Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, July/August 1997.
CUPBOARD LOVE: A Dictionary of Culinary Curiosities by Mark Morton.
Reviewed by P. Miller.

Morton has brought together terms from "a la" to "Zuppa Inglese" that occur in the history of cuisine. Worldwide in scope and reaching back hundreds of years, the book reveals how food words came about and how they influenced other words and phrases. Words are included because they are familiar cooking terms, have strange origin, or are bizarre (e.g., "mustard," "haggis," "green milk"). Everyone knows "soup," but how many know that "pottage" and "broth" preceded it, or that it derived from Old English, Germanic, Late Latin, and French, all by the end of the 13th century. One can see how trade and travel influenced the language. Many "see also" references help readers take side trips; e.g., under 'rice' a "see also" reference points to 'Basmati'; under "rutabaga" see "parsnip"; "farfalle" or "spaghetti" see "pasta"; "baloney" or "bologna" see "Spam." Oddities like "choke-priest," "spick and span," and "doed-koek" are among the 1,000 entries. The usual dictionary features (part of speech, syllabication, hyphenation, pronunciation, illustrations) are lacking. Sources are listed. Thoroughly researched, well presented, fascinating, and a wonderful addition to reference collections, especially for libraries supporting interest in culinary arts or etymology.