The Devil's Picnic
Around the World in Pursuit of Forbidden Fruit
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Award-winning writer Taras Grescoe admits that he has always
been fascinated by the forbidden. Never one to deny his desires, he set out on a
global journey, determined to track down the foods and substances that killjoy
governments have often bizarrely prohibited. The result is a spread like no
other: an aperitif of hjemmebrent, a powerful Norwegian moonshine; a
wedge of Époisses, a stinky French cheese that can carry a brain-swelling
bacteria; a cup of restorative Bolivian cocaine tea; and a host of legendary and
sought-after substances that Grescoe risks health and jail time to dig in to.
Grescoe takes us with him around the world to sample damned
food, drink and smoke, along the way serving up a unique and irreverent feast of
unsavoury characters and customs. The culmination is a deliciously decadent
full-course meal for those brave enough to lay down a blanket, open the basket
and partake of the devil’s picnic.
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Author Extras
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Critical Praise for
The Devil's Picnic
"[Grescoe] spends a year in seven countries, seeking out such delicacies as Epoisses cheese, which smells so bad it's said to have been banned from the Paris Metro; the author writes fondly that it makes 'Gorgonzola smell like Velveeta.' … He eats bulls' testicles in Madrid and visits an absinthe distillery in Switzerland. You feel hung over just reading the thing -- guilty, implicated and strangely hungry."
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The Los Angeles Times
"Grescoe's book is surprisingly interesting and well-written -- rather better than the others [Jeffrey Steingarten's The Man Who Ate Everything and Anthony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour] which are, ultimately, compilations of magazine pieces or, in Bourdain's case, a companion to a TV series.... Grescoe's real aim is to investigate the nature of social prohibitions and while instinctively libertarian, he allows for the concerns of authorities who, he admits, are mostly unfairly maligned for trying to ensure that we eat reasonably safe food."
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The Times of India
"The culinary travelogue is a nearly exhausted genre that probably reached its peak in M.F.K. Fisher's hands some years ago. But Canadian journalist Taras Grescoe gives it a new twist by using food not as a means of embracing another culture, but rather of exploring how that culture might try to kill him…"
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New York Sun
"Not many tourist companies offer the kind of pleasures sought by the author in this provocative and highly entertaining travelog. …This delightfully rebellious book will find a ready audience among travelers who wish to stray off the beaten path."
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Library Journal
"Vivid and entertaining… Grescoe, who lives in Montreal, roams the world to tell the stories of various passions, most of them edible."
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The New York Times
"Taras Grescoe bites off more than the rest of us would care to chew and delivers a compelling message about eating locally… Oooh this is good! … On one level The Devil's Picnic is a nifty travelogue, the gourmet aspiring to the darkest riches of local cultures and coming back alive… However, there is a second, more profound level that makes this book one of the most entertaining jaunts into adventure eating that I've come across in years… [Grescoe] has immersed himself in the intricacies of international regulations and the bizarre policies of individual countries… Rather than imagining this book as a wickedly delicious buffet, think of it as a series of settings, each offering a different pleasure while surrounded by its own proscriptions."
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The Montreal Gazette
"The Devil's Picnic chronicles Grescoe's worldwide gustatory odyssey in pursuit of forbidden food, drink and other ingestibles. The tour is a feast of delights for the armchair gourmet; it is difficult not to gorge oneself on Grescoe's writing… Grescoe has a keen eye and vibrant style…This book could be read as a world tour of the offbeat and the verboten. We're in Anthony Bourdain territory, and The Devil's Picnic will more than satisfy fans of A Cook's Tour."
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The National Post
"…provocative… a fascinating glimpse into all the things that make us human -- our history and traditions, our laws and health codes, our tastes, our knowledge, and the way these things change from place to place. Through foods adored and reviled, embraced and banned, Grescoe allows us to peek into the human soul. But don't tell the devil -- he'll just want his share."
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The Calgary Herald
"The Devil's Picnic is a far more sophisticated and thoughtful approach to prohibition than the standard libertarian arguments we often hear. Grescoe takes it to another level, examining the specific ways in which prohibitions not only fail but also produce new, occasionally desirable but generally despicable cultural mores."
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The Toronto Star
"This detailed chef's tour of prohibited pleasures for the palate, from Norwegian moonshine and Bolivian coca leaves to Spanish bull testicles, is laced with magnificent descriptions… With amusing anecdotes and exotic imagery, this walk through the garden of 'forbidden fruit' is a savory and powerful scrutiny into the psychology, markets and politics of prohibition."
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Publishers Weekly
"The author, hungry to learn more about fascination with the forbidden, crisscrosses the globe in search of danger, excitement, and really wild stuff to eat and do… A compelling story of adventure, obsession, repression, and the limits of human gastronomic endurance. Not for those with timid tastes (some bits are right out of Fear Factor), [The Devil's Picnic] makes great reading for those who imagine themselves as adventurous, should they ever venture out of their armchairs."
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Booklist
"Grescoe is of the Anthony Bourdain school of food reportage, treating the reader as a sidekick on a rebellious gastronomical adventure with lots of boozing (absinthe in Switzerland), drugs (coca leaves in Bolivia) and foods that, tasty as they may be, are not for the faint of heart… behind this culinary risk-taker hides a true policy wonk, deeply interested in the regulations that make so many forbidden foods, drinks and drugs . . . forbidden."
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Washington Post
Reader Reviews from First Look
In this wonderful unique collection of culinary travel tales, Taras Grescoe's research is impeccable, his stories infinitely fascinating and wonderfully unsavory. He makes us realize that we are not alone in this crazy mixed up world and he has the goods to prove it. In this age of globalization, Grescoe brings all sorts of tidbits closer to home and makes us glad someone is out there doing all the unsettling work for us. A great read for the world or armchair traveller and those slightly off-kilter.
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Margot (Waterloo, ON)
In this wonderful unique collection of culinary travel tales, Taras Grescoe's research is impeccable, his stories infinitely fascinating and wonderfully unsavory. He makes us realize that we are not alone in this crazy mixed up world and he has the goods to prove it. In this age of globalization, Grescoe brings all sorts of tidbits closer to home and makes us glad someone is out there doing all the unsettling work for us. A great read for the world or armchair traveller and those slightly off-kilter.
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Margot (Waterloo, ON)
The Devil's Picnic was a very interesting read. It exceeded my expectations; not only does Grescoe sample these forbidden substances and tell us what it smells, feels, looks and tastes like, he also gives us a detailed history of how the substance came to banned in the first place. That he was able to communicate the irony of government "parenting" was a bonus.
However, some chapters seemed to go on far too long. I found myself racing past the last few pages to get to the next section. That could be, of course, because I was eager to see what he would sample next.
Overall an entertaining book.
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Jodie (East York, ON)
I started reading this book about prohibitive substances, not quite knowing what to expect. It was not long before it had me. Veteran journalist Taras Grescoe tracks down forbidden substances around the world, from moonshine in Norway, to illegally scattering poppy seed biscuits in Singapore, this is not only a travel book but a foodie delight all in one. Great book.
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Debbie (Mississauga, ON)
In The Devil’s Picnic, Taras Grescoe takes the reader on a trip around the world as he researches government prohibition of the “risky” substances that we chose to smoke, drink, or eat (from poppy seeds and smelly cheeses to coca leaves and pentobarbital sodium). Part story telling and part investigative report, Grescoe impresses the reader with his journalistic skill (not to mention his bravery at trying many of the banned substances)! While Grescoe’s personal point of view seems clear, he plays devil's advocate and gives evidence to support various sides of the prohibition argument. While addressing a variety of ethical concerns (decriminalization of marijuana, euthanasia, and self-government), Grescoe shows us the absurdity of government control over what we choose to ingest. An entertaining and informative book!
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Laurie (Bracebridge, ON)
This excellent book is about many things at once: prohibition, culture, travel, society. It asks mainly the following question: what happens when a substance or a good is prohibited? The author tries to answer that question by travelling to places where something is prohibited for some reason and tries to find out exactly why that something is prohibited - by actually trying it out and seeing for himself. Where these experimental "trips" start to get interesting is the point where the author actually gets immersed in local culture and meets people who, in some way or another, have a connection with the prohibited substance or good - be they users, abusers, regulators, merchants or any other interested party. He really investigates the origin of the prohibited habit, from all angles, and tries to see what effect its prohibition brought about.
This is an interesting take on the idea that the more something is forbidden, the more people crave that something. In an era of global legalization and/or decriminalization of substances and goods, anybody concerned with the subject will find this an interesting read. Nonetheless, people who like to travel by reading will also get their share of adventure, as many cultural questions of different parts of the world are discussed.
This great book makes you wonder just how useful prohibition is while you get to see how other people live abroad.
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Viktoria (Montreal, QC)
In what book other than The Devil’s Picnic do you learn that care should be taken when eating casu marzu, otherwise the wriggling maggots that infest the sandwich may drop into ones’ eyes? Easily digestible tidbits of trivia and history flavour the descriptions of the people and places that Taras Grescoe encounters on his year long pursuit of banned food and other substances, resulting in a delectable dish for the reader. Through his exploration of some of the politics, philosophy and psychology of outlawed food and other ingestible items, the Montreal-based author whets our appetite for the chewy question he poses “who should have sovereignty over our ourselves?” I recommend this book as Taras Grescoe provides a delicious and nuanced view of prohibition and desire in historic and contemporary times.
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Merryn (Vancouver, BC)
Taras Grescoe plays the role of aficionado-in-waiting with the calculating eye of a journalist, albeit one with the wry wit of Hunter S. Thompson. His strength is in delineating the political landscape of prohibitions without overlooking the good-old-fashioned fun of debauchery. This is a whirlwind tour of everything you wanted to know, and didn't want to know, about the human struggle with the taboo.
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Adam (Toronto, ON)
Very interesting and thought provoking. The Devil's Picnic is full of fascinating facts and Taras Grescoe's style of writing flows well and is easy to read. Recommended.
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Andrea (Langley, BC)
Taras Grescoe in his eminently readable The Devil’s Picnic has exploited Maugham’s dictum that he uses as an epigram for his seventh chapter: “However harmless a thing is, if the law forbids it, most people will think it wrong.” Grescoe takes the reader on an armchair travelogue to the distant lands and in a frenzy of hospitality treats him to the often nauseating, but definitely famous savories of the distant shore. It is a rare but erudite gastronomic treat, where the description of the forbidden foods is so evocative that it makes you partake of the product being described. ....
I must say that Grescoe has treated the subject in a masterly manner, and exposed the hollowness of the governmental controls that are either not relevant or are best carried out in non-compliance.
The language is pithy and forceful, and the style is so gripping that not for a moment did I feel that I was reading a treatise. It is as gripping as a thriller.
It is worth reading for the informative culinary explaination and human beings taste for the exotic. Grescoe has been able to prove that forbidding, is fact, tantamounts to promoting a product.
I, for one, love the racy style and comments that precede and follow his journey in search of his personal holy grail.
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Bikram (Mississauga, ON)
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Bottomfeeder
Just when opting for omega-three-rich seafood is recognized as one of the healthiest dietary choices a person can make, the news seems to be full of stories about mercury-laden tuna, shrimp contaminated with antibiotics and collapsing fish stocks. In a world of endangered cod, pirate-caught...
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Straphanger
Taras Grescoe has written books that have changed the way we look at illicit substances, in The Devil’s Picnic , and how we think about the world’s seafood, in Bottomfeeder . Now, as oil prices soar and suburbs continue to sprawl, Grescoe hits the commuter road in a global quest to understand and...
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