Weird Food: The Bizarre Hidden History of Food and Drink

by Tim Rayborn

Attend a grand feast of the bizarre and never look at food and drink the same again!
Life is a garish, gruesome, ghastly gourmet! Weird Food dives into the odd, the amazing, and the darkly amusing, covering the long history of our obsession with eating and

These are only a few of the weird, dark, and unusual pieces of fact and folklore that simmer, boil, and ferment in the hidden history of food and drink. All kinds of terrible items on the menu, from murder to revenge, from poisonings to cannibalism, prove that our culinary delights, whether for royals or commoners, could be a repast of the damned. Using humor and clear, descriptive narrations, Weird Food serves up these tales in bite-sized chunks, in an educational and entertaining manner. We all love different kinds of food, and this book helps toward the goal of bringing the twisted and remarkable history of nourishing indulgences into clearer focus. Food and drink are not just for survival, they are at the heart of culture and identity. They are the very stuff of life… and sometimes death.

272 pages, Hardcover

Published September 1, 2020

About the author

Tim Rayborn is a historian, medievalist, and musician, with an MA and PhD from the University of Leeds in England. He is a writer on a variety of topics in history and the arts, from the academic to the amusing to the appalling. He has written nearly 50 books to date.

A professional musician with a specialty in medieval repertoire, he plays dozens of musical instruments, has appeared on more than 40 recordings, and has performed in the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia.