Customer Reviews

Food in History

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Food in History is an excellent introduction to a piece of human history that is probably so obviously important it's not widely researched: the crucial part that food played and plays in human society. Sure, everyone learns about how the spice trade was a leading factor in the Age of Exploration, and the discovery of crop rotation in the early Middle Ages, which "killed more than one child's interest in history" as the author rightly points out. This book goes much farther than that, showing the development of eating habits from neolithic man up to the early/mid 20th Century. Along the way, the author points out some truths that will be unpleasant to the food faddists of the early 21st Century: Humans ARE omnivores by evolution, and salt is also an evolution-induced craving, are just two of the basic points in the story of humans and food. (Speaking of food fads, these aren't limited to our Century and the US, fruit was considered dangerous by more than one culture and for reasons that sound depressingly familiar concerning dietary recommendations today...)
In a survey like this one, it can't do justice to EVERY culture's cuisine, but it does come close. Roman, Arab, Indian, Asian, and the influence of the Americas on European foods are well covered. The prose is lively, much wittier than I thought it would be given the subject, but also scholastic.
Is this a "popular" history? Yeah, I would say so, but there is also great material in here for the student and historian. So much so, that Food in History would make a great supplemental book for a World History course. Highly recommended.

I deeply enjoyed this engrossing read. Tannahill has done a superb job mixing history, culture, and the culinary arts. As a student of culture and a lover of food I was drawn in by Tannahill's attention to detail, while at the same time writing an informative work that was easy to read and hard to put down. My one and only criticism lies in her choices for footnotes. I was puzzled by her choice to footnote the definition for porter (it's possible that porter was a unique drink in 1977 when the book was first written), while on numerous occasions not footnoting the references to regional foods, ingredients, and preparations. I soon found that referring to my copies of the Food Lover's Companion (Herbst, 1995) and the American Heritage Dictionary (2001) made for a much fuller reading experience. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with a love of food and culture, Tannahill will not disappoint.

This book is a comprehensive overview of both the history of food and how food changed history. Tannahill describes what people ate all over the world from prehistoric times through the present. The book is divided into the following sections: prehistoric times, 3000 BC to 1000 AD, 1000 AD to 1492, 1492-1789, and 1789 to the present. In each section, there are separate chapters on areas of the world, such as China, India, the Arab World, Europe, and the Americas. One slightly annoying facet of the book is Tannahill's tendency to shift focus from one time or region to another as she describes a topic in detail (for example, in chapter 12 where she is describing the animals that were kept in medieval towns in Europe, she includes comments about 19th century New York.) Tannahill writes from a British vantage point, and occasionally displays some lack of understanding of American culture, which can be either amusing or annoying for American readers (such as when she suggests that America is "more hygiene-conscious than other countries" "because it played host to so many religious sects that held cleanliness inseparable from godliness"). Nevertheless, these shortcomings are quite small, and the book is extremely informative and interesting to read.

"Food in History" is a survey of world history from the standpoint of what people ate and when. The time period covered is from the prehistoric up until nearly the present. Along the way the author gives us a brief history of the eating habits of the Romans (unborn rabbits!), China, India, the Arabs, the Europeans, and the modern world. She includes brief histories of tea, coffee, salt, jerky, chocolate, human beings, and many other food items.

This is not a recipe or a nutrition book -- although the author includes ancient recipes and comments on nutritional diseases such as scurvy. Many a fascinating tidbit of information is found within these pages. For example, I learned that the Romans were addicted to a fish sauce they called liquamen which seems to be nearly identical to the fish sauce used in SE Asia today. The Medieval section included several hilarious pages devoted to table manners in the Middle Ages, including a dissertation on breaking wind at the dinner table. (My wife says that only guys find this subject funny.)

This is a book I've had on my shelves for decades and I pick it up now and then and read about the eating habits of one civilization or another. The prose is generally lively and authoritative. Oddly enough, food doesn't seem to have inspired many historians so this book may be the best you can find on the subject even though it was written 30 years ago.

Smallchief

This survey of food in history discusses why certain food was eaten, how it was eaten, how it was stored and cultivated, and why it was stored and cultivated. Reay Tannahill manages to make this work very readable yet academic with information that is documented and annotated clearly. She precisely indicates what information is speculative, inferred, or known from artifacts and records. Moreover, the information about food and culture is fascinating. This is the best book I have read so far this year.

Food in History is an academic, yet readable, overview of food throughout history. From prehistoric hunting and gathering to modern day genetically modified crops, Tannahill looks at how food availability, preparation, and consumption have a profound affect on culture and politics.

The book is divided into broad time categories - first thousands of years and then hundreds. In each section, Tannahill explores food in different broad areas such as the Americas, Europe, Asia, India, Africa, etc. This is not a cookbook - don't expect historical recipes. Also keep in mind that it's an overview - don't expect details on the evolution of every single regional cuisine. Food in History is very well researched and comprehensively documented. Tannahill has a pleasant writing style, and just when the material threatens to get a bit too dry, up pops an interesting factoid or anecdote to recapture your interest.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in how food has helped shape our history.

"Food in History," by Reay Tannahill, Revised Edition, Crown Publishers, NY, 1988. This 409-page hardback provides an overview of the history of food stuffs. It begins with the domestication of animals (the dog was first in about 11,000 BC) and goes all the way to modern day subjects such as the green revolution.

Concise sections cover almost every food topic. Sugar, the potato, honey, the tomato, soybeans, rice, corn, spices, tea, the horse, salt, and even pasta are included. Pasta may go back to the Etruscans as claimed, but clearly tomato sauce is newer. The tomato originated in North America and did not arrive in Europe until the Sixteenth Century.

The list of foods originating in the Americas is impressive: the potato, the tomato, corn, avocados, pineapples, haricot, kidney and butterbeans, lima beans, scarlet runners, French beans, chocolate, peanuts, vanilla, red peppers, green peppers, tapioca, and the turkey plus tobacco, rubber, chewing gum and quinine.

Many of the topics could make an entire book. Comprehensive coverage would make an multi-volume encyclopedia. Here, we get a two or three page overview with references. The story of the potato is told in two pages; the Irish potato famine gets two more.

The book covers the globe including China, India, Egypt and South America. The author is from University of Glasgow. British topics seem well covered, but the discussion extends to America too. The story of canning is described in considerable detail, and so is frozen foods, but Clarence Birdseye (modern frozen foods) and JR Simplot (instant mashed potatoes, dehydrated onions, and frozen french fries) are omitted.

This book is a nicely done overview of the subject. It is a handy quick reference to the subject and an excellent starting point for further research. References, bibliography, index.

Though this book skips some traditional cuisines and does not delve into nutritional information on foods, it is a good read nevertheless. Admittedly, Ms. Tannahill is taking on a HUGE job so I'll forgive her for her shortcomings and praise her for what she does include.

I'd supplement this book with Oxford's Companion to Food and/or Cambridge World History of Food for a more thorough historical approach to food. See Nourishing Traditions for info on traditional food preparation techniques.

This book is a fascinating trip through history viewed from food - what people ate, why they ate it, how it changed them and the world. No recipes - but plenty of menus from pre-history to Rome, China, the Americas, the Industrial Revolution to the late 20th century.

Every aspect of the influence of food on human development and worl history is examined - everything from vegetarianism to cannibalism.

As for me, I finally know what "pease porridge" really is!

This is a great book for anyone who ever asked "I wonder where this food/recipe came from." It is well written being both informative and entertaining to read. If your interests are in history or cooking, this is a winner.