Fabulous reference book, and also fun to drip or read trough!
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Bought this as a gift then got my own. Love Schott's Miscellanies and have his Sporting, as well as Original. All fabulous, quirky but more than encompassing! I love that he does the layout and specifies the fonts, you feel he is a real creator as well as a collector of useful (usually) or amusing facts, like a miniature Pears encyclopedia on steroids?! Get one get them all! Then subscribe for the annual Almanac! So this has everything you've wanted to know about food & drink and can be read cover to cover or simply dipped into. Essential information, about bottle sizes, seasons to eat things you can't get (here in Australia anyway) as well as, no doubt obscure answers to crossword puzzles are all there! A treasure trove for all eaters and drinkers on all levels! (oh and yes it does explain the odd beer glass sizes we have here in Australia between the States (midi, schooners etc) just in case you are visiting any time soon!).
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Would be good if it was right
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The trouble with books like this one, is that sometimes they are badly researched. Unfortunately I have found at least two jarring errors in this book that make me unable to believe anything else, no matter how interesting it seems to be.
So heed this warning: by all means buy this book, but if you think something is interesting do a quick google to find out if it's right or not, as this book is not to be trusted.
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Brilliantly pointless, yet very interesting
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Following on from Scotts miscellany (a book full of a huge variety of irrelevant information) this is the slightly more topical and restricted version based on food and drink.
As the origonal its an eclectic mix of information from useful facts like a small diagram showing roughly how much spaghetti to boil for x amount of people, the flavours of Ben & Jerrys ice cream, quotes on smoking, Burns full address to the haggis and much more, both obscure and informative and more usefull and known.
The book is classily done in a hardback cover (I haven't seen any paperback version yet at least) with very nicely presented information that is enjoyable to read, its interesting just flicking through odd pages to see what tidbits you can learn about.
Maybe not particularly a useful book for the household cook, but to someone with an interest in food and drink or just any normal person looking for some interesting facts and a nice read on the loo it is a fantastic book to flick through
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A great idea for a book & he does it so well
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All the facts you never thought you wanted to know about food and drink. Not only do you now want to know them but you crave to know more. Ben Schott fills the books in this series with fantastic facts that lets face it you're never going to need to know, unless you just love pub quizes and if you do, get this book and next time there's a food and drink round, amaze others with your knowledge. From this book you can learn how to wash decanters, how to make cocktails and how to make a baked alaska. It really is a fantastic book that will amaze and keep you occupied until you've finished it.
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Simply amazing!!!
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This is such a good book that every foodie on this planet should buy!! i had it for last christmas and the only word to describe it would be random! recipes for monsters eggs( 24 eggs boiled in a pig bladder to get one huge one!) every time you open it you read another werid fact that you didn't read before. i've bought copies for our friends it's that good! really good!
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