Eating in Two or Three Languages

An appetite sharpened by wartime travel sets Irvin S. Cobb thinking about the meals he will order when he gets home. Green corn, fried chicken, watermelon and ice water fill his imagined feast, while an imagined exchange with Hoover turns rationing into a comic argument. From this opening, Cobb looks back on eating in England and France during the First World War, comparing restaurant fare, village cooking and meals shared with American troops.

This humorous travel account pays close attention to the practical details behind a plate of food. London meat cards, scarce sugar, French thrift and the supplies reserved for soldiers all enter the account. Cobb grumbles about boiled vegetables, remembers army nicknames for familiar dishes, and finds more variety in Paris than he expected. His exaggerated complaints and precise food descriptions make the book useful for readers interested in everyday wartime life as seen through an American humorist's appetite.