The superrich have the same needs to feed themselves as do the poorest peasants. But what they eat and in whose company they do it make for very different experiences. Ross has plumbed the depths of the Bodleian Library to document the eating (and mating) habits of luminaries and royals from ancient Rome to the present. Bursting with the juiciest morsels of gossip, Ross recounts meals consumed by famous and notorious characters. Aristotle Onassis’ marriages were to women who had food issues Maria Callas’ compulsive eating and Jackie Kennedy’s hungers for both food and affection. Royals and wannabes, from the Windsors to Grace Kelly to Nicholas II, were prone to the most idiosyncratic eating habits. The kitchens of Hugh Hefner’s renowned Playboy Mansion attracted guests almost as much as his notorious bunnies. In addition to her breezy text, Ross offers many recipes favored by these celebrities. An interesting choice for food microhistory fans.

Booklist

Fiona Ross serves as our personal historical guide as we romp through the joyous time when royalty filled their dining tables with culinary delights with no expense spared. Each page jostles a smile as you gain entry into a time when calories, fat and sugar were not the enemy but instead the friend. Indeed; ignorance was bliss!

Sari Edelstein, PhD, RD, Professor of Nutrition, Director of the Nutrition Student Mentor Program; Director of the Simmons-Tufts DPD Program

This is food history as gossip, exuberantly written. Read it with one hand in the salt pot.

Paul Levy, PhD, FRSL, writer and journalist; co-author of The Official Foodie Handbook