This is the best cookbook I have ever read. It is subtitled "Adventures in Food for the Romantic, the Foolhardy, and the Brave" and says it all realy.

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Product Description

"Gastronaut" is an irreverent journey through the crazy, twisted, mixed-up world of food. It's full of extraordinary, extravagant and bizarre culinary experiences, arcane information and practical recipes for spectacular food. Each of us will spend 16 per cent of our waking lives cooking and eating. That time is far too precious to waste on chores, so why not turn cooking into an adventure? This book of strange and wonderful gastronomic quests will help you do just that. If you've ever wondered how to stage a Bacchanalian orgy in the comfort of your own home, how to make a bum sandwich, how to cook a whole pig underground, smoke salmon in a biscuit-tin, cook with gold, woodlice, reindeer, guinea pig, aftershave or breastmilk, or whether it's true that you can't teach a grandmother to suck eggs ...the answers are here. This isn't a work of fiction or hyperbole. "Gastronaut" is thoroughly researched, tested and illustrated throughout. It also includes a survey that lifts the lid, Kinsey-style, on the real eating habits of the nation. If cannibalism were legal, which famous person would most people like to eat? What foods make us fart? Do people genuinely like their pasta al dente? Can men lactate? "Gastronaut" is perfect for people who are fascinated by food, who love the wilder side of cooking, who yearn for adventure or who, frankly, just like showing off.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #122750 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

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Customer Reviews

Brilliant
I never thought I'd say this about a food book, but this is funny, twisted, dark, intelligent and clever. It's such a relief from all the formulaic, squeaky-clean cookbooks by celebrity chefs. It's about the dark side of food: flatulence, aphrodisiacs, cannibalism recipes, what Margarine is realy made of, Bachanalian orgies and the Last Supper. He even proves that you CAN teach grandmothers to suck eggs! Half the book seems to be recipes, but they are all little adventures in their own rite - he tries cooking with gold, aftershave (it doesn't work), and there's a bum sandwich that you have to sit on for an hour. There's one for cooking a whole pig underground whcih one day I swear I'm going to try.

What's brilliant is how funny it is. The chapter titles themselves made me laugh out loud, and I was really surprised to read a food book written in a way that makes me laugh and flatters my intelligence.

On the cover it says: 'Brilliant. Deranged, but brilliant.' This wouldn't be so eyecatching if it didn;t come from Heston Blumenthal, who I thought was quite deranged already. I loved this book. Enlightening and funny. I really recommend it.

Extreeeeeme cooking
I swear, I am lovin' this book. The only two cookbooks anyone really needs are the Good Housekeeping Cookery book, for all the basic stuff, and this one, for all the crazy-ass nonsense that we should all try. Gilded sausages? Whole animals baked in pits? Birds stuffed with birds stuffed with other birds? Yessssss.
Plus, it's a good read in its own right- with David Sedaris-style anecdotes about the author's life and cooking experiences. Funny. Recommended.

GREAT !!!
This book is excellent - not just an unusual cookbook, but also an entertaining and informative read.
It's a real must have for anyone who as an interest in food, science, history, travel, anatomy and horror movies.
You will want to experiment things you didn't think were possible in a kitchen - and maybe eat them.
Don't miss it!