In the Devil's Garden
Among the foods thought to encourage lust, the love apple (now known as the tomato), wormed its way over pastas and into catsup. The morality of this fruit was questioned due to its similarity to a plant called the mandrake, which medieval people believed carried demonic spirits (Joan of Arc's alleged possession of a mandrake root was one of the crimes that sent her to the stake). The sin of sloth introduces the sad story of "The Lazy Root." English Protestants claimed that consuming potatoes induced idleness, particularly in the Irish, who soon adopted it as a staple of their diet. Yet their productivity and population growth was stunted only by the great potato famine of the 1840s. Filled with incredible history and bolstered by the authors travels to many of these exotic locales, "In the Devil's Garden" also features mouthwatering "forbidden" recipes from Adafinia with Matzo to the Virgin's Nipple ... showing just how much fun being bad can be. This is truly a delectable book that will be consumed by food lovers, culinary historians, amateur anthropologists, and armchair travelers alike. Bon appetit!