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Food has played a starring role in the lives of so many famous or infamous people. Diplomatic agreements have been negotiated over elaborate feasts, novels have been fueled by strong coffee, and marriages have ended over a meal gone bad.

In What the Great Ate, brothers Matthew and Mark Jacob have cooked up a bountiful sampling of the peculiar culinary likes, dislikes, habits, and attitudes of famous — and often notorious — figures throughout history.

In this photo from the 1920s, First Lady Grace Coolidge samples a cookie that was made by a Girl Scout troop in New York State.  President Calvin Coolidge made derisive comments about his wife's kitchen skills.

Rube Waddell was one of baseball's outstanding pitchers during the early 1900s.  But he had a habit that greatly aggravated his catcher and roommate — eating animal crackers in bed.  The team's owner got Waddell to sign a contract in which the pitcher agreed to cease this annoying habit.

Buy the Book!

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:

  • "... a smorgasbord of amusing tidbits on the favorite foods of prominent artists, scientists, sports stars and, yes, politicos."
  • The Washington Post

  • "... many fascinating facts" CBS News' Health Blog

  • An "amusing grab-bag of food-related anecdotes"
  • The Wall Street Journal

  • "... an impressive catalogue of food-related tales about the world's most famous people." New York Daily News

  • "Brims with fun-filled anecdotes ..." Andrew W. Smith, Oxford Encyclopedia of Food & Drink

  • "This is a fascinating read." Jeff Houck, The Tampa Tribune

  • "... a good helping of the book's pleasure comes from the cognitive dissonance of the 'great' eating, well, the small. Does it trivialize the president to learn that Ronald Reagan was a lover of jelly beans?" The New Yorker

  • "... one of the most enjoyable, enlightening, informative and, frankly, simply fun books." Rick Kogan, Chicago's WGN radio

  • One of "17 Food-Themed Books You'll Want to Eat Up"
  • More magazine

  • The Jacob brothers "must've mucked through skyscraper-size piles of research materials to put together this book."  Philadelphia City Paper

  • Named one of 13 "Books on Foodies' Beach Blankets" for the summer. 
  • Publishers Weekly

  • "This is one book I had a hard time putting down."
  • Food editor, Winston-Salem (NC) Journal

  • "... it was with gusto that I devoured [this] book ..."
  • The Montreal Gazette

  • The book is "one that I'm certain you will enjoy sharing with your friends and family."  Around the Horn, a baseball blog

  • "It's a book to nibble on, not consume all at once, but will provide plenty of curiosities with which you can fascinate friends."
  • Albany (N.Y.) Times-Union

  • "There are enough interesting stories in here to spark many good dinner party conversations."
  • The Calgary Herald

  • "This book has a massive collection of amusing food trivia ..."
  • ifood, a web portal

  • "... on our list of must reads"
  • "Let's Just Talk," WQRT radio in Cincinnati

  • "... a book that's full of fun food facts, trivia and other tidbits ..."
  • The Post-Bulletin (Rochester, MN)

  • "This looks like an interesting book." ExploreMusic.com

  • A "delicious book"
  • Francophilia Gazette

Enter a State of Foodphoria
Foodphoria is the Weblog written by co-author Matthew Jacob. Foodphoria offers Matthew's irreverent, no-nonsense commentary on eating, drinking and dining. Click here to visit the blog.
10 Things You Might Not Know...
... about beer, France and lots of other things. Click here to read samples of the Chicago Tribune's "10 Things You Might Not Know ..." series, which is written by co-author Mark Jacob.

Entries in vegetarian (3)

Monday
Feb042013

Rosa Park's Eating Habits Evolved

DateMonday, February 4, 2013 at 10:19PM

Rosa Parks was born on this date in 1913. This courageous woman inspired many civil rights supporters in 1955 by refusing to give up her seat in the section of an Alabama bus designated only for white customers. Her action added momentum to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and civil rights advocates eventually prevailed.

As could be expected, Parks' childhood eating habits reflected Southern culture, including dinners that featured catfish, fried ham and other meats. But in her adult years, she became a vegetarian.

Authormark & matthew | Comments Off |
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Monday
Jun182012

Let It Be . . . Broccoli

DateMonday, June 18, 2012 at 06:58AM

Paul McCartney turns 70 years old today. Food has figured prominently in the life of this rock 'n roll legend.

In fact, one of the Beatles' most memorable hits started out as a food song. McCartney came up with the melody, but the band struggled for months to decide on its lyrics and title. "We called it 'Scrambled Egg' and it became a joke between us," explained fellow Beatle John Lennon. "We almost had it finished, we had made up our minds that only a one-word title would suit — and believe me, we just couldn’t find the right one." The Fab Four finally agreed to give the song a different three-syllable name: Yesterday.

Although his first solo album (1970) was officially titled "McCartney," many fans refer to it as the "Cherries" album because of the cover photo. 

In 2010, a British columnist asked McCartney about his kitchen skills. "I'm not bad," replied the rock legend. "I can turn a meal out." But he prefers to improvise, instead of sticking strictly to a recipe.

His late wife, Linda, is believed to be the person who turned McCartney into a vegetarian. And there's one veggie that really gets Paul excited. 

"If I go on tour and eat a lot of restaurant or hotel food, I come back, and it's like, yeah, broccoli!" he said.

Authormark & matthew | Comments Off |
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Wednesday
Oct052011

Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

DateWednesday, October 5, 2011 at 08:28PM

As our memoriam to Steve Jobs, who died today, we share some tasty tidbits about the founder of Apple Computer.

Jobs was a vegetarian who named the firm for his favorite fruit. After high school, he worked in an apple orchard. And when he dropped out after one semester of college, he experimented with an all-apple diet, believing it might eliminate the need for him to bathe. It did not.

Jobs was a friend and follower of Dr. Dean Ornish, who recommends a low-fat vegetarian diet. Jobs is particularly fond of broccoli and other green veggies.

Ever since they heard that Jobs was battling cancer, investors began worrying about the future of Apple Computer.  After all, he personally had made so many of Apple’s decisions — even choosing the chef for the company’s cafeteria.

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