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. Gastronaut answers questions like: what foods make us fart? how do you make your own moonshine? is it possible to teach grandmas to suck eggs? how would you stage a bacchanalian orgy in the comfort of your own home? Here is the perfect book for people who are fascinated by the wilder side of food and who, every now and then, want to show off their penchant for the extreme. THE GASTRONAUT'S CREED Food will consume 16 percent of my life. That life is too precious to waste; therefore: I resolve, whenever possible, to transform food from fuel into love, power, adventure, poetry, sex, or drama. I will never turn down the opportunity to taste or cook something new. I will never forget: canaps are evil. I will remember that culinary disaster does not necessarily equal failure. I will always keep a jar of pesto to hand in case of the latter.