"Combining serious and meticulously researched fact with entertaining and witty commentary, it has been deemed unique by chefs and reviewers around the globe. It contains both a comprehensive catalogue of food stuffs--biscuits named after battles and divas; body parts from toe to cerebellum; breads from Asia to the Mediterranean--and a richly allusive account of the culture of food, whether expressed in literature and cookery books, or as dishes peculiar to a country or community ... There are entries on shifting concerns and attitudes such as convenience food, local food, and Mediterranean diet; new research on food and drugs, genetics, obesity, medicine; new trends such as foraging, fusion food, low temperature cooking; new cultural and sociological insights on topics such as etiquette, gastronomy, and food photography; and numerous entries on people of special significance within the world of food; among them Clarence Birdseye, Henri Nestle, and Louis Pasteur."--Jacket flap.