Customer Reviews

Everything You Pretend to Know about Food and Are Afraid Someone WillAsk (Everything You Pretend to Know Series)

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Some questions are just better off left unanswered. For example, I was always curious to know what Head Cheese was. I now know the answer, and I almost wish I didn't ask. For those of you who don't know.. it's a boiled calf head minus the brain and eyes.
It does not pretend to be definitive, but it is very interesting.
In a series of questions and answers - Is French Toast Really French?, What is the Best Way to Store Wine?, What is a Key Lime? and the ever-popular What is Vindaloo? - Rommelmann takes you lightly through all of the major food categories: meat & game, poultry, fish & shellfish, pasta, potatoes & side dishes, vegetables & fruits, bread & pizza, desserts, coffee & tea, cocktails, wine, health food, sauces and spices, techniques & terminology, dining out, and miscellaneous.
The book's biggest flaw is that there is no index, so you can't look things up. If you want to impress your friends with a tidbit you picked up in the fruit chapter but can't quite remember all the details, you have to go through the chapter page by page to find it. I think there's enough good information presented here to want to refer back to the book periodically, but, without an index, it's not a reference book, it's a reading book. But that's not such a bad thing, either.

Fun to flip through, plus you'll actually learn a few things! All the "Everything You Pretend to Know About"... books are great.