Cornucopia: A Gastronomic Tour of Britain

Food, once the shame of the British nation, is now the object of our shameless, salivatory interest. Cookery is never off our TV screens, nor out of our newspapers. A revolution is afoot, in short, and never in the field of human nutrition have so many people eaten so well. So, at least, we are led to believe. But in the course of a dyspeptic journey around the eating places, the fine food producers, the markets and supermarkets of Britain, expatriate gastronome Paul Richardson found that the truth is more complex, more intriguing and much more amusing. He chats to chefs and shoppers, foodie faddists and junk food junkies. He visits cheesemakers, bakers, smokehouses, coffee houses, and artisan producers of everything from ham and jam to cakes and ale. Democratic to the last, he tastes his way through deep-fried Mars bars in Newcastle, udder in Accrington, pasties in Padstow, and foie gras three ways on a buckwheat pancake in Fulham, interpolating his narrative with fascinating 'bites' of culinary lore. With wit, warmth and a refreshing lemon-squeeze of scepticism, Paul Richardson shows that British food is all these things and more.

About the Author :
Paul Richardson writes regularly for publications such as HARPERS, the SUNDAY TIMES, the OBSERVER, ATTITUDE and TASTE magazines. He is the author of OUR LADY OF THE SEWERS (also published by Abacus).

Review :
Historically speaking, British food has been noted for its sophistication a great deal longer than for its mediocrity. Medieval recipes were complex, often involving the pounding of almost a dozen different herbs into a paste before meat and vegetables were even considered. Somewhere along the way, Britain's culinary reputation got lost: before Paul Richardson began to sample British food, his French, Spanish and Italian friends offered him their condolences. But with cookery now occupying record space on our television screens, the tables seem to have turned. Good food is once again on Britain's menu. Although optimistic, Richardson approached his subject with scepticism, not wishing to be misled by media hype. During the 18-month tour that would become Cornucopia, he talked to both chefs and shoppers, visited cheesemakers, bakers, smokehouses and coffee-houses, and sampled everything from deep-fried Mars Bars in Newcastle to udder in Accrington. The book opens with Richardson leaving Normandy for Sussex--the start of a tour that would take him through England, Wales and Scotland--finishing up in London, a city now citing itself as the ''food capital of the world''. Richardson interpolates his narrative with fascinating snippets of culinary history, identifying, for example, the obscure food category of ''traditional foods produced in village post offices''. The book also incl