The Gastronomica Reader [Hardcover]

Darra Goldstein (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 21, 2010

Described in the 2008 Saveur 100 as "At the top of our bedside reading pile since its inception in 2001," the award-winning Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture is a quarterly feast of truly exceptional writing on food. Designed both to entertain and to provoke, The Gastronomica Reader now offers a sumptuous sampling from the journal's pages--including essays, poetry, interviews, memoirs, and an outstanding selection of the artwork that has made Gastronomica so distinctive. In words and images, it takes us around the globe, through time, and into a dazzling array of cultures, investigating topics from early hominid cooking to Third Reich caterers to the Shiite clergy under Ayatollah Khomeini who deemed Iranian caviar fit for consumption under Islamic law. Informed throughout by a keen sense of the pleasures of eating, tasting, and sharing food, The Gastronomica Reader will inspire readers to think seriously, widely, and deeply about what goes onto their plates.
Gastronomica is a winner of the Utne Reader's Independent Press Award for Social/Cultural Coverage

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. This collection of articles from Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture will feed the curious and the jaded with an eclectic collection of food-related stories, photos and poems that range from the avant-garde to the mildly outrageous to the titillating and the occasionally ridiculous. This multifaceted presentation, graced with provocative illustrations, includes a profile of a famous restaurateur who became Hitler's caterer, an examination of taboos related to cooking apes, the chronicle of a foodie's colonoscopy, a surprisingly engaging essay regarding "The Legacy of Iceland's Herring Oil and Meal Factories," and an investigation of food pornography (a stretch even for the open-minded); poems include odes to a sexy shallot and a talking potato. More conventional articles consider the traditional New York City egg cream ("Somehow the lack of those two ingredients never bothered customers"), drinking cappuccino along the Spice Trail, and television cooking shows ("the illegitimate love child, or even the prostitute, of the real world of gastronomy"). Putting the "soup to nuts" principal to good use, this volume should absorb anyone with an appetite for unconventional food writing. 64 color and b/w illustrations.

Review

"A volume to browse and absorb."--New York Times

"This volume should absorb anyone with an appetite for unconventional food writing." STARRED REVIEW--Publishers Weekly

"It is easy to get quickly drawn in and once you do, it is difficult to put this book down."--San Francisco Book Review

"Delights in manners ranging from the poetic to the political."--Bookforum

"The gloriously illustrated Gastronomica reader is a every bit as good as it looks."--Times Literary Supplement (Tls)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 376 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (February 21, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520259394
• ISBN-13: 978-0520259393
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #98 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Gastronomy > History

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ECLECTIC AND WIDE RANGING, April 5, 2010

By 

ireadabookaday - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Gastronomica Reader (Hardcover)

This is a standout collection of food essays. A more affordable option than the great but expensive Gastronomica magazine, this book collects wildly diverse selections from that magazine. Most essays are more in depth than the average piece of food writing, and this collection is more highbrow than The Best Food Writing series. Nicely illustrated, this would make a good gift for the serious food lover/ food reader.

5.0 out of 5 stars I Like It, November 13, 2011

By 

Shrimp13 (Tucson) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Gastronomica Reader (Hardcover)

This book is a compendium of articles about food and its importance in our life. Not a recipe or technique book, it is great sit down reading for someone into food.