Product Description

Martin Lampen was born in 1973. And in none of the four decades in which he's lived and dined in Britain has he eaten a single truly great meal. Why should this be so? Is it because we Brits regard any artificial drink with pineapple or mango flavouring as 'tropical'? Could it be something to do with our penchant for crinkle-cut crisps? And just why are British breadcrumbs yellow in a way that no natural substance is? Branded posh as a child for having a Club biscuit and a Mint Viscount in his packed lunch, Martin Lampen cannot promise to answer all of these complex cultural questions, but what he does give us is an indispensable and laugh-out-loud-funny A-Z guide to the not-so-wondrous world of British cuisine. All the joys and tragedies of British food are in here, from railway buffet cars and lamb shanks to coronation chicken and fruits of the forest. The book also contains tips on how to digest a scotch egg, how to converse at a dinner party, how to survive the annual family barbecue and what to order in a 'hummus bar'. This is a hilarious, nostalgic and irreverant look at British cuisine past and present in all its flavourless, stodgy splendour.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #155658 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

About the Author
Martin Lampen was born in Plymouth, Devon in 1973. Now living in London, he works as a freelance design consultant on high-profile media projects. Martin is also the creator of the incredibly successful website www.bubblegum-machine.com, which eulogises catchy-yet-long-forgotten pop music, meaning he receives thousands of e-mails per year from Belgians enquiring about Mungo Jerry B-sides.

Customer Reviews

The funniest book ever written about food?
OK, this is hilarious. Martin Lampen has discovered what no other writer has: that food can be very funny, especially the way it's eaten in the UK, with our tendencies towards high-cholesterol tasteless rubbish, ludicrously over-marketed and over-packaged gimmicky food or gastoporn offerings from TV celebrities aka 'chefs'. All and much, much more gets a mention in this highly idiosyncratic and endlessly witty book which is as much about growing up and living in Britain over the past thirty years as it is about the food itself. A pop cultural gem, and a great book to read aloud from to your mates or family.

an antidote to 30 somethng banality
Even though he does come across as a bit of a dork, he's funny with it and if you're fed up with formulaic tat written about food et al, then this book will make a refreshing change for you. With a dry sense of self-effacement that never really veers towards cliche (unlike the vast majority) this book makes for a pleasurable, easy read. As i used to work in the trade i found his frustrations painfully funny and agreed with a lot of what he has to say. My only gripe is that he's beaten me to it and with such style. Overall a fantastic pop at the culture we put up with. 'Sat 27 May:My first dinner party' nails it. Quite frightening how much i connected with the sentiment. Fantastic!

I laughed out loud!!!
A great book - what a change from those boring stuffy books about food. This book is different, its funny and says everything we all think about british food and dining out but are afraid to say.
Any 30 something can relate to the stories about BBQ's and the shopping trips to Sainsburys.
Would make a great Christmas present much more entertaining than Christmas TV.