The Wilder Shores of Gastronomy: Twenty Years of Food Writing [Hardcover]

Alan Davidson (Author), Helen Saberi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 18, 2002

In 1979, a remarkable culinary congress took place at Richard Olney's kitchen table in London, where he was entertaining Alan and Jane Davidson. Stumped by an edict from his publishers at Time-Life, Olney was looking for an outlet to print a few recipes for later inclusion in his “Good Cook” series. The idea of a journal took shape, and with the help of Elizabeth David, a remarkable venture began. Sixty-seven issues later, Petits Propos Culinaires is still directing its critical eye at the obscurer corners of the food world. In addition to the formidable trio of Davidson, Olney, and David, such esteemed food writers as Jane Grigson, Claudia Roden, and Charles Perry became regular contributors, ensuring a spirited, erudite discourse with each issue. THE WILDER SHORES OF GASTRONOMY is the first-ever anthology of writings from this seminal publication. Hand-selected by Mr. Davidson, the anthology reflects the remarkable breadth of the journal. The arcane (“An Experiment in Bronze Age Cooking”) rubs shoulders with the practical (“Photographers' Cheesecake”), exotic (“Among the Yoruba Mushroom-Eaters”), and highly entertaining (“The Great Norwegian Porridge Feud”). The result is a highly eclectic collection of extraordinary food writing.• Spanning 20 years and including work by many of the world's most influential food writers, WILDER SHORES is a concise, thoroughly enjoyable introduction to food criticism, a “Norton anthology of gastronomica.”Reviews“[A] true example of food writing . . . world-class material. . . . the best writing about what should be everybody's favorite subject.” —Saveur"An eclectic feast for food nerds." —Kansas City Star "An always serious, sometimes dense, and often quixotic collection that illustrates the great variety of ways you can talk about food" —Epicurious.com"[A] true example of food writing . . . world-class material. . . . the best writing about what should be everybody's favorite subject." —Saveur

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The journal Petits Propos Culinaires, brainchild of food notables Elizabeth David, Richard Olney and Alan and Jane Davidson, came into being in 1979. The founders wrote articles as did prominent contributors like Claudia Roden, Harold McGee and Jane Grigson. This anthology covers a wide range of topics and will expand readers' understanding of cuisine, its history, ingredients and personalities. Carefully edited, the book is divided into such chapters as "Scoops and Distant Beachheads"; "Biographic, Literary, People"; and "Notes and Queries." The chapter "Culinary History" includes Claudia Roden's illuminating essay "Early Arab Cooking and Cookery Manuscripts" and Caroline Davidson's "Historic Kitchen Restoration," which will intrigue both cook and historian alike. Food passions of another sort are disclosed in the chapter "Exotica." Many recipes are included within the essays, and the one chapter devoted entirely to them includes Nathan D'Aulnay's Aubergine Gratin, Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz's Mole Poblano and Turkey as well as several strawberry recipes by Elizabeth David.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This anthology offers readers a delectable selection of articles from the food history journal Petits Propos Culinaires. Few Americans have heard of this English-language magazine (it circulates chiefly within the rarefied world of food historians and academics in Britain and America), but adroit writers and reporters needing reliable and authoritative background information frequently cull its pages for source material. Alan Davidson, the journal's editor, has extracted past highlights--and what a banquet of prose it is! Virtually every page breaks ground with obscure yet fascinating stories of both common and exotic foodstuffs: long-cooked (6 to 18 hours) eggs; the origin and history of tapas; the artful designs of Parisian Christmastide galettes des Rois; the rise, fall, and resurrection of comestible snails; the disappearance of the spice long pepper; how to cook herons. This is a necessary purchase for any library collection that lacks a subscription to the journal and provides indispensable reading for devoted foodies. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press (November 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580084176
• ISBN-13: 978-1580084178
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.6 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,109,569 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, Fascinating, Informative. Better than Best!, May 23, 2003

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wilder Shores of Gastronomy: Twenty Years of Food Writing (Hardcover)

From the pages of an small English food journal, "Petits Propos Culinaires," available only by subscription, comes a remarkable anthology, a veritable page turner. Started in 1979, by Sara and Alan Davidson and shaped by the views of Elizabeth Davidson and the immediate requirements of Richard Olney (you'll just have to read the intro), PPC set out to explore the less trammeled areas of food study.

The results - a distillation of 20 years - range from the hilarious (an experiment in cooking while driving, "Manifold Absurdity") to the erudite (restoration of a 1670s manor kitchen, "Ham House"). Most essays contain elements of both. The book is divided into seven sections, the articles briefly described in a succinct chapter introduction and each article headed with a background note.

The book begins with "Scoops," and includes an exposé on the identity of the trendy red peppercorn, the origin of Summer Pudding and the ongoing labors of INTERSPI, the intercontinental spicy mystery detectives, in sniffing out the humble origins of a spice with a fancy name. "Culinary History" explores the Japanese evolution of British curry rice, "An Experiment in Bronze Age Cooking," and the history of hunting and eating herons, while "On Your Plate" focuses on particular dishes, such as the ins and outs of snails, the real deal on olive oil and the infamy of eggplant.

"Books and Cooks" includes "Breakfast with Jane Austen" (delightful!), food with Chekhov and Rossini and a Thai funeral cookbook. "Exotica" has several related pieces on the culinary charms of worms and snakes as well as an American mountain boy's 19th century observations of trail food. While many of the essays feature recipes, the "Recipes" section homes in, including a must-try strawberry jam, a Russian Easter Kulich and a pine-scented mussel feast. "Notes and Queries" is the journal department for odds and ends, letters from and to the editors on any number of obscure subjects, from politically correct food terminology to French kitchen fads.

Not all of the writers are professional food writers (though many of the best are present) but the writing is, without exception, lively and personable, even though most of the essays come with source notes. There are lots of inside jokes, but the reader never feels left out, and the essays are fascinating, informative and witty. This should be a hit with anyone interested in food (who isn't?) and should win PPC armies of new subscribers (contact info provided on the last page).

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary Collection of Culinary Essays, some quite deep, July 21, 2005

By 

B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wilder Shores of Gastronomy: Twenty Years of Food Writing (Hardcover)

`The Wilder Shores of Gastronomy', edited by Alan Davidson and Helen Saberi, from articles selected from the journal `Petits Propos Culinaires' is comparable to those hefty books of collected papers we typically studied in advanced undergraduate and graduate Philosophy classes. In the world of culinary studies, most of these articles are just as weighty as theoretical studies of concepts such as `memory', `explanation', `space', `time', and `meaning'.

The big difference between philosophical investigations and culinary `research' is that culinary investigations have no methods of their own. Virtually all culinary studies are really studies of botany, philology, chemistry, history, geography, or even jurisprudence. The thing which commonly sets the very best culinary research apart from these other studies, especially in the hands of its greatest practitioners such as Elizabeth David and her disciples, Jane Grigson, Alan Davidson, and Claudia Roden is the great sense of fun in carrying out this research simply because it is fun to do.

Although this very English journal with the very French name is filled with relatively light, enjoyable pieces by a wide range of writers, it was created by a collaboration of Elizabeth David, Alan Davidson, and Richard Olney for a very serious, practical purpose. Richard Olney had just been given the role of editor in chief of the Time-Life series of books on `Food of the World'. And, the publishers insisted that no recipe be printed in these volumes unless it had previously been published. This put Olney in a bind, as he had perfectly good recipes that were not allowed, as they had not already appeared in print. Soooooo... the renowned Ms. David and her henchmen create the food journal `Petits Propos Culinaires' (PPC) and promptly run two articles by Richard Olney, writing under two different pseudonyms, and Olney has his published recipes. Both articles appeared in Issue 1 of PPC, but only `Aubergine Gratin' by pseudonym Nathan d'Aulnay is collected in this anthology.

A sense of the range of issues covered by PPC can be seen by looking at the section names under which the 71 articles are collected. There are:

Scoops and Distant Beachheads, highlighted by a three article series by a great number of collaborators doing a whimsically canted but very serious investigation into the woody `Bois di Panama', an apparent ingredient in an important Lebanese confection especially popular around Easter.

Culinary History, featuring an article by Claudia Roden on Arab influences on western cooking, including the finding that that very French technique of the braise can be traced back to Arab practice.

On Your Plate, featuring an article on the varieties of olive oil. While most articles are pretty arcane, some few, like this one, may be old hat to dedicated foodies, especially as olive oil is such an important ingredient these days.

Books and Cooks, including, sadly, memorial essays by Davidson on M.F.K. Fisher and Elizabeth David who both died in 1992.

Exotica, such as an essay on mushroom growing termites of Uganda.

Recipes, including several by Richard Olney (disguised and in the plain)

Finally, there is a short section with selections from the journal's `Notes and Queries', or, answers to readers questions or simply volunteered observations on things of interest.

This is not the sort of book, like the `Larousse Gastronomique' to which you refer when you need an answer. On the other hand, it is not necessarily something you want to read from cover to cover, although I suggest that the dedicated foodie do just that. This is a place where, if you do not already know the work of Davidson and Olney and David and Grigson, you can see a sample of their writing which makes them so revered among people who know their work. Ms.David's pieces in particular are clever in the extreme.

On the other hand, if you are not a dyed in the wool foodie and may wish to simply sample writing by Elizabeth David, I suggest you go to her later collections such as `An Omelette and a Glass of Wine' or `South Wind Through the Kitchen'. Similarly, if you really want high-end writing on French cuisine, consult Richard Olney's `Simple French Food' or David's `French Provincial Cooking'.

If you are a big fan of John Thorne, Jeffrey Steingarten, or James Villas, then embrace this book with both arms and enjoy yourself.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent collection of articles about Food, January 10, 2003

By 

Barbara Nostrand "Barbara Nostrand" (Syracuse, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wilder Shores of Gastronomy: Twenty Years of Food Writing (Hardcover)

Those of you who are familiar with Petits Propos Culinaires have probably already purchased a copy of this book. In short, this book is what you would expect it to be. A collection of articles from the best journal concerning food history and exotica available in the English language.