In the devil's garden : a sinful history of forbidden food / Stewart Lee Allen.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 295-315).

Introduction: On Sin, Sex, and Forbidden Food -- Lust. First Bite. Enveloped in Sweet Odor. Likeness of a Roasted Crab. Love Apple. The Ketchup with a Thousand Faces. Venomous Green. Tulsi Ki Chai. The Ecstasy of Being Eaten. The King's Chocolate. Tlaquetzalli. Gay Gourmand. Beijing Libido. The Rainbow Egg -- Gluttony. Original Sin. Porcus Troianu. Ovis Apalis. Cocktails with the Devil. The Sultan's Date. Angel Food Cake. Saints and Supermodels. Bitter Herbs. Red Lady. The Joy of Fat. Mitterrand's Last Supper -- Pride. The Egotist at Dinner. The Dirt Eaters. A Dinner Party in Kishan Garhi. The Last Supper. Humble Pie. A Prophetic Chicken. Impure Indian Corn. The Butterfly People. Sky Blue Corn Flakes. Ghost at the Dinner Table! King's Cake -- Sloth. The Job of Eating Well. The Wonderful World of English Cookery. Toast. The Incredibly Sad Tale of Philippe the Shoemaker. The Virgin's Nipples. The Root of Laziness. Potato Wars. The Last Drop. In the Green Hour -- Greed. The Greedy Diner. Lazy Luscious Land. The Magic Cannibal. Smoked Green Makaku. The Laughing Man. Thou Shalt Not Eat Thy Mother. Got Milk? American Pigs -- Blasphemy. The Sacred Act of Eating. The Jewish Pig. Dinner with the Spanish Inquisition. The Kosher Question. The Lawyer in Us. Lent Egg. A Well-Risen Messiah. For What We Are About to Receive. O, Dog. Holy Cow. You and Your Beautiful Hide -- Anger. The Civilized Sauce. The Sadistic Chef. Deep-Fried Murder. Only if It Has a Face. Hitler's Last Meal. Little Nigoda. The French Connection. Vicious Little Red Man. Insanity Popcorn. Stinking Infidels. Five Angry Vegetables. Feasting to the Death. The Eighth Sin: When Everything Is Allowed and Nothing Has Flavor.

"Among the foods thought to encourage Lust, the love apple (now known as the tomato), has become the world's most popular vegetable. But until the nineteenth century the love apple was considered Satanic by many because of its similarity to the mandrake, a plant believed to be possessed by demonic spirits (Joan of Arc's alleged possession of one was among the crimes that sent her to the stake). The Gluttony "course" invites the reader to an ancient Roman dinner party where nearly every dish served - from poppy-crusted rodents to "Trojan Pork" - was considered a crime against the state. The vice known as Sloth introduces the sad story of "The Lazy Root," the potato, whose popularity in Ireland led English Protestants to assert eating it bred degeneracy and idleness. When the devastating Great Famine struck in 1845, British moralists claimed it was God's way of punishing the Irish for eating so sinful a food." "Filled with Incredible history and the author's travels to many of these exotic locales, In the Devil's Garden also features recipes like the Matzoh-ball stews outlawed by the Spanish Inquisition and the forbidden "chocolate champagnes" of the Aztecs. This is truly a delectable book that will be consumed by food lovers, culinary historians, amateur anthropologists, and armchair travelers alike."--BOOK JACKET.

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