Edible books should be easy to make using a sort of cellulose pulp with some soy mixed in for nourishment, maybe even add some sugar.
If a nomadic soul has exausted his survival abilities in the great wilderness, this would make for a handy last resort.-- daseva, Jan 22 2007 Land Rover Edible Desert Survival Guide http://theinspirati...ert-survival-guide/ [xaviergisz, Jun 17 2012] "Shit! A bear! On top of everything else, a bear! What do we do, Jim? What does the guidebook say?" "Uhm, I'm afraid bear attacks were yesterday's lunch. All we've got left are snakebite cures and a list of edible mushrooms..."
Good idea, though.-- lostdog, Jan 22 2007 You'll have to carry it in a plastic bag so that ambient moisture doesn't cause it to break down and become mushy. Let me tell you from experience, NOBODY likes to eat mushy paper.-- shapu, Jan 22 2007 Surely all paper quickly becomes mushy when introduced to the mouth?-- Texticle, Jan 22 2007 Currently, books are made out of a sort of cellulose pulp.-- bungston, Jan 22 2007 the recipe page would of course be inedible-- xenzag, Jan 23 2007 I dunno, [xenzag]. If I only need enough energy to get over the hill to civilization, but I'm completely tired and there are no ingredients around to cook with, I am going to need that edible recipe page.-- daseva, Jan 23 2007 I like the idea of the forlorn traveller getting lost somewhere, being forced to eat his survival book, only to be presented with a situation (say, a plethora of wild mushrooms, or meeting a tribe of people with counter-intuitive (but well documented) cultural traditions) in which the book would have proved invaluable.-- zen_tom, Jan 23 2007 It gets a bun from me as long as in the desert island SOS chapter it clearly advises the removal of said beach sign before rescue.-- theleopard, Jan 23 2007 Bungston made me laugh, but on the other hand, humans can't digest cellulose, so your survival book would kill people. Probably by constipation and malnutrition, simultaneously, which sounds rather a horrid way to go. I'll take my chances with the bear.
Might I suggest rice paper? Then you could make some really nice rolls with the wild mushrooms.-- BunsenHoneydew, Jan 23 2007 //NOBODY likes to eat mushy paper.//
So the mushroom chapter's off the menu then?-- BunsenHoneydew, Jan 23 2007 If you don't mind stiff pages you could print on matzos. I have heard of blind people reading matzos as brail and being offended by the contents.-- JSand, Jan 26 2007 //So the mushroom chapter's off the menu then?//
It would be cool if the pages had the essence of their content absorbed into them.
"Mines the psylocybin please."
"Mike over there has broken his wrist, give him the opium poppy"-- webfishrune, Jan 26 2007 They did it! I can't believe it! Arrgh!-- daseva, Jun 19 2012 Yet another Halfbaker learns the tragedy of true genius: if the idea is a really good one, eventually someone with a huge R&D budget will bake it.-- Alterother, Jun 19 2012 //...if the idea is a really good one, eventually someone with a huge R&D budget will bake it.//
That's not a tragedy, that's a blessing. Being credited as the inspiration would be nice though.-- xaviergisz, Jun 19 2012 Baked back in the 80's, I still have the book somewhere in my loft, but I have never tried to eat it. Not sure how nutritious it would be now, but I understand it had been fortified with vitamins which must have degraded by now. Sorry Baked [-ve]-- PainOCommonSense, Jun 19 2012 // blind people reading matzos as brail and being offended by the contents.
Yes, and the old Stevie Wonder joke, about him getting a cheesegrater for xmas and saying it was the most violent book he'd ever read..
But, more seriously, norii (as in that flat seaweed), you could write on it with a vegetable paste, and use wasabi for punctuation/danger signs. Three large blobs of wasabi for do not eat the pufferfish.-- not_morrison_rm, Jun 19 2012 random, halfbakery