To perfect his gastronomic culture of the remarkable and the strange, there was already the documentary series by Anthony Bourdain (1956-2018), Parts Unknown (which aired on CNN between 2013 and 2018), in which the American chef and television host traveled the world in search of obscure restaurants and little-known culinary cultures. Now there is theAtlas Obscura of gastronomy, new book just translated into French which lists, in an educational and encyclopaedic way, the thousand greatest culinary curiosities of this world.
In this ultra-documented bible (over a thousand articles for 1,500 photos), the co-authors have done painstaking work to establish a panorama of the incredible food diversity at work on the five continents. “Food is probably the most immersive and visceral travel experience there is,” they declare at the opening of the book, before specifying, quite rightly, that there is no faster way to get an idea of a place than to taste the local cuisine.
It will therefore be necessary to have a wide open appetite – and sometimes a strong stomach – to delve into all of their notes, sometimes synthetic, original or erudite, which are pecked at like documentary pellets, arranged by geographical area. As an appetizer: the recipe for fish head pie (Cornwall) or spaghetti ice cream (Germany), the crocodile egg tasting competition (Thailand), the story of the sole cake Mongolian or the story of the last New Year’s Eve, based on ortolans, of President François Mitterrand.
The weirdest recipe The Caesar, a clam-based cocktail that tastes like spaghetti alle vongole, has been served at the bar of a Canadian hotel for more than fifty years.
The weirdest tradition A Russian fable recommends dipping a live frog into a pitcher of milk to prolong its freshness.
Atlas Obscura of Gastronomy. A journey through the greatest gastronomic curiosities in the world, by Cecily Wong and Dylan Thuras, Marabout, 448 pages, €33.
