A book to own and enjoy, yet with some niggling features. It does not go into the details of taxonomy and cultivation that Pursglove's Tropical Crops (Longman, UK 1968) provided for many years. Not a cookery book: rather an excursion into ethnobotany. The author impresses from the outset with those who want to take issue with the title (what does constitute ‘exotic’ and ‘food’?) and gets away with a list that includes stimulants and barely edible plants. The illustrations – drawings from early sources – are a delight.

The list exceeds 100 by including both close relatives and even groups of plants such as ‘cacti’ and ‘Japanese vegetables’, but each choice can be read separately, making it an easy book to dip into. Copious explanations on the etymology of common and scientific names risk making the reader a smug pedant. Possibly as a result of sourcing from a vast number of references, this list would benefit from the removal of repetitious and overly obscure information. Emphasis on the ‘typical height’ of a species rather than the maximum height would be more realistic.

I suspect that the author, an eminent botanist, enjoyed compiling this information. Not a cheap book, but highly recommended.