Cupboard Love: A Dictionary of Culinary Curiosities

By Mark Morton

Coming in 2024

Cupboard Love: A Dictionary of Culinary Curiosities, originally published by Bain & Cox in 1996,  explores the etymological origins of more than a one thousand English words pertaining to food, cooking, and eating. In 2003, it was translated into Czech and published by Volvox Globator (Prague) as Nadívaný pštros. A second and expanded edition was published by Insomniac Press in 2004. It was one of three books nominated for a 1996 Julia Child Cookbook Award in the Food Reference/Technical Category (Calphalon Award), and was included in The Globe and Mail’s list of “required reading” notable books for 1997.

“Morton lays out the histories of hundreds of food-related terms as deftly and completely as any casual reader could wish.” – The Atlantic

“A whimsical, side-splitting, erudite and sometimes cheeky book.” – The Globe and Mail

“Morton has brought together terms from a la to Zuppa Inglese that occur in the history of cuisine. Worldwide in scope and reaching back hundreds of years, the book reveals how food words came about and how they influenced other words and phrases . . . Thoroughly researched, well presented, fascinating, and a wonderful addition to reference collections, especially for libraries supporting interest in culinary arts or etymology.” – Choice Reviews