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About this book
Guardian & Observer reviews
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Trade review
3rd edition. An exploration of the history of food, and how culture has shaped eating habits.
Synopsis
Cuisine and Culture, Third Edition presents a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic approach to understanding how and why major historical events have affected and defined the culinary traditions in different societies.
Book Details
Publisher:
Wiley
Publication Date:
24-Mar-2011
ISBN:
9780470403716
Guardian review
Cuisine and Culture by Linda Civitello review
the guardian Fri 22 April 2011
The gastronome Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin once said: "Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are." Civitello's historical survey of world cuisine offers many fascinating insights into past and present cultures. Divided into 12 chronologically arranged "courses", the text consists of bite-sized essays on every conceivable aspect of food, from the use of cinnamon and salt by ancient Egyptian embalmers and how Genghis Kahn's warriors drank the blood of their own horses (they made a small slit in its neck and knew just how much to suck without hurting the animal), to the "potato clause" in the contracts of Hollywood stars, which meant they could be sacked for putting on weight. There are even recipes, including wassail (a mulled ale dating from Anglo Saxon times) to a pie filled with live birds yes, the four and twenty blackbirds of the nursery rhyme. This revised and expanded edition of Civitello's book is a splendid cornucopia of foody facts, including the rather startling calculation that Americans consume 100 acres of pizza each and every day.
