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Product Details
Hardcover: 2208 pages
Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (October 9, 2000)
Due to the growing awareness of culinary history, books which trace the paths of culinary treasures to their sources have become increasingly popular.
"That about half of the books are recently published encourages me to believe that historians have begun to take food history seriously. And it makes me feel good to think that there are at least a few people out there who like a little history with their dinner. -Michael Hastings, discussing the site called Food Books.
While this extravagant two-volume work may seem overwhelming, scientific and highly intellectual, it is a true researchers dream reference. I was almost overwhelmed by the sheer volume of condensed knowledge. I had to work up the courage to casually page through the two volumes for over a week. You can hardly hold and read one book while standing. The books are reference size and quite heavy.
Once you open the first volume you will realize the incredible amount of work which went into this compilation. Not only did 160 scholars prepare over 200 entries, it was edited by an army of highly qualified professionals. It is in fact a collection of original essays.
If you have a thirst for knowledge and a hunger for tantalizing tidbits, this set will satisfy your appetite. I recommend glancing through the book to become aware of its properties and then taking time each day to read about one specific food. Otherwise, it will be too overwhelming. I found the story of sago, cacao, chickens, coffee and onions interesting, yet I had read many of the history details in other works. What I have never seen was all the additional information provided in such detail, it is exhaustive.
The author makes an excellent point by explaining how central food is to history.Read more ›
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I ordered this LARGE and EXPENSIVE volume for my wife, because she loves cooking. Since then, she has been teaching me about ancient and mideval history and the rise and fall of empires and civilizations! i thought I was the history nerd! Now she is reading on history, politics, and all other subjects that she would have rather had cancer than having to listen to the subject. These books are well beyond extremely impressive and organized. Now we (playfully) fight over them!!!
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34 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Part of the dissatisfaction among some reviewers is that this book is not a light, cheerful cook-book/dictionary. For those who want something more along those lines, there are plenty of light-weight volumes that purport to tell the story of this or that cooking tradition with lots of nice glossy pictures and maybe more than three accurate facts if you're really lucky. Try Jane and Michael Stern's road trip food voyages for example. This two volume set is not for the faint of heart. It is a book for the enthusiast and the professional food historian alike: people who are looking for the social, biological and historical context to the food they enjoy. It is not completely encyclopaedic and there are a few inaccuracies in the identification of plant names and such but these are minor quibbles in the face of the sheer comprehensiveness of the work and the undoubted scholarly care that has gone into its preparation. I for one appreciated the early chapters on the archaeology of food. People tend to forget the time depth that surrounds eating as a human activity. This is not surprising in a modern world that emphasizes fast food over aesthetics or knowledge. It's my observation that those who are most interested in food purely as a consumable item seem to have little interest in where it really comes from. For example, one of the great tragedies of modern industrial living is the increasing absence of knowledge of or even respect for the fact that real animals died to provide you with your McChicken Burger, or your Poached Sole in Tuscan Orange Sauce. This book is an invaluable reference. I recommend it to all my students in my Anthropology of Food and Eating class, and I myself use it all the time.Read more ›
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I was writing a historical cookbook and this was a wonderful source! Thanks! I read it for fun! I never knew a lot of the real history of individual foods.
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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful
If you are hardcore into food history this book is for you. The articles are done in a dry academic style but are absolutely full of information. Folks who are into nutritional or food anthropology will have hours of reading before them. Be prepared, the articles are long. The food dictionary section is not as detailed as say the Oxford Dictionary of Food but it is still good. The main complaint that may be raised is the fact that there are some foods that are ignored or not given their own specialty article. I was surprised to see only wine was covered for alcoholic beverages in great detail while a general article on "distilled beverages" covered the rest of the alcohol world. Folks hoping to find a detailed discussion on beer or other grain based drinks wil have to look elsewhere. Do not expect any recipes. Instead, you will find academic articles on a variety of topics all related to food. It is not as comprehensive as one may think but it is very WIDE none the less. It is a monumental work and deserves a great deal of praise. Highy recommended for the collection, but you will think that there should have been more. Buy other great reference books as well to round out your collection and your information.
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This item: The Cambridge World History of Food (2-Volume Set)
