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Amazon.co.uk Review
Alan Davidson's Oxford Companion to Food has been over 20 years in the assembling, but here it is; and it is superlatively worth the wait. In fact, superlatives fall silent. A huge and authoritative dictionary of 2,650 entries on just about every conceivable foodstuff, seasoning, cuisine, cooking method, historical survey, significant personage and explication of myth, it is supplemented by some 40 longer articles on key items. Davidson himself (no relation) contributes approximately 80% of the 2,650 entries, thereby guaranteeing high levels of erudition, readability and deadpan feline wit. Since this is a monument intended to last, nothing so frivolous as a recipe is included. A decision taken early in the development of the project to abjure issues whose significance is largely topical has also ensured an agreeable high-mindedness--nothing on those crucial but essentially dreary topics BSE and GM foods, for example.

If a fault could be found, it would only be that it's often difficult to read to the end of an entry, as the abundant cross-referencing all too easily sends one off to another entry, thence bouncing off to another, and all too soon the original is forgotten. A random alphabet of seductions might include: Aardvark, Botulism, Cup Cake, David (Elizabeth), Enzymes, Fat-Tailed Sheep, Gender/Sex and Food, Hallucinogenic Mushrooms, Ice Cream Sundae, Jewish Dietary Laws, Kangaroos, Lobscouse, Microwave Cooking, Norway, Offal, Puffin, Queen of Puddings, Roti, Scurvy, Termite Heap Mushroom (or Taillevant), Umeboshi, Vegetarianism, Washing up (a very elegant little article), sadly no X, Yin-yang and Zabaglione. As this might show, Alan Davidson's aim, borrowed from Dumas' great Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine, that his work would appeal not only to persons of "serious character" but also those "of a much lighter disposition", is utterly fulfilled. --Robin Davidson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Mail on Sunday (Live- Night and Day), January 28, 2007
This gem of food reference retains the wit, elegance, erudition
and style that made the first edition so memorable.


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The Oxford Companion to Wine by Jancis Robinson  (2)  £20.00

McGee on Food and Cooking: An Encyclopedia of Kitchen Science, History and Culture by Harold McGee  (8)  £21.00

The Oxford Companion to Italian Food (Oxford Companion To...) by Gillian Riley £9.99

North Atlantic Seafood by Alan Davidson  (2)  £11.69

Maze: The Cookbook by Jason Atherton  (3)  £13.00

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6 Reviews 5 star:  (5) 4 star:  (1) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review (6 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   15 of 15 people found the following review helpful: Excellent (times 20) -- by Emma Cookson, 20 Nov 1999 By  c.davidson@thefree.net (London, England) - See all my reviews This review is from: The Oxford Companion to Food (Hardcover) Alan Davidson is my grandfather and has been writing this book for twenty years, way before I was even born. I'm thirteen, so he started writing it when I was minus seven years old. I have read lots of his entries on an enormous range of different topics - from Aardvark to Zucchini. I can assure you that my grandfather really knows an awful lot about foods from all over the world and throughout human history. He writes in a really amusing and interesting way. I recommend this book to you, not only as a reference work, but as a source of endless amusement and surprise. It may interest you to know that whenever I am in a restaurant with him and my grandmother, he always seems to order the best dishes (putting his knowledge to good use, I see).  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   6 of 6 people found the following review helpful: An outstanding compilation of everything to do with food., 1 Dec 1999 By A Customer This review is from: The Oxford Companion to Food (Hardcover) This is a remarkable book, highly readable, endlessly fascinating and an essential addition to every foodie's library. It is not only the sort of book that is a delight to browse through while eating solitary breakfasts, but a book that comes out over dinner when food is part of a serious discussion. There are minor errors to be found in descriptions of more obscure regional dishes; for example the Northeast Brazilian dish 'Vatapa' which is a thick nut based sauce is confused with 'Mocequa' , a seafood casserole which it usually accompanies. However this is minor carping for a book containing such a depth and breadth of food knowledge.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   5 of 5 people found the following review helpful: A simply excellent reference book, and readable with it., 11 May 2000 By  S. Howarth "S.S.H." (UK) - See all my reviews    This review is from: The Oxford Companion to Food (Hardcover) This is a great book for both reference, and just to browse through when the mood takes. The content is clear and concise, and as an amateur food writer, it has never failed to yield the information I needed when researching a subject. The entries are by no means exhaustive but gives enough to certainly use as a basis for further research, or indeed just settle an argument with a friend!  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you?