Dining with the Famous and Infamous

By (author) Fiona Ross

Hardback - £38.00

Publication date:

14 January 2016

Length of book:

258 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781442252257

Dining with the Famous and Infamous is an entertaining journey into the gastronomic peccadilloes of celebrities, stars, and notorious public figures. From outrageous artists to masterpiece authors, from rock stars to actors – everybody eats. Based on the findings of the British gastro-detective Fiona Ross, this volume explores the palates, the plates, and the preferences of the famous and infamous. Including recipes and their stories in the lives of those who cooked, ordered or ate them, Ross invites you to taste the culinary secret lives of people like Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Sinatra, and Woody Allen, among many others. Food voyeurism has arrived.

If you’ve ever wondered whether George Orwell really swigged Victory Gin or whether cherries played their part in the fall of Oscar Wilde, then
Dining with the Famous and Infamous will satisfy your appetite. 'Marilyn Monroe becomes a different kind of sex goddess when you discover she tried to eat her way out of Some Like It Hot with aubergine parmigiana: every curve you see on film is a protest (plus early signs of pregnancy!). You can recreate a ‘Get Gassed’ afternoon cocktail with Andy Warhol and Truman Capote; shake up the chocolate martini Liz Taylor and Rock Hudson invented on the set of Giant; and even relive the Swinging Sixties with the foodie tales, hedonism and hashish cookies of Bob Dylan, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones.

Who wouldn’t want to sit at the table of their favorite film star, writer, artist or warlock and taste a piece of their lives?
This is a well-researched journey into the eating habits of celebrities, artists, and public figures throughout history. Ross, an English teacher by day and freelance food writer by night, uses a simplistic tabloid tone to highlight eccentricities such as Salvador Dalí’s erotic ties to odd cuisine. The author recreates dishes, including the Spanish artist’s favorite seduction recipe: lobster in chocolate sauce. She digs into Marilyn Monroe’s ravenous appetite, claiming that the movie star 'was the ultimate comfort eater,' using eggplant parmigiana as a form of protest to gain weight before auditioning for a role she didn’t want (but got anyway, curves and all) in Some Like It Hot. Instructions for Monroe’s 'Chicken Cacciatore to Woo Arthur Miller' are also included. . . .Ross . . . offer[s] tantalizing glimpses into private lives.