Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris By A. J. Liebling - Penguin Modern Classics

Between Meals is the gourmand and journalist A.J. Liebling's delectable account of his time spent eating and drinking in 1920s Paris, under the tutelage of his friend Yves Mirande, 'one of the last of the great around-the-clock gastronomes of France'.

With gluttonous joie de vivre, he fondly recalls everything from glorious dining ('A leg of lamb larded with anchovies, artichokes on a pedestal of foie gras, and four or five kinds of cheese') to bad rose ('a pinkish cross between No-Cal and vinegar'), and an ill-fated sojourn at a Swiss slimming-clinic.

Witty, tart and full of gusto, this is a love song to food, wine and Paris.