The Curiosities of Food: Or the Dainties and Delicacies of Different Nations Obtained from the Animal Kingdom (2008)

Simmonds' mesmerizingly meticulous survey of all things edible in the animal kingdom was first published in England in 1859. What's basically an encyclopedia of consumable creatures -- organized in categories from Cetacea (i.e., walrus) to Grallatores (i.e., ostrich) -- has an endearingly earnest narrator; he seems quite tickled, in a crusty 19th-century British way, about sharing palatable pleasures like salted hippo (tastes like bacon!) or cooked badger (tastes like boar!). But beyond its listing of beasts to be baked, the book offers readers intense insight into its era. Lepers fondle slabs of steak in open-air meat markets, slaves scramble to catch rats in the West Indies. And elephant paws, kangaroo hash, puppy stew, and young bear cub are all on the menu during a period of environmental flippancy that would make even a Bush blush.