Exotic Appetites: Ruminations of a Food Adventurer

Rating:
Summary: From Wittgenstein to Wayne's World
Review: I recently read Robb Walsh's You're Not Really Going to Eat That, Are You?. Exotic Appetites is the brainiac version. Although this seems to be intended as an academic work, it is sprinkled with personal anecdotes and references from popular culture. This makes it readable for anyone interested in food.

Heldke considers food from every angle. What is exotic food? Is food that is exotic to one person or culture necessarily exotic to another? When does it stop being exotic? (Pizza used to be considered exotic in America.) How do we change food when we take it out of its 'native habitat'? Do we somehow endanger it?

With references to Calvin Trillin, Wayne's World, Sara Paretsky, Pierre Bourdieu, Tony Hillerman, and Jane & Michael Stern, among others, this is a wide-ranging look at food adventuring. Try it!