Book Review - In Bad Taste?

In Bad Taste?: The Science and Adventures Behind Food Delicacies
by Massimo Francesco Marcone
Reviewed by William I. Lengeman III

Nowadays some of our most high-profile guides to the world of offbeat foods just happen to be chefs. Take Anthony Bourdain, for example, or Andrew Zimmern, host of the Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods With Andrew Zimmern. Dr. Massimo Marcone's background, as he puts it, is a little different. Marcone refers to himself as a "food scientist, adventurer, and urban myth buster."

As Marcone notes, in the introduction to his book, "the foods I study are not the commonly televised 'fear factor' foods." Rather, the good doctor has chose to study "uncommon varieties of perfectly respectable and mainstream foods that people love to consume."

As luck would have it, the common thread linking a number of these foods is that they have something to do with animal excrement. Take the fabulously expensive Kopi Luwak, for example. Also known as civet coffee, this rare delicacy actually derives much of its unique flavor by passing through the intestinal tract of the civet - a type of cat found in Indonesia. Marcone travels there to find out more and also makes a trip to a remote region of Ethiopia to investigate a similar coffee variety.

Speaking of excrement, there also argan oil, another rare and expensive product which is made from nuts taken from the excrement of tree-climbing goats. Really. All of which requires that Marcone venture to Morocco to get the lowdown.

At various points in Asia, the author attempts to uncover the secrets of various types of edible bird's nests and finds that the trading in such delicacies is not always such a savory business.

Also on the menu - Cazu Frazigu, an Italian treat also known as maggot cheese; morels gathered from Canada and the northern United States and assorted edible insects turned up on visits to Thailand and Mexico.

As much a travel narrative as it is a book about food science, Marcone has put together a work that is nothing like the dry tome one might expect from a scientist. He even throws in a buying guide, of sorts, which is useful, given the fact that many of these rare foodstuffs tend to be counterfeited or adulterated.