“Every once in awhile a writer of particular skills takes a fresh, seemingly improbable idea and turns out a book of pure delight.” That’s how David McCullough described Mark Kurlansky’s Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World, a work that revealed how a meal can be as important as it is edible. Salt: A World History, its successor, did the same for a seasoning, and confirmed Kurlansky as one of our most erudite and entertaining food authors. Now, the winner of the James Beard Award for Excellence in Food Writing shares a varied selection of “choice cuts” by others, as he leads us on a mouthwatering culinary tour around the world and through history and culture from the fifth century B.C. to the present day. Choice Cuts features more than two hundred pieces, from Cato to Cab Calloway. Here are essays by Plato on the art of cooking . . . Pablo Neruda on french fries . . . Alice B. Toklas on killing a carp . . . M. F. K. Fisher on the virility of Turkish desserts . . . Alexandre Dumas on coffee . . . W. H. Auden on Icelandic food . . . Elizabeth David on the downward march of English pizza . . . Claude Lévi-Strauss on “the idea of rotten” . . . James Beard on scrambled eggs . . . Balzac, Virginia Woolf, E. M. Forster, Chekhov, and many other famous gourmands and gourmets, accomplished cooks, or just plain ravenous writers on the passions of cuisine.

Welcome to The Dark Realm, where the residents are eager to regale you with stories both dark and disturbing. In this collection you'll find such gems as: PENANCE In the bowels of her convent, Sister Elizabeta is locked away awiting her punishment from The Mother Superior. This is no ordinary convent and Elizabeta is no ordinary nun. SPEAK NO EVIL: A deaf woman comes up with a gruesome way to punish her philandering boyfriend. A BITE FROM THE DARK REALM: A young supermarket worker discovers a strange race of tiny creatures living in the store room. They're lke Brownies only much more aggressive, oh and they're carnivores. HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?: Davey and Ox are two unemployed British youths who aren't above stealing to make some extra cash.When they learn that local gardener, Mary McKenzie will be raising money for charity they think they've found an easy job. The residents of Mary's garden may have other ideas. These and eight more stories await you within.

The winner of the Glenfiddich Best Food Book Award leads is on a dazzling culinary tour around the world and through history - from the fifth century BC to the present day. Presented by subject - including 'Food and Sex', 'Bread', 'Rants' and 'Dessert' - and illustrated with Kurlansky's own pen-and-ink drawings as well as classic photographs, this wonderful collection, like the very best meal, is varied, delicious and uniquely satisfying.