Samuel Pepys buried his stash of Parmesan cheese and wine to preserve the valuables from the Great Fire of London in 1666. The Parliament in 18th-century France once thought potatoes caused leprosy. Ancient Romans passed a law permitting the passing of gas at banquets. Learn this and more zany histories behind your favorite foods in A Curious History of Food and Drink (Quercus, Nov. 2014; $19.99). Author Ian Crofton, the writer behind a slew of other general reference books, presents the intriguing, surprising, and often laughable accounts of where foods come from in short, easily digested blurbs, stretching from the ancient world to modern day.
A Curious History of Food and Drink
culture: the word on cheese
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