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Rating: 
Summary: Originally appeared in London in 1859
Review: Curiosities Of Food survey of delicacies of different nations originally appeared in London in 1859 and here charts some obscure and notable foods from around the world for new audiences. It's long been out of print, so modern cooks and food fans will delight in Peter Simmonds' blend of travelogue and observation.
Rating: 
Summary: Strangely Interesting
Review: First off this book was written in 1859. Once again 1859, not 1959 or anything remotely close to us. This book is about eating different types of animals. How to eat flying lemurs, horses, and so much more. If taken from a historical perspective this can be interesting. Honestly I found this book a bit difficult to read, as they were talking about eating many endangered animals.
The printface remains from its original publishing, so you will not mistake this for a book that was written recently. The book has no illustrations, but is in text only. It is a bit interesting from an acedemic point of view.
Rating:
Summary: Strangely Interesting
Review: First off this book was written in 1859. Once again 1859, not 1959 or anything remotely close to us. This book is about eating different types of animals. How to eat flying lemurs, horses, and so much more. If taken from a historical perspective this can be interesting. Honestly I found this book a bit difficult to read, as they were talking about eating many endangered animals.
The printface remains from its original publishing, so you will not mistake this for a book that was written recently. The book has no illustrations, but is in text only. It is a bit interesting from an acedemic point of view.
Rating:
Summary: Well-deserved resurrection.
Review: This small book does not pretend to be an original work, rather a compilation of accounts and stories from many sources. Written in 1859, it necessarily has that elaborate Victorian style, but is more readable than many others of the same period - which may not be to everyone's taste, but I for one found it utterly charming.There is a wealth of detail contained here, with some mind-boggling and stomach-turning anecdotes, but one should have a good dictionary ready to hand for those common Victorian words which are obscure (not to say obsolete) nowadays:- calapash & calapee (upper and lower turtle meat); lymph (pure, clear water); maw (stomach); quintal (hundredweight); train-oil (whale-oil); rypeu (ptarmigan); phlebotomized (bled). A subtle (but sometimes hilarious) undercurrent of humour pervades the whole book; e.g. re gelatine, "The Americans ... tried to pass off upon us isinglass made of fish bones, but it would not go down" and "the only difference between this and joiner's glue is its greater price". It is apparent that the author takes a vicarious pleasure in rooting out the more extreme and gut-wrenching descriptions of cuisine and customs from writings by various travellers in remote lands. Overall, this is a witty, engaging collection of unusual (probably useless, but great for quizzes!) trivia that well-deserves this long-overdue resurrection.
If only Mr. Simmonds had lived long enough to complete the companion book of vegetable food curiosities... Gets my 5 stars.
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