They Eat That?

Book excerpt: This thoroughly engaging encyclopedia considers the rich diversity of unfamiliar foods eaten around the world. The title They Eat That?: A Cultural Encyclopedia of Weird and Exotic Food from around the World says it all. This fun encyclopedia, organized A–Z, describes and offers cultural context for foodstuffs people eat today that might be described as "weird"—at least to the American palate. Entries also include American regional standards, such as scrapple and chitterlings, that other regions might find distasteful, as well as a few mainstream American foods, like honey, that are equally odd when one considers their derivation. A long narrative entry on insects, for example, discusses the fact that insects are enjoyed as a regular part of the diet in some Asian, South and Central American, and African countries. It then looks at the kinds of insects eaten, where and how they are eaten, cultural uses, nutrition, and preparation. Each of the encyclopedia's 100 entries includes a representative recipe or, for a food already prepared like maggoty cheese, describes how it is eaten. Each entry ends with suggested readings.