Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine“Very cool…a breezy American culinary history that you didn’t know you wanted” (Bon Appetit) reveals a fascinating look at our past and uses long-forgotten recipes to explain how eight flavors changed how we eat. The United States boasts a culturally and ethnically diverse population that makes for a continually changing culinary landscape. But a young historical gastronomist named Sarah Lohman discovered that American food is united by eight flavors: black pepper, vanilla, curry powder, chili powder, soy sauce, garlic, MSG, and Sriracha. In “a unique and surprising view of American history…richly researched, intriguing, and elegantly written” (The Atlantic), Lohman sets out to explore how these influential ingredients made their way to the American table. She begins in the archives, searching through economic, scientific, political, religious, and culinary records. She pores over cookbooks and manuscripts, dating back to the eighteenth century, through modern standards like How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. Lohman discovers when each of these eight flavors first appear in American kitchens—then she asks why. “A fresh, original perspective to American culinary history” (The Christian Science Monitor), Eight Flavors takes you on a journey through the past to tell us something about our present, and our future. We meet John Crowninshield a New England merchant who traveled to Sumatra in the 1790s in search of black pepper. And Edmond Albius, a twelve-year-old slave who lived on an island off the coast of Madagascar, who discovered the technique still used to pollinate vanilla orchids today. Weaving together original research, historical recipes, gorgeous illustrations, and Lohman’s own adventures both in the kitchen and in the field, Eight Flavors is a delicious treat—which “may make you hungry” (Bustle). |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
accessed March Albius American cuisine American food baked beef berries black pepper blend blog bottle bowl Brooklyn broth butter cake called Carême chef chemicals chicken chili con carne chili powder Chili Queens Chinese food Chinese restaurant syndrome chocolate chop suey cloves condiment cookbook cookies Crowninshield culinary curry powder David dinner dish Edmond eggs flavor French fresh garlic Gebhardt glutamic acid green heat History hot sauce Huy Fong Ibid ice cream Ikeda Indian ingredients Italian American jalapeño Japanese Kikkoman Kikunae Ikeda kitchen kombu kombu dashi matcha meat menu Mexican minutes monosodium glutamate nineteenth century onions peppercorns percent plantation popular pumpkin spice Ranji recipe roast Salem salt San Antonio savory served sliced Smile soup soy sauce spicy Sriracha sugar Sumatra tablespoons taste teaspoon Texas tomatoes umami United vanilla bean vanilla extract vanillin venison Vietnam Vietnamese vine Wong wrote York City وو