Rants & Raves
 
August 18, 2020
An Obsession with Food
 

Jeffrey Spear delights us with remarkable culinary adventures in exotic destinations around the world including Ghana, Lebanon, Serbia, Hawaii, Russia, Montenegro, Paris, Buenos Aires, and Malawi.

 

Our fascination with food was confirmed on April 19, 1993 when Americans were introduced to the Food Network. Along with increased numbers of celebrity chefs and food-oriented reality television shows, there's been an ever-growing demand for cookbooks and culinary storytelling.

In his latest book, My Life in Gluttony: A Culinary Adventure, Jeffrey Spear confesses "Living to eat is no longer an admission of gluttony or a problem with self-control. It has, in fact, become a badge of honor." With this in mind, Spear gives readers a glimpse into his lifetime of culinary obsessions sparked by a willingness to eat just about anything and a job that takes him to some remarkable destinations around the world.

While his adventures in Malawi, Georgia, and Guyana are a bit off the beaten path, Spear also includes culinary encounters right here in the U.S. Readers will find Spear's obsession with hot dogs in New York and flourless chocolate cake in Washington DC as compelling and engaging as his discovery of char-grilled mouse in Malawi and bunny chow in South Africa.

Over 306 pages, starting from his childhood home in Maryland to exotic destinations around the world including Ghana, Lebanon, Serbia, Hawaii, Paris, Russia, Montenegro, Buenos Aires, and Malawi (grilled mouse is a roadside treat), Spear describes the foods that made indelible impressions along the way. Including 96 crowd-pleasing and easy-to-follow recipes, from the familiar to the esoteric, this book is a gastronomic delight.

My Life in Gluttony is available nationwide on Amazon.com