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10th out of 60 books
—
5 voters
History of Food
This wide-ranging and comprehensive reference history covers in one volume the history of foodstuffs, the story of cuisine and the social history of eating. From the origins of mankind, and the transition from a vegetable to an increasingly carnivorous diet, the story unfolds of the interrelationship between people and diet, between particular foods and social mores, betwe...more
Paperback, 824 pages
Published
September 28th 1994
by Wiley-Blackwell
(first published 1987)
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This is pretty much required reading for anyone with a serious interest in comprehensive food history. It is dense with information and carefully organized. My one big quibble is that Toussaint-Samat uses footnotes very sparingly. This is already frustrating when trying to track down some of her sources; it is all the worst when she passes on erroneous information. Which she unfortunately does on a number of occasions - Le Grand d'Aussy's distorted account of Charlemagne's cheese (which she furt...more
Despite the Euro and Franco-centric scope of the book as broader history, this book contains fascinating food scholarship wrapped into cogent narrative morsels. Many people I know use it as a reference book but I couldn't put it down and read it cover-to-cover.
Sep 22, 2010
Rebecca Huston
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
cookbooks,
non-fiction
A whacking huge brick of a book, but if you're at all interested in culinary history, or want to know where an ingredient was first eaten and when, this book will tell you. Lots of pictures, lots of detail, this is one of my keepers.
For the more complete review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/review/Histor...
For the more complete review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/review/Histor...
I agree with a previous reviewer -- the focus is very euro-centric, with North America considered and Asia added as afterthoughts for some topics. However, thoroughly researched and terribly informational. I used it as a reference for a paper and found myself plowing through the rest of it out of sheer curiosity and interest.
A bit dry... not a book you pick up and walk around with, but a book you pick up and haul to the couch/bed/chair and read...then sleep.
Delicious! MANY courses, served over many, many, many months! At 705 pages, I'll be salivating over this for some time to come I'm sure!
I've been waiting a long time for a book of this breadth. Pretty heavy on the frankophile perspective but that's to be expected.
As other reviewers have said, this is definitely Euro-centric. It is sometimes a little dry, but still pretty engaging.
One of my favorite books - WOW! What a joy to read the history and evolution of food.
Just reading this updated (by Betty Fussell!) edition of a classic- Wow!
An excellent tome! Wish I could have read it all before I had to turn it in.
Jan 21, 2009
S.R. Dantzler
is currently reading it
Great stuff if you are a foodie!
An interesting read
A crazy mix of anthropology, history, classical allusions, anecdotes, commentary and cultural history all wrapped up in a robust love for gastronomy and a Franco-orientation. Delightful (and very very long) so long as you don't take as the gospel truth. Quite the fascinating read.
This had just the information I was looking for -- which is just what Publisher's Weekly didn't like about it. I wanted to find information about French food from medieval through 1800s, and there's quite a bit about that in here. Loved the mix of history and edibles.
Extremely enjoyable, but eventually got tired of using Bible verse as historical proof. Read first half then skimmed second half. A good resource if somewhat unreliable. See Amazon reviews.
Tried to read this one mainly because JG Ballard had it on his bookshelf but got way too bogged down in it...finally gave up. Just too general, sprawling and scattershot for my liking...perhaps I'll try a more specific food-item book, like "Cod", or "Salt"...hmm, I'm getting hungry all of a sudden...
Jan 28, 2008
Amy
marked it as to-read
This is more of a reference book, and it's about three inches thick, so maybe it will always stay on my to-read "shelf".
Jan 25, 2011
Elizabeth Brumbaugh
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Food and History Lovers
Shelves:
nonfiction
I read this a lot. Very intresting, a little hard to read. But still intresting.
I haven't finished this book but I will finish this book because it is FASCINATING.
Nov 19, 2007
Bryan Rucker
is currently reading it
this one's gonna take me a while...
Jun 16, 2013
Tenzin
marked it as to-read
Jun 15, 2013
Joe
marked it as to-read
Jun 14, 2013
Rachel
marked it as to-read
Jun 11, 2013
Kristen
marked it as to-read
Jun 09, 2013
Zuzana
marked it as to-read
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