Yummy Book Review of Dare Eat That: A Guide to Bizzare Foods From Around the World by Divya Anand

Book Review of Dare Eat That : A Guide to Bizzare Foods From Around the World by Divya Anand.There are foodies who love to eat. And then there are food fanatics who have a single minded passion to eat their way through life one species after another! Dare Eat That: A Guide to Bizzare Foods From Around the World by Divya Anand is a book that explores ones passion for food and travel.

She writes about her husbands culinary adventures and misadventures in great details with a good dose of humour thrown in.

What I liked about this book:

The author describes in a very lucid and clear language their journey as a couple through the bizzare  culinary delight that the world has to offer. This book is great in the sense that it is a two in one travel and food guide which gives an idea about the level of bizzareness that food can reach. It is commendable how the author despite having grown up as a vegetarian, could still get over food related inhibitions in the name of love and support her partner in his food adventures.

The book is very informative and taught me many new things about world cuisines.

Bizzare Things That I learned from this Book

• Squab  is a young domestic pigeon raised for the express purpose of consumption. In this section in the United States part the author has described her experience and personal hatred towards pigeons and I loved the description. This is because I carry a very similar hatred towards this bird which had given me many sleepless nights in my flat!
• Balut is a duck egg which has been incubated and has a half-formed duck(!) and is a speciality in the Philipines and Vietnam. I liked her statement that  “In today’s day and age, I recommend that all couples test their relationship with the balut method”.
• Bush and bedsheet Method of fishing in Vasind Mumbai.
• Tony da Dhaba in Pune, Mosque Road in Bangalore with their wide variety of interesting foods  is definitely going to be on my to-do-list when I visit these places.

There are many such interesting food items and must visit places enlisted country wise in this book that I will leave for the readers to find out.

Things that could be Better

The photographs need some work. A food book is incomplete without mouth watering high resolution colour photographs that will leave the reader salivating. So in my opinion the black and white photographs are not doing justice to the wonderfully describe foods in this book!

• The book has around 300 pages and is overall an easy read. I will definitely recommend this book for food lovers who love to travel as well. It is a comprehensive guide to all kinds of unique and bizarre food that are out there in the world!

P.S

This book is not for the light hearted or the squeamish. You have to have an open mind and a open heart towards food of all kind and respect the fact that different cultures have different outlook towards food. So if you read this book if you are a true blue foodie who loves to explore new places. You will love it then just as I have done!

About the Author

Divya is a product manager who writes six-pagers by day and is an author by night. She gets her best creative ideas  when she’s hanging upside down at her anti-gravity yoga class or doodling. Her wanderlust gene is a result of having lived in three countries and eight cities. In 2017, she won the Juggernaut Times LitFest Contest for her short story That Girl Is Trouble’. Divya has an MBA in Marketing from SPJIMR, Mumbai and a master’s in HCI from UC Berkeley, California. When she’s not wandering through the food streets of the world, she can be found at home in Bangalore with her husband Vivek. Dare Eat That is her first book. This book has been published by Penguin Random House.

 ‘Review done as part of the Blogchatter Book review program’ https://www.theblogchatter.com/book-review-program-from-blogchatter/