EAT YOUR WORDS

An entertaining and informative presentation of all sorts of tidbits concerning the history and meaning of food-related words. Jones (Accidents May Happen, 1996, etc.) humorously relates how certain foods—beef Stroganoff, Caesar salad, eggs Benedict, etc.—obtained their names. Included are foods named for places, places named for foods, the origins of favorite terms and phrases, such as “a baker’s dozen,” “bring home the bacon,” “corny,” “couch potato,” “sell like hotcakes,” “spill the beans,” and more. O’Brien is once again Jones’s collaborator, providing sophisticated black-and-white cartoons that enhance the humor of this collection of tongue-in-cheek, entertaining anecdotes for gastronomists and trivia buffs alike. (bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 8-14)