Alice Eats Wonderland

by Applewood Books, Alison Tannenbaum, A.E.K. Carr

This cookbook adventure is based on Lewis Carroll's masterpiece, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." The cookbook contains one or more excerpts from each of the twelve chapters of the original story, but each has been given a new twist, with the theme that Alice, like most children, is more or less constantly hungry. Her appetite is assuaged only by her pursuit of the animal characters (and some of the vegetables) that appear in the story. Alice learns to prepare, cook, and consume these, with the help of the included recipes. Although many of the characters seem, alas, to be transformed into edible dishes during the adventure, the story has a surprisingly happy ending.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Bunny · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, I'm done.

I was grossed out by the black pudding, but I knew what it was from the Harry Potter cookbook, and it's British, so sure, it makes sense to have it here.

Recipes to cook rabbit.

Really? For Alice in Wonderland. "I'm late, I'm late!" "Yes, you're late. Late to DIE!!!"

What the fuck?

Then, a recipe for Iguana.

IGUANA?!

Sure, I can see people eating an iguana. When they're lost. In the dessert. Without spices and cooking utensils.

But the kicker that made me fling the book down and say, "Fuck you mightily" was Fried Silkworm Pupae and Onions.

Oh, but it's okay if you don't have access to silkwood pupae. Because native American caterpillars work just as fine!

Done. I'm done.

[Selkie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Applewood Books, the publisher of Alice Eats Wonderland, claims their books are "high-quality", but this was anything but---if anything it looked like a poor Advance Reader's Copy, and when I first received it I searched the book for tell-tale signs of being such (no barcode, a future publication date stated, ect...). But, no, It is just printed badly, like an early print-on-demand book with cramped and blurry type and pictures.

As far as content, some reviewers have criticized the recipes, going as far as to say how disgusting they are. But if one reads the introduction it clearly states that some recipes are legitimate, while others are meant to be taken tonque-in-cheek. They are split about fifty-fifty. I do wish they had had more useful ones.
A nice concept for a book, but executed very poorly.

[Theresa F. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book uses the story of Alice In Wonderland as a jumping off point to discuss some unique and obscure corners of culinary history. While some might find the information in this book useless or archaic, I thought much of it was interesting from a historical and cultural standpoint. Be warned however that the author's irreverent sense of humor probably won't appeal to everyone.
Did I like it? Yes.
Would I reread it? Probably not. While most of the book was enjoyable, it's wasn't something I feel the need to revisit.
Would I recommend it? Probably.