To Eat or Not To Eat

Guest Blogger: Chris Manganaro How often do you try something new? When you go out to a restaurant, do you order the same thing each time? When we are children, we start to develop the type of appetite for foods we will eat our entire lives. It simultaneously becomes harder and easier to eat new things as we grow older. Our appetite changes and things we used to hate become our favorite things in adulthood. It is hard to determine what factors have the most sway over what we eat and what we will not eat, but it all comes down to having a sense of adventure. Jerry Hopkins' book, Extreme Cuisine: The Weird & Wonderful Foods That People Eat, is all about the human appetite. Humans have the capacity to eat most anything they can get their hands on. Hopkins' book goes into detail on how everything is prepared and just what people had to go through to acquire certain "foods" and make them edible. This ranges from Fugu fish to poisonous plants. Even things that are hard to catch like flies are hunted down and trapped in rather ingenious ways. It is rather surprising just how far people will go to eat everything they can. Humanity needs food to survive, which is why there are so many things in the world that are considered food in the first place. It all depends on where we are located, just what we eat. Supermarkets nowadays are adding more exotic foods to their offerings and people are opening up to all new foods when they visit restaurants. The world is changing everyday yet this book still manages to bring up things that most could never see taking hold of the mainstream. It is rather fascinating to read about the history of each food mentioned and find out just what has gone into making something out of everything. Animals, plants, insects, and things we see every day, from worms to birds can be eaten if we so desire. Just like life, food is what we make of it. If we decide to eat something, it is likely we can find a way to prepare it. All we need is the courage to try it. For great recipes get your copy of the Gourmand World Award Winning Book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition in print or Exclusively on Kindle