This is a book I received as part of the Penguin Books Great Food Series.  It is a collection of essays on a varied selection of topics ranging from the history of roasting suckling pig to Alcoholism and Gluttony.  I personally enjoyed the lighter topics included in the collection.

One essay was written about The New Year’s Coming of Age told as though each of the special days/holidays was a character, ” …The last of Lent was spunging upon Shrovetide’s pancakes…”  The humor was well done and the references to the nature of the days was still applicable today.  Another of the essays I thought was well done was titled, The Peach.  It was brief tale about resisting temptation and how torturous it can be, particularly in the time this essay was written, circa 1800.  The divide between the haves and have-nots was insurmountable and to be placed in the situation of the narrator, having access to seemingly unlimited wealth, but none of his own was making his life  a misery.

This was not my favorite in the series, but it was still an interesting addition to the Great Food Books.