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Title details for Cuisine and Empire by Rachel Laudan - Available

Cuisine and Empire

Cooking in World History

by Rachel Laudan
ebook
2 of 2 copies available
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2 of 2 copies available
Rachel Laudan tells the remarkable story of the rise and fall of the world's great cuisines—from the mastery of grain cooking some twenty thousand years ago, to the present—in this superbly researched book. Probing beneath the apparent confusion of dozens of cuisines to reveal the underlying simplicity of the culinary family tree, she shows how periodic seismic shifts in "culinary philosophy"—beliefs about health, the economy, politics, society and the gods—prompted the construction of new cuisines, a handful of which, chosen as the cuisines of empires, came to dominate the globe.

Cuisine and Empire shows how merchants, missionaries, and the military took cuisines over mountains, oceans, deserts, and across political frontiers. Laudan's innovative narrative treats cuisine, like language, clothing, or architecture, as something constructed by humans. By emphasizing how cooking turns farm products into food and by taking the globe rather than the nation as the stage, she challenges the agrarian, romantic, and nationalistic myths that underlie the contemporary food movement.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    October 10, 2013

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780520954915

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780520954915
      • File size: 25135 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      October 1, 2013

      In her new book, Jane Grigson Prize-winning author Laudan (The Food of Paradise: Exploring Hawaii's Culinary Heritage) has written a broad overview of culinary history, from early humans to McDonald's. Laudan does an excellent job of taking the reader across the globe and through time, using food as her vehicle. She explores how cuisines moved and evolved as a result of changes in politics, society, and religion as well as evolving health beliefs. For instance, Laudan describes how during the 17th century, fermentation was deemed more important than cooking; thus, foods such as mushrooms and fresh fruit were considered healthy, despite years of tradition to the contrary. Notably, the author also shows how armies helped spread foods--the Romans, for example, took their cuisine to the Orient and brought Eastern cooking back to Rome. Laudan successfully breaks down a complex and sweeping topic into a fascinating read. VERDICT This well-written and well-researched scholarly work will appeal to historians as well as foodies.--Lisa Ennis, Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham

      Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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