A magnificent, endlessly fascinating book about food.

Alan Davidson made this book his life's work, and it is like nothing else in the world.

Over 20 years in the writing, it has 2,650 entries on just about every conceivable foodstuff, seasoning, cuisine, cooking method, historical survey, significant personage, and explication of myth.

Scattered among the encyclopedia-style entries are over 40 longer articles on various staple foods such as rice.

Approximately 80% of the entries are by Davidson himself.

The abundant cross-referencing makes spending time with the book somewhat like being online: you find yourself moving off to topic after related topic, and after a while you've forgotten what it was you started to read about.

Random entries: Aardvark, Botulism, Cup Cake, David (Elizabeth), Enzymes, Fat-Tailed Sheep, Gender/Sex and Food, Hallucinogenic Mushrooms, Ice Cream Sundae, Jewish Dietary Laws, Kangaroos, Lobscouse, Microwave Cooking, Norway, Offal, Puffin, Queen of Puddings, Roti, Sonofabitch Stew, Termite Heap Mushroom, Umeboshi, Vegeterianism, Washing Up, Yin-Yang, and Zabaglione.

Beautifully written, funny as hell, authoritative, this is cheap at $44.20 (list $65) on amazon.