OP: Food

Simon and Schuster, 1980. Hardcover. Very Good. First printing.

Waverley Root (1903–1982), an American news correspondent, was one of the great food writers of the twentieth century. Though his interests were vast, and he wrote on a range of subjects, including sports and war, his main focus was food. 

After writing two entertaining, well-regarded books on the regional cuisines of Italy and France, Root produced in 1980 this “dictionary” of the foods of the world.

Root was never one to let fact checking get in the way of a good story, so he’s best read for entertainment and insight rather than as a definitive source. That is not to discredit the author so much as to say that it is his lack of commitment to thoroughness that makes Food, and any other of his books, so enjoyable to read; he never wastes time on anything which bores him. 

Instead, we find entries like the one for potatoes, which at nine pages meanders across geographic hemispheres and jumps from century to century, incorporating figures such as Marie Antoinette, Escoffier, Thomas Jefferson, Frances Moore Lappe, and Nietzsche. All he has to say about cayenne pepper, on the other hand, is that it is “possibly the hottest food in the world”. Of mint, he poetically states, “It is the destiny of mint to be crushed.” 

Our copy is a Very Good first printing with a remainder mark on the bottom edge. The jacket is intact and shows minimal shelfwear. Black and white illustrations and color inserts. Good reading.