What is meant to be "exotic" in relation to food...

{HISTORY}

As Rupert Croft-Cooke (1903-1979) explains in the opening of his cookbook, exotic foods included here include recipes that contain a unique main ingredient like frog legs, an out-of-the-ordinary cooking method like roasting a whole animal over a spit, a far-flung place of origin like Madagascar, or an origin story of a recipe that has a unique history. A fascinating time in the kitchen with food and flavor and flair for something out of the ordinary, that's what Rupert wanted to share. 

Keen on featuring dishes that could not be found on restaurant menus - at least in the US or the UK - nor recipe reprints that had appeared in a zillion other cookbooks time and again, Exotic Foods was just about as fresh and fascinating a cookbook as you could find in the early 1970s. The point of this cookbook was to get people to try new things, to experiment, to enjoy the adventure of cooking for the actual adventure it is. 

Above all, Rupert was a storyteller. Born in England, he was not only a detective novelist (working under the name Leo Bruce) but also a prolific writer of fiction and non-fiction books and a world traveler. Living in over a dozen different countries throughout his life, Rupert enjoyed the change in lifestyle, landscape and cuisine that each place offered.

And so, Rupert's cookbook, Exotic Foods, first published in 1969 in London, represents just that. Stories about travel and culture and food and how to make something interesting to eat. His recipes are not written out in the traditional manner - with ingredients first and precise measurements and methods following. Instead, he presents each dish with a little origin story (as he encountered it) and then conversationally gives readers directions on how to cook it.

Reading this cookbook all the way through from start to finish like a novel is half the fun. If you find yourself stuck in a rut when it comes to preparing meals everyday or you want to surprise your friends and family with something exotic than this is the book for you!

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

- 1971 edition published by Herder and Herder in Great Britain

- Contains 161 pages including index and 300 recipes

- Includes original dust jacket

- Wonderfully illustrated throughout by John Stoddard

- A sampling of recipes includes White Fish with Coconut (Brazil), Beef, Apple and Onion Dish (Holland), Pork with Oranges (France), Chicken in Apple (Arabia), Guinea Fowl with Ginger (Poland), Wild Duck with Pomegranate (Persia), Sweet and Sour Rabbit (Sardinia), Stuffed Peaches (Italy), Caribbean Avocado Dessert (West Indies), Green Tomato Fool (Australia)

- All ingredients are accessible to American cooks and all measurements reflect American standardized cooking practices 

{CONDITION}

In beautiful vintage condition. The dust jacket is in near-perfect condition with no tears or stains. the interior is very clean and bright with no spots, stains or notation marks.

{SIZE}

Measures 10.25" inches (length) x 7.25" inches (width) x .75" inches (thickness) 

{FOR THE EXOTIC TRAVELER} 

Pair this cookbook with this South African cup and saucer and start your collection of culinary adventure. A whole glamorous world awaits inside your kitchen!