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Ladyfingers and Nun's Tummies: From Spare Ribs to Humble Pie--A Lighthearted Look at How Foods Got Their Names Vintage Books Edition
Contributor(s): Barnett, Martha (Author)
ISBN: 0375702989     ISBN-13: 9780375702983
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
OUR PRICE:   $12.35  
Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats
Published: November 1998
Qty:
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Cooking | History
- Cooking | Reference
- Language Arts & Disciplines | Linguistics - Etymology
Dewey: 641.014
Physical Information: 0.56" H x 5.51" W x 8.52" (0.64 lbs) 224 pages
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
"Everything in this book] is delightful to learn. Barnette takes us through languages and across millennia in a charming style . . . that offers endless food for thought." --The New Yorker

What makes the pretzel a symbol of religious devotion, and what pasta is blasphemous in every bite? How did a drunken brawl lead to the name lobster Newburg? What naughty joke is contained in a loaf of pumpernickel? Why is cherry a misnomer, and why aren't refried beans fried twice? You'll find the answers in this delectable exploration of the words we put into our mouths.

Here are foods named for the things they look like, from cabbage (from the Old North French caboche, "head") to vermicelli ("little worms"). You'll learn where people dine on nun's tummy and angel's breast. There are foods named after people (Graham crackers) and places (peaches), along with commonplace terms derived from words involving food and drink (dope, originally a Dutch word for "dipping sauce"). Witty, bawdy, and stuffed with stories, Ladyfingers and Nun's Tummies is a feast of history, culture, and language.

"Why didn't anyone think of this before? . . . What fun Martha Barnette has made of it all, every name for every dish explained and traced and jollied." --William F. Buckley, Jr.