Monday, July 02, 2007

Weird Cookbooks

This top ten list of the World's Weirdest Cookbooks on second-hand bookseller AbeBooks site made me smile!
  1. Manifold Destiny: The One, The Only, Guide To Cooking On Your Car Engine by Bill Scheller & Chris Maynard
  2. The Roadkill Cookbook by Buck Peterson
  3. The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook by David George Gordon
  4. The Special Effects Cookbook by Michael Samonek
  5. Cooking in the Nude by Stephen Cornwell & Debbra Cornwell
  6. Cooking to Kill: The Poison Cook Book by Ebenezer Murgatroyd
  7. Star Wars Cookbook: Wookiee Cookies and other Galactic Recipes by Robin Davis
  8. Mini Ketchup Cookbook by Cameron Pearl
  9. Cooking for Cats by Elisabeth Meyer
  10. Strange Foods: Bush Meats, Bats and Butterflies by Jerry Hopkins
It makes perfect sense, doesn't it, to have your dinner cooking on the car engine while you travel? Bill Scheller, co-author of the winning title talks about how the book (now sadly out of print) came to be written and explains how all the recipes in Manifold Destiny are measured in miles rather than in minutes. Some of the gastronomic highlights:
Hyundai Halibut with Fennel (Distance 55-85 miles), Cruise-Control Pork Tenderloin (Distance: 250 miles), and Poached Fish Pontiac (Distance: 40 miles) ...
Peterson's Roadkill Cookbook is thankfully a rather tongue-in-cheek guide to turning the beasties you accidentally hit on the road into palatable fare. The book has a cult following and has spawned other titles, including an international version.

Sorry pet lovers but ... It reminds me of the time I was in a shared taxi in Nigeria and for no apparent reason the driver swerved dangerously across the road. Apparently he had seen a dog and fancied it for dinner, but missed it. (There was just one village in my area where dogs were eaten as a delicacy, you'll no doubt be relieved to know.)

Another time in a another shared taxi, but this time in Cameroon, my co-passengers got all excited when a large mongoose ran out in from of the car. "Beef!" they chorused, using the generic pidgin English term in that part of the world for all bush-meat.

Can't think why the compilers of the list included the cookbook for cats. What's so weird about wanting to give your darlings a gourmet dinner?

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Ooohh Sharon, the cook and bun-girl(that's my alter-ego that bakes) in me is so thrilled by these books. Thanks for doing this - I am now on a hunt to get them all.....

bibliobibuli said...

cook your breakfast on the way to work, ...okay i can see you doing that

but how does a vegetarian deal with road kill?

Ted Mahsun said...

I tried frying pappadom in the nude once, some years ago. Not something I want to try anytime soon. Maybe after the scars disappear.

Unknown said...

HAHAHHAHA - Ted, I don't know you, but am all giggles...
I may be vegetarian but I have caused road kill before. And my philosophy is - if it's already dead - might as well feed some people and make them happy.

I have been very unproductive all morning thinking of various titles to the cookbooks that I plan to write in my dreams...
1. Voluptuously vegan...how to pack the pounds and keep em
2.What to do with spilt milk?
A lesson in life and baking..

And there on...

Unknown said...

3. Buns of steel
...how to get perfect texture for your buns and bread

Unknown said...

4. You're such a tart..or perhaps a torte!

Argus Lou said...

Ted, at least wear an apron, mah.

I want to write 'Proofed Puddings' or 'Cooking for In-Laws Who Don't Speak Your Lingo'.
This post is hilarious. Now you got me started too on trying to think of titles for such cookbooks.

What's strange about wanting to cook gourmet catfood for your meow, Bib? Plenty! Whatever happened to Cat Pal or even MEukanuba? Or even just slapping together some cheap fish and rice?!

bibliobibuli said...

meukanuba? LOL

my cats love poached fish and chicken broth

but muffin eats every damn think she can get her nose into, especially mashed potato and especially if it's on our plates!