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Cooking across the Ages
In Cooking across the Ages, award-winning Professor Ken Albala of the University of the Pacific takes us on a fascinating international journey through civilizations across the ages—showing us who we were, how we lived, and why—through the lens of cooking. In 24 fascinating lectures, you will learn:
- About the values and flavor preferences of ancient peoples, in addition to the labor that went into their daily tasks;
- How regional foods in the Middle Ages reflected travel and trade among Mediterranean peoples;
- How regional foods in the Renaissance reflected unique relationships between far-flung nations;
- Who turned to cookbooks for medical and romantic advice and why; and
- Why mid-century Americans idealized canned foods as the height of luxury.
- About the values and flavor preferences of ancient peoples, in addition to the labor that went into their daily tasks;
- How regional foods in the Middle Ages reflected travel and trade among Mediterranean peoples;
- How regional foods in the Renaissance reflected unique relationships between far-flung nations;
- Who turned to cookbooks for medical and romantic advice and why; and
- Why mid-century Americans idealized canned foods as the height of luxury.
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 10, 2021
During the last several months, with a pandemic keeping us home and (temporarily?) out of work, I found myself with time to learn to become a better cook. I was not terrible in the kitchen, but I generally kept to a few quick-to-make recipes that I had often made. With that extra time, I was able to broaden my repertoire of recipes and cooking skills.
We own more than 50 of The Great Courses and have found most of them interesting, illuminating, and enjoyable. One of the courses I had recently purchased was the 24 -lecture series taught by Dr. Ken Albala of the University of the Pacific.
Dr. Albala who has a PhD from Columbia, an MA from Yale, and a BA from George Washington University, is a professor of history with a focus on the history of food and cooking. He has written or edited more than 25 books on the subject and writes a blog where he shares many recipes.
I absolutely loved this lecture series. Dr. Albala is hardly a dry speaker. The course appears to have been filmed in his messy kitchen at home. He wore shorts and an open-neck shirt, and clearly was having fun.
Each lecture focused on a particular culture and historic time. Some lecture titles included: Ancient Rome: Cooking with Apicius; Imperial China: Soybeans and Dumplings; Feast like a Viking with Meat and Beer; Renaissance Italy’s Sweets and Pasta; The Birth of French Haute Cuisine; America’s Can-Opener Cookbook and others.
Each half-hour lecture included not only information about history and culture, but also featured Dr. Albala making a bigger mess in his kitchen as he prepared food from ancient / old cookbooks including the manuscript of a Puritan woman named Lettice Pudsey (love the name!) and demonstrated cooking techniques.
Not often would I say a lecture series is a “hard to put down,” but this one is. The series, which is often on sale through The Great Courses, also comes with a 200+ page book filled with recipes. Back to the kitchen to try another recipe!
We own more than 50 of The Great Courses and have found most of them interesting, illuminating, and enjoyable. One of the courses I had recently purchased was the 24 -lecture series taught by Dr. Ken Albala of the University of the Pacific.
Dr. Albala who has a PhD from Columbia, an MA from Yale, and a BA from George Washington University, is a professor of history with a focus on the history of food and cooking. He has written or edited more than 25 books on the subject and writes a blog where he shares many recipes.
I absolutely loved this lecture series. Dr. Albala is hardly a dry speaker. The course appears to have been filmed in his messy kitchen at home. He wore shorts and an open-neck shirt, and clearly was having fun.
Each lecture focused on a particular culture and historic time. Some lecture titles included: Ancient Rome: Cooking with Apicius; Imperial China: Soybeans and Dumplings; Feast like a Viking with Meat and Beer; Renaissance Italy’s Sweets and Pasta; The Birth of French Haute Cuisine; America’s Can-Opener Cookbook and others.
Each half-hour lecture included not only information about history and culture, but also featured Dr. Albala making a bigger mess in his kitchen as he prepared food from ancient / old cookbooks including the manuscript of a Puritan woman named Lettice Pudsey (love the name!) and demonstrated cooking techniques.
Not often would I say a lecture series is a “hard to put down,” but this one is. The series, which is often on sale through The Great Courses, also comes with a 200+ page book filled with recipes. Back to the kitchen to try another recipe!
June 21, 2020
Dr. Albala's previous GC series was Food: A Cultural History, which I really enjoyed. The man has an encyclopedic knowledge of culinary customs/history, and presents his topics through a wide lens that ties what was happening in the kitchens and fields of an area to what was happening economically, politically, and even religiously in an area.
Unlike the previous course, which was 90% lecture and 10% demonstration, this course is much less formal. It takes place in his own kitchen, and Albala's goal is "understanding culture through cooking." To that end, there is a LOT of cooking going on with a running narrative about history and culture. In each section, he frames the material around a cookbook from that period, discusses what was happening in the world during that time, and discusses (makes) three or four recipes from the selected cookbook. The areas covered include ancient Rome, Medieval Egypt, Imperial Spain, India, Post-Puritan New England, French Canada, China's last Dynasty, working class Victorian England, and the ties between Brazil and West Africa. The next-to-last section is about a 1950s "Can Opener Cookbook" -- which is unintentionally hilarious to me since I remember too well some of that...we'll call it food.
What I liked about the demonstration portion of this material is that Albala shows how the current fixation of obsessing over exact measurements and people needing step-by-step pictures is a very new thing. In the past, recipes were roadmaps more than regimented processes. Instructions were often vague and assumed the cook had basic knowledge and skill to fill in the rest. Measurements, when they existed, were more like recommendations than unbreakable rules. And Albala demonstrates how that works. I think he didn't actually pull out a measuring cup until one of the last sections. His instructions are full of "if you can't get X, use Y or Z," and "if you don't like X, don't use it," or "about this much, more or less" as he eyeballs ingredients. "Don't worry about it -- it will be fine" almost becomes a mantra throughout the series. And he's right. There is very little that will got horribly wrong if you toss in an extra handful of something or your onions aren't perfectly diced. It is modern food TV and cookbooks that have made people afraid to go into their kitchens.
On the other hand, what keeps me from rating this course higher is mostly the demonstration parts. Granted, I'm a neat freak in the kitchen. I come from a restaurant background. Cleanliness and safe food handling is almost a religion to me. So I watched uncomfortably while Albala stuck his hands into this thing and then that with no signs of washing them in between, then licked his fingers (a lot), then touched his hair, and seemed to never wipe down his cutting board. Now, granted, the pretense of the show is that he's cooking for himself, and he's probably the only person eating what he made, but I think he underestimates the effect those habits have on people who don't cook much. "Oh, it's fine to do that -- I saw this professor do it in this course." And if one has a raw wound on one's hand, for the love of easily queasy people everywhere, put on a freaking glove if you're going to mix with your hands, please. And for the love of city wastewater systems, don't throw grease down the sink because people who watch will think that's perfectly fine. The other thing that bugged me is that I felt he wasted a lot of time by not having the ingredients ready before starting the recipe. Doing so probably would have let him talk about the history, culture, process with more focus and fluidity.
Bottom line: The more casual approach worked for this course, but I think it needs fine-tuning. The history of the cookbooks and cultural tie-ins were terrific. Those who have a stronger stomach for dubious kitchen hygiene and inefficient prep will probably be able to rate this higher than I did.
Unlike the previous course, which was 90% lecture and 10% demonstration, this course is much less formal. It takes place in his own kitchen, and Albala's goal is "understanding culture through cooking." To that end, there is a LOT of cooking going on with a running narrative about history and culture. In each section, he frames the material around a cookbook from that period, discusses what was happening in the world during that time, and discusses (makes) three or four recipes from the selected cookbook. The areas covered include ancient Rome, Medieval Egypt, Imperial Spain, India, Post-Puritan New England, French Canada, China's last Dynasty, working class Victorian England, and the ties between Brazil and West Africa. The next-to-last section is about a 1950s "Can Opener Cookbook" -- which is unintentionally hilarious to me since I remember too well some of that...we'll call it food.
What I liked about the demonstration portion of this material is that Albala shows how the current fixation of obsessing over exact measurements and people needing step-by-step pictures is a very new thing. In the past, recipes were roadmaps more than regimented processes. Instructions were often vague and assumed the cook had basic knowledge and skill to fill in the rest. Measurements, when they existed, were more like recommendations than unbreakable rules. And Albala demonstrates how that works. I think he didn't actually pull out a measuring cup until one of the last sections. His instructions are full of "if you can't get X, use Y or Z," and "if you don't like X, don't use it," or "about this much, more or less" as he eyeballs ingredients. "Don't worry about it -- it will be fine" almost becomes a mantra throughout the series. And he's right. There is very little that will got horribly wrong if you toss in an extra handful of something or your onions aren't perfectly diced. It is modern food TV and cookbooks that have made people afraid to go into their kitchens.
On the other hand, what keeps me from rating this course higher is mostly the demonstration parts. Granted, I'm a neat freak in the kitchen. I come from a restaurant background. Cleanliness and safe food handling is almost a religion to me. So I watched uncomfortably while Albala stuck his hands into this thing and then that with no signs of washing them in between, then licked his fingers (a lot), then touched his hair, and seemed to never wipe down his cutting board. Now, granted, the pretense of the show is that he's cooking for himself, and he's probably the only person eating what he made, but I think he underestimates the effect those habits have on people who don't cook much. "Oh, it's fine to do that -- I saw this professor do it in this course." And if one has a raw wound on one's hand, for the love of easily queasy people everywhere, put on a freaking glove if you're going to mix with your hands, please. And for the love of city wastewater systems, don't throw grease down the sink because people who watch will think that's perfectly fine. The other thing that bugged me is that I felt he wasted a lot of time by not having the ingredients ready before starting the recipe. Doing so probably would have let him talk about the history, culture, process with more focus and fluidity.
Bottom line: The more casual approach worked for this course, but I think it needs fine-tuning. The history of the cookbooks and cultural tie-ins were terrific. Those who have a stronger stomach for dubious kitchen hygiene and inefficient prep will probably be able to rate this higher than I did.
November 24, 2022
Really interesting course and book. Great history lessons.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews