Dubbed the undisputed “Indiana Jones of food science,” Professor Massimo Marcone ventures into the bizarre world of food delicacies with this follow-up to his much lauded previous book, In Bad Taste. Part travelogue, part scientific journal, Pass the Food goes where no other book has gone before. Dr. Marcone describes his journeys into remote regions around the world, often risking life and limb in his quest to explore and explain why people eat what they eat. Whether it’s shark-fin soup, maggot-infested cheese, ant eggs, scorpions, fried grasshoppers, or seal-flipper pie, Marcone approaches his subject with the zeal of a scientist, but also with flabbergasted amazement at what human beings are willing to eat to sustain themselves. His investigations lead to fundamental questions: Why do people eat this food, and what makes it a delicacy? Is it a delicacy simply because it is rare or odd? Why is it so expensive? Is it truly quantifiably different or better than their more conventional varieties?