Stefan Gates

The story behind Stefan Gates' extraordinary culinary journey to the world's most dangerous and difficult places...Award-winning food writer Stefan Gates has travelled the world to investigate how people cook, eat and survive in extreme conditions for the acclaimed BBC television series Cooking in the Danger Zone. He drank radioactive wine with babushkas in Chernobyl, ate fat-tailed sheep with Taliban warlords in Afghanistan, yak's penis with Chinese Communists, civet cat with the Karen rebels deep in the Burmese jungle and rotting walrus with the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic.In this book Stefan takes us on an extraordinary personal journey as he tries to understand a world in crisis, and meets people caught up in war, poverty and environmental disasters. This behind-the-scenes account is hugely entertaining and thought provoking, blending war and food, ethics and emotions, comedy and tragedy.

Does chocolate make you happier? What s the most dangerous food on earth? How do you milk a camel? What s the fartiest food of all? And what s really in that burger you re about to eat? Find out the answers to these questions and much, much more in this seriously funny and hilariously informative book about food. Packed full of mad recipes to cook for your friends, kitchen science projects to try out at home and wild food facts this photographic cookbook will take you on a food adventure from breakfast right through to supper.

"Transform every meal into an adventure with this celebration of the best, finest, the most fun, and the most extraordinary food on the planet. Every dish has a fascinating story, told with passion and honesty by Stefan Gates, who's tasted everything from the world's most expensive tuna, the simplest pork belly feast to the most extraordinary sea cucumber. Don't waste time making meals you'll forget--cook some exhilaration into your life and eat every meal as if it's your last!"--Page 4 of cover.

"An irreverent journey through the culinary world of the exotic, the bizarre, and the truly extraordinary, Gastronaut is equal parts cookbook and quest book. For your bedside or your stoveside, this hilarious and captivating journey through some of the strangest food experiences, past and present, is divided into three levels of escalating difficulty. Whether you're ready to gild your breakfast sausages with gold, re-create the Last Supper, or cook a whole pig in an underground fire pit, this book takes it all on with gusto and little regard for what one might call decency." -- from the publisher - (July 2006).