Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventurer's Guide (Atlas Obscura)

Nice book

No recipes. Just obscure and interesting information.

Obscure, weird, interesting, fascinating facts. Check.Food. Check.Travel. Check.Most of my interests all wrapped up in one book that is quick to access, a book version of tic tok! You can read one entry in a couple minutes or get sucked in and read several over hours. Now just because the entries are short doesn't mean they are incomplete, they contain every detail I could hope for in a clear, concise, yet entertaining writing style. This is a book you will want on your shelf for years to come. When I start reading it isn't long before I'm saying 'hey, listen to this' and anyone in the room with me gets to hear one read aloud, oftentimes it is quite a conversation starter too!

This unique book takes you all over the world as it covers historical information as well as interesting food recommendations in many different countries. The book is divided into sections by geographic region: Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, Canada, The United States, Latin America, and Antarctica. The regions are further divided into areas, and then specific chapters on places in that area. ( ie – The US has a subsection for New England, which contains chapters on Connecticut and Maine etc.)Most chapters are focused on a specific food from a specific place in the world. The authors write a few paragraphs explaining the history of that food in that area, and then there is a “How to try it” section where they give suggestions on where to go if you want to sample this food yourself.There are also extra chapters that deal with more general information; like “Table etiquette in the Victorian Age”, which describes specialized utensils like ice-cream forks and mustache cups. There are also plenty of beautiful pictures; showing images of the foods, pictures of the historical places, old photos, advertisements, and more. There are mini chapters about “Food Pioneers” like Tom Carvel and Sina Gerard, and even some recipes included throughout the book.Overall I really enjoyed this book, and I'm sure I will be referring to it in the future if it ever becomes easier to travel again to some of these places. There is a ton of interesting information here, and great suggestions for the adventurous food aficionado. This is a great combination of history book and food/travel guide, and I appreciate the authors collecting all of this obscure information in one place.

bought it 2x for foodies as a gift. they love it!!

I always love Atlas Obscura publications - they're well-researched, well-written, and entertaining. I noted another review stating that this is not a cookbook; that's true! This definitely is not. I'd also say that it's not the type of book you read page-by-page per se, but rather one you pick up and go through bit by bit. I dove in the second mine arrived in the mail and have already found a lot of really interesting tidbits (and a familiar local favorite appeared in one section, tickling me pink). The book itself is a nice size if you like having interesting coffeet table books out that people will actually want to pick up and leaf through.What I appreciate most about Atlas Obscura is that it's so reader-guided; readers submit locations to the site, and readers give suggestions ultimately used as part of the book as well. You feel a little more connected to what's listed because of that; these are delicacies and locations someone has gone to, enjoyed, and cared about enough to mention those to others. I also feel that you can trust that what is mentioned for locations feels truly authentic to the area, and all of what's there is folded in well with informative and interesting research into local culture. I'll be enjoying this book for a while to come.

I'm not traveling if I can help it these days. What with COVID and poxes, and crippling heat and humidity, and the ever-popular crazy rainstorms. This book takes me everywhere I want to go and to lots of places I've never heard of.Great book.

Atlas makes it easy to have a good time reading about little know foods.

I really liked this book, you get to explore quirky or hidden food/food related events and restaurants of different countries. I would have preferred the focus to be either on the food or on the locations/events. The country chapters often meandered without focus, and you have reference to multiple countries out of order within randomly placed sections (eg dumplings)Generally an enjoyable book with many interesting things that i didnt know about

Bought for my daughter, but her review would be that this is the bee's knees., if you can say this about a book. From dipping into while she was staying with us, she reported two days later that she had read the whole thing from beginning to end. A very satisfied reader: probably she's hoping for a follow-up ASAP!

I wish there had been dyone recipes.

Very good book.

Very interesting and unusual book.Would suit any foodie.