Lives of Notorious Cooks is a set of 51 fictional biographies of great chefs, dating from pre-history to the final days of World War I. These biographies, fantastical in character, often decadent, range from an ancient Greek whose specialty is lentils to a French king who liked nothing better than to prepare ortolans. Taoist sages brush shoulders with excessive Italians, and the skills of the magnificent cooks of Baghdad are displayed alongside those of an ex-slave from Tennessee.