The chapter headings say it all: Corruption and Decay; Blood, the Vital Ingredient;The Gastronomic Mausoleum; and I Can Recommend the Poodle. This is a not a normal cookbook but a slightly sinister and highly literate feast of decadent writing on food. There are dishes from the tables of Caligula and the Marquis de Sade, a visit to Paris under siege (when rat was a luxury), some unexpected uses for cat food and some amblongous recipes from Edward Lear. There should be something here to delight and offend everyone: the recipes for cooking with endangered species looking particularly tasty. Mouthwatering. Phil Baker in The Sunday Times