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The Rituals of Dinner: The Origins, Evolution, Eccentricities and Meaning of Table Manners
Margaret Visser · back to the book
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24 books with the same feel
Hide books by the same authorNear a Thousand Tables: A History of Food
Felipe Fernandez-Armesto · 258 pages
The True History of Chocolate
Sophie D. Coe, Michael D. Coe · 280 pages
"The food of the gods": Delicious indulgence or cause of migraines? Aphrodisiac or medicinal tonic? Religious symbol or Mesoamerican currency? This tale of one of the world's favorite foods draws upon botany, archaeology, socioeconomics and culinary history to present for the first time a complete and accurate history of chocolate. The story begins some 3000 years ago in the jungles of lowland Mex
Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture
Marvin Harris · 289 pages
Why are human food habits so diverse? Why do Americans recoil at the thought of dog meat? Jews and Moslems, pork? Hindus, beef? Why do Asians abhor milk? In *Good to Eat*, bestselling author Marvin Harris leads readers on an informative detective adventure to solve the world's major food puzzles. He explains the diversity of the world's gastronomic customs, demonstrating that what appear at first
The Food of a Younger Land: The WPA's Portrait of Food in Pre-World War II America
Mark Kurlansky · 397 pages
This book is a portrait of American food -- before the national highway system, before chain restaurants, and before frozen food, when the nation's food was seasonal, regional, and traditional -- from the lost WPA files. An anthology with introduction and annotations of the unpublished manuscripts from the last WPA writers project, an exploration of food and eating in America in 1940. This broad a
In the Devil's Garden: A Sinful History of Forbidden Food
Stewart Lee Allen · 331 pages
Among the foods thought to encourage lust, the love apple (now known as the tomato), wormed its way over pastas and into catsup. The morality of this fruit was questioned due to its similarity to a plant called the mandrake, which medieval people believed carried demonic spirits (Joan of Arc's alleged possession of a mandrake root was one of the crimes that sent her to the stake). The sin of sloth
Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation
Michael Pollan · 480 pages
"Fire, water, air, earth--our most trusted food expert recounts the story of his culinary education In Cooked, Michael Pollan explores the previously uncharted territory of his own kitchen. Here, he discovers the enduring power of the four classical elements--fire, water, air, and earth--to transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink. Apprenticing himself to a succession o
The United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation
David Kamp · 416 pages
One day we woke up and realized that our "macaroni" had become "pasta," that our Wonder Bread had been replaced by organic whole wheat, that sushi was fast food, and that our tomatoes were heirlooms. How did all this happen, and who made it happen? The United States of Arugula is the rollicking, revealing chronicle of how gourmet eating in America went from obscure to pervasive, thanks to the cont
Provence, 1970: M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste
Luke Barr · 320 pages
Uncorrected Proof - Not For Sale. NOTE: Chapters and narrative pages are numbered. Ditto NOTES AND SOURCES, BIBLIOGRAPHY AND INDEX. But no page numbers are shown in the TABLE OF CONTENTS.
America the Edible: A Hungry History, From Sea to Dining Sea
Adam Richman · 271 pages
"The host of Travel Channel's most popular show explains how iconic American foods have captured our culinary imaginations. You won't look at a bagel the same way again! In America the Edible, Travel Channel host Adam Richman tackles the ins and outs of American cuisine, demonstrating his own unique brand of culinary anthropology. Believing that regional cuisine reveals far more than just our tas
Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar
David Wondrich · 326 pages
From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a salute in stories and drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, pioneer of the American bar. Featuring the original formulae for 100 classic American drinks and a selection of new drinks contributed in his honor by the leading mixologists of our time.
Fannie's Last Supper: Re-creating One Amazing Meal from Fannie Farmer's 1896 Cookbook
Christopher Kimball
History of the Natural and Organic Foods Movement (1942-2020)
William Shurtleff; Akiko Aoyagi; · 1,237 pages
The world's most comprehensive, well documented and well illustrated book on this subject. With extensive subject and geographical index. 66 photographs and illustrations - mostly color. Free of charge in digital PDF format on Google Books.
A History of the World in 6 Glasses
Tom Standage · 323 pages
Throughout human history certain drinks have done much more than just quench thirst. As Tom Standage relates with authority and charm, six of them have had a surprisingly pervasive influence on the course of history during pivotal epochs -- from humankind's adoption of agriculture and the birth of cities to the advent of globalization. A history of the World in 6 Glasses presents an original, well
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
Harold McGee · 684 pages
Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking is a kitchen classic. Hailed by Time magazine as "a minor masterpiece" when it first appeared in 1984, On Food and Cooking is the bible to which food lovers and professional chefs worldwide turn for an understanding of where our foods come from, what exactly they're made of, and how cooking transforms them into something new and delicious. Now, for its twentieth
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food
Jennifer 8. Lee · 314 pages
If you think McDonald's is the most ubiquitous restaurant experience in America, consider that there are more Chinese restaurants in America than McDonalds, Burger Kings, and Wendys combined. New York Times reporter and Chinese-American (or American-born Chinese). In her search, Jennifer 8 Lee traces the history of Chinese-American experience through the lens of the food. In a compelling blend of
Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Longing
Anya von Bremzen · 338 pages
Born in a surreal Moscow communal apartment where eighteen families shared one kitchen, the author grew up singing odes to Lenin, black-marketeering Juicy Fruit gum at school, and longing for a taste of the mythical West. It was a life by turns absurd, drab, naively joyous, melancholy and, finally, intolerable.
Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine
George M. Taber · 336 pages
The author recalls the historic events surrounding the 1976 wine tasting contest where top French wine experts compared some of France's most famous wines with the new California wines, and describes the results and the impact on the wine industry.
Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine
Sarah Lohman · 292 pages
What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women and the Food That Tells Their Stories
Laura Shapiro · 313 pages
"A beloved culinary historian's short takes on six famous women through the lens of food and cooking--what they ate and how their attitudes toward food offer surprising new insights into their lives. Everyone eats, and food touches on every aspect of our lives--social and cultural, personal and political. Yet most biographers pay little attention to people's attitudes toward food, as if the great
Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil
Tom Mueller · 238 pages
For millennia, fresh olive oil has been one of life's necessities, not just as food but also as medicine, a beauty aid, and a vital element of religious ritual. Today's researchers are continuing to confirm the remarkable, life giving properties of true extra-virgin, and "extra-virgin Italian" has become the highest standard of quality. But what if this symbol of purity has become deeply corrupt?
The Physiology of Taste: Or, Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin · 395 pages
The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York
Claudia Roden · 616 pages
In more than 800 glorious recipes interwoven with stories, reminiscences, and history, Claudia Roden traces the fascinating development of Jewish cooking over the centuries. The recipes - many of them never before documented - are the treasures garnered by the author during almost fifteen years of traveling around the world, tasting, watching, collecting recipes, talking to cooks and food sellers,