Manifold Destiny: The One, the Only, Guide to Cooking on Your Car Engine!

Feeling a mite peckish on those long road trips? Pack along this humorous cookbook and whip up Cajun-style shrimp in your car or recreational vehicle. All you need are shrimp, pork fat, ``whatever `Cajun' seasonings you've seen advertised,'' a set of wheels and someplace to go. Cook on a medium-hot part of the engine for about 55 miles. If that's too much work, pick up several stuffed peppers (preferably from a backwater North Jersey Italian deli), wrap them in foil and pop under the hood. Maynard, a photographer, and Scheller, a travel writer, are as adept at roasting trendy cookery as they are at warming pastrami sandwiches while they drive an auto rally. They teach drivers to view their vehicles in a new way, locating cooking surfaces via the ``burn your finger'' method of temperature verification. They may even change the way people select new cars: the Chevrolet Celebrity GL offers six servings, while the Camry has only three but sports a bun warmer, a feature seldom mentioned in Toyota ads. The authors sober up to serve a clear warning: carelessness under the hood can be dangerous to car and driver. Illustrations not seen by PW. Author tour. (Sept.)