In this volume, Gian Lombardo has culled together previous translations of Archestratos?s work to provide a version that best captures the author?s simultaneously dogmatically authoritative and
irreverent tome. One could read Gastrology as a cookbook, if one could find pig-fish (?Braise its head but add no seasoning?) or Toronaian saw-tooth shark (?Sprinkle with cumin and roast with a
pinch of salt?). It?s also a travelogue of ancient Greek port-towns, and a guide to the prejudices of the day (?Don?t let any Siracusan, or Italian for that matter, get near when you?re
cooking?). Most of all, this book is a testament to the ways in which, since the beginnings of Western civilization, people have been taking serious and sensual pleasure in the food they eat.