Status
Available
Genres
Publication
New York : The Free Press, c2002.
Description
Explores eight milestones in the cultural and culinary history of food, including the origins of cooking, the ritualization of eating, the inception of herding, the invention of agriculture, the rise of the class system, food trade, ecological exchanges, and the industrialization and globalization of food.
User reviews
LibraryThing member thierry
This is a fairly good overview of the history and social history of food. The author covers a series of revolutions or evolutions, from the invention of cooking using fire – separating us from animals, to the establishment of agriculture and herding – the domestication of both livestock and
I found this quite informative, and the author makes a compelling case for each of his stages. It was quite surprising to read about what our ancestors ate – from the hominids to Roman reveler and sailors. The food, the dishes and the tastes are fairly well described but the author could have been clearer in his writing, and who the hell knows what 'calid' means and why is it used so often in this book?
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crop is seen as crucial, the rise of ritualistic/magical connotations of eating, through food as a reflection of social differentiation and the current industrialization of food production.I found this quite informative, and the author makes a compelling case for each of his stages. It was quite surprising to read about what our ancestors ate – from the hominids to Roman reveler and sailors. The food, the dishes and the tastes are fairly well described but the author could have been clearer in his writing, and who the hell knows what 'calid' means and why is it used so often in this book?
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LibraryThing member mbmackay
A disappointing cavalcade of facts with little novelty & no unifying big idea.
Read Aug 2006
Read Aug 2006
LibraryThing member Dreesie
Such. A. Slow. Read.
With just 224 pages of text, you would think this would go quickly. But oh the writing. Though this book is very generalized (obviously, 224 pages for a history of food?), the writing style is still very dry and academic. It absolutely does not flow well--each paragraph tends
But, I'm done. It was interesting, but I don't think I'll be reading anything else by this author.
With just 224 pages of text, you would think this would go quickly. But oh the writing. Though this book is very generalized (obviously, 224 pages for a history of food?), the writing style is still very dry and academic. It absolutely does not flow well--each paragraph tends
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to be an example, so each paragraph means trying to figure out how it relates to the section and chapter topics.But, I'm done. It was interesting, but I don't think I'll be reading anything else by this author.
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Subjects
Awards
James Beard Foundation Award (Nominee — 2003)
Language
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