Review: Food in History
Editorial Review - Kirkus ReviewsFood -- and how it was hunted, skinned, planted, tilled, harvested, distributed, sold, stored, salted, baked, boiled, sauced, served and devoured -- from the days of Peking Man whose diet was 70% venison to the sumptuous banquets of Rome where a wild sow with a bellyful of live thrushes might be the centerpiece to the bread and beer of the 19th century English working class. Indeed, Miss Tannahill has done a remarkable job in assembling history from the point of view of the stomach. The range and breadth of culinary lore is prodigious; Tannahill moves lightly from a discussion of how wheat shortages in the Roman Empire hastened its collapse, to the 15th-century spice trade which proved the impetus behind the Age of Exploration, to the peregrinations of the turkey and the potato from America to Europe, to the slow evolution of competing ""national cuisines."" Serious matters like the impact of eating habits on trade and commercial development are leavened with tidbits from the notebooks of itinerant gourmets and cookbooks from centuries past. You'll be startled to learn that the humble spud was credited with the power to ""increase seed and promote lust"" in England while the Burgundians believed that ""too frequent use of them caused the leprosy."" Immensely satisfying fare with 150 black and white illustrations, maps and line drawings.
Review: Food in History
User Review - Jeff Kissel - GoodreadsOut of date, particularly the ending and some conclusions on the latest health claims of particular processed foods. However, the material is still strong throughout and provides a lot of detail...too ... Read full review
Review: Food in History
User Review - Jean Perry - GoodreadsI really liked the beginning of the book, because i knew little about what primitive people and early historical people ate, or didn't eat and how it effected them. As he got further along in history ... Read full review
Review: Food in History
User Review - Pancha - GoodreadsSpans the history of food from speculation about prehistory to speculation about the future. While Asia and the Americas do get a fair bit of coverage, info on Africa is pretty sparse, while Europe ... Read full review
Review: Food in History
User Review - Nick Chandler-klein - GoodreadsA fantastic book about the relationship between humankind and its food sources. Quality content, compellingly written. And while this is not the focus of the book, the epilogue is, with the exception ... Read full review
Review: Food in History
User Review - Miz Mockingbird - GoodreadsTHE finest book on Western culinary history, to my mind. Read full review
Review: Food in History
User Review - cathepsut - Goodreads"Food in History, a panoramic survey of a vast and fascinating subject, will appeal to any and every reader with a general, civilised interest in food and eating. Spanning over half a million years ... Read full review
Review: Food in History
User Review - Seth Pierce - GoodreadsRead it for a class and was really surprised how interesting it was. Read full review
Review: Food in History
User Review - Vic Tripathy - GoodreadsOne of my favorite books. Got from a book store in Eugene, Oregon. I refer to it frequently. Love food and it's roots:) Read full review
Review: Food in History
User Review - Antun Karlovac - GoodreadsThis is a very comprehensive book about food from prehistory to the modern world. Pretty much everything is covered right from pre-farming days, although the book doesn't really go into detail about ... Read full review
