting of actually finding these foods and stories and getting them out there. They are properly credited, yes, but only at the end of the book. I think that stating the book was "written by Gastro Obscura's contributors, compiled by Wong and Thuras" would be a much fairer credit.
I did mention the book was beautiful for the most part, which brings me to some of its publishing issues. In cases where the layout uses a picture as the background with text in front, more often than not the contrast is not enough and the text is very difficult to make out.
Typos and mistakes are copied verbatim from the website as well (a Scottish politician gets called "last English governor", there are claims that Mayans used bananas pre-Columbian Exchange, etc.) which makes me think that a second edition is probably on the way. Such was the case with the original Atlas Obscura book, which has the same approach to the way articles published collectively online are now credited to a few "authors". -
Well, thanks to Gastro Obscura, my Christmas shopping is done. This book is informative, entertaining, and at times really disgusting. It is a must-read for anyone who eats. It is one of those books that has such fascinating info, the reader must share tidbits with anyone nearby, which can be annoying. I advise people to buy two copies and read them in sync with a partner, This is one of those books that is better shared while reading. An absolute blast!
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*This book was received as an advanced reader's copy from NetGalley.
This might just be one of my favorite 'food' books I've read in awhile. I'm always looking for innovative or 'new to me' foods or cuisines, and this book touched on so many that my poor Amazon wish-list is now chock full of goodies I'd like to try. But moreso than being just a grocery list helper, this book is a great way to view different customs, foods, and other edible innovations around the world, and helps introduce the reader to things they might never have known existed otherwise.
Broken into world regions like Europe, Canada, Africa, etc. (and then further broken into sub-regions within that), each section highlights food festivals, events, items, specialized produce, and much more. To tag along with each item, there is usually a picture or two and also a note on where to obtain the item if possible. Along the way, certain food history or further depth into customs surrounding a particular item or foodstuff around the world are inter-weaved. Most are done in summaries, with few items being more than a page long.
The writing is engaging, fun, and interesting; I can truthfully say there was no skimming and I read every word because I was so intrigued by it. And where some reference books can be dry and boring, this one did not have that tone at all. It was a delight to read through a section at a time, and while I can't say this is a 'sit down and read all at once' type of book, I did return to it night after night to continue the food journey. Among some of my favorite parts were the 'rolling in the grits' (not an Adele song as you might expect), Spicebush (I have two planted in my yard!), Spit-roasted cake, and well, there's too many and my bucket list has really increased as a result.
Really a wonderful book and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who likes travel, food, or learning about other cultures. I definitely plan on buying a physical copy of this one as a permanent addition to the home library.
Review by M. Reynard 2020
