Garden of Eatin’ Dreamed of traveling the globe? Martha Rose Shulman has a deal for you. The former Texan will take you around the world in 288 pages, and you don’t even have to pack a bag. But you do have to pick up a copy of your tour guide’s latest release, The Foodlover’s Atlas of the World (Firefly Books, $35). Part history lesson, part cookbook, the richly illustrated book ranges from the southern Spanish province of Andalusia (where gazpacho was invented) to Zimbabwe (where sun-dried caterpillars and beer are a tasty seasonal snack). Shulman, the author of a previous series of cookbooks, including Mexican Light and Mediterranean Light, covers the map in this gastronomic adventure, illuminating the origin of culinary traditions and making you hungry. Once she has tempted you with appetizer discourses on geographic and ethnic influences on national palates, she offers a smorgasbord of regional recipes. You’ll start with dishes such as scallion pancakes from Korea and chicken-and-pork Saigon soup from Vietnam, then move on to broiled swordfish with dill sauce from Turkey and spicy jerk chicken from the Caribbean. On tap for dessert is pavlova, a fruit-filled meringue from Down Under.
