Book Description
Since biblical times, the Judeo-Christian lifestyle has centered on meals. Extending hospitality to both friends and strangers was a divine command, and an invitation to dine was sacred. The Judeo-Christian bible is peppered with stories of meals; these range from simple meals put together quickly in order to feed a few unexpected guests, to elaborate feasts carefully prepared to please dozens of partygoers for many days. Cooking with the Bible looks at eighteen of these meals found in the Scriptures, providing full menus and recipes for re-creating some of the dishes enjoyed by the peoples of biblical times. While describing how ancient cooks prepared their foods, Cooking with the Bible also explains how contemporary cooks might use modern techniques and appliances to prepare each of the eighteen meals. In addition, the authors recount the lore of all the ingredients used in the book, detailing their origins, the history of their cultivation, their nutritional value, and their various uses. To set the scene for each meal, the book examines the scriptural text in detail, describes the backstory for each, and, in the process, traces Judeo-Christian history from the ancient city of Ur to the lands of Egypt to the holy city of Jerusalem. Along the way, the reader will learn about the history of the bible itself. In the Middle East, eating was not and is not for daily sustenance alone--it is a way of life, and Cooking with the Bible reflects that reality, providing multiple feasts for the body, mind, and spirit. Each chapter begins with the menu for a biblical feast. A brief essay describing the theological, historical, and cultural significance of the feast follows. Next come separate recipes for the dishes served in the meal, followed by more commentary on the dish itself, preparation methods used in biblical times, how the dish was served, and the lore surrounding individual ingredients and dishes. Recipes for a wide variety of breads, stews, rice and lentil dishes, lamb, goat, fish and venison meals, vegetable salads and cakes are detailed, all of them carefully tested. Make delicious dishes such as Rice of Beersheba, Rebekah's Tasty Lamb Stew, Date and Walnut Bread, Ful Madames and Scrambled Eggs, Pistachio Crusted Sole, Bamya, Goat's Milk and Pomegranate Syrup Torte, Haroset a la Greque, Pesach Black Bread, Watermelon Soup with Ginger and Mint, Date Manna Bread, Oven-baked Perch with Tahini, Braided Challah with Poppy Seeds and Lemon, and Friendship Cake.
Customer Reviews:
An intriguing, different guide........2006-12-11
Judeo-Christian cooking has long centered on meals as a form of not only sustenance, but hospitality. Most cookbooks covering such cuisine focuses on the recipes; but COOKIGN WITH THE BIBLE: BIBLICAL FOOD, FEASTS AND LORE is different: recipes here are plentiful but secondary to the historical review of meal contents, rituals, and underlying cultural meaning. Bible stories of meals form the foundation of recipes which begin with a menu for a biblical feast, an essay surveying its historical and cultural significance, and explanations of traditional versus modern cooking methods. Any cook who also harbors affection for the Bible will find COOKING WITH THE BIBLE an intriguing, different guide.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A BIBLICAL SCHOLAR TO APPRECIATE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN CULINARY EXPERTISE.......2006-11-15
No. The Bible is not a cookbook, however, its history is a great source for culinary research. Performing this research was Anthony F. Chiffolo, Editorial Director of Praeger Publishers and prolific author and Rayner W. Hesse, Jr., an Episcopal priest. They titled their interesting compilation, Cooking with the Bible. Mediterranean cooking is exciting due a bold use of fruits, nuts and wheats with vegetables and some meat. The area's recommended wines are paired with each meal.This is healthy eating!
The feasts, or "The Meals" presented number 18, some of which are:
Joseph Dines with His Brothers
The Reapers' Meal
Kind David's Nuptials
Elisha Cooks Masterfully at Gilgal
The Prodigal Son Returns
The Wedding Feast at Cana
The general formatting for each menu is thus:
* Maps
* Chronology
* Biblical text lining out the feast
* Historic explanation
* The menu
* Preparation in Biblical times
* Recipes for preparation in today's kitchens
* Finally a lengthy "Lore of the Ingredients" section
One of the meals, The prodigal Son Returns, as others, has interesting names, as well as familiar, for each recipe. This particular feast:
Poor Lad's Loaf
Veal Kebabs
Honey-Baked Goat with Mint Sauce
Heifer Fondue
Fresh Mallow with Pomegranate Vinaigrette
Grilled Corn on the Cob
Fresh Kefir Yogurt with Concord Grapes
Figs in Chamomile Tea and Cream
Carob Cake for Two Sons
Some interesting recipe food combinations:
* Rice of Beersheba: Combines broth, basmati rice, dill and capers.
* Israeli Salad: Calls for cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, parsley, olive oil, lemon, green pepper, scallions and the spice, zataar.
* Fasooleyah Khodra Bi Zeit: (Arabian Beans and Sun-dried Tomatoes): Largely Green beans, onions, garlic, allspice, basmati rice and dried tomatoes
* Aroz de Bodas (Sephardic Wedding Rice: A mold of basmati rice, scallions, turmeric, seedless green grapes, pine nuts and fresh mint leaves
* Field Herbs with Corn: To corn they add vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, marjoram, dill, parsley, bay leaf and sumac.
* Musakhan (Chicken and Onion Bread): Mixes chicken, olive oil, lemon, scallions, garlic, saffron, sumac, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne and pine nuts atop any flatbread
* Vegetable Cholent: Mixes lima beans, kidney beans, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, barley, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers and garlic, cayenne, sage, cumin, ginger and feta cheese
* Wilderness Squash: Combines Acorn squash, honey, pistachios, dried apricots. Butter, onions and Angostura bitters
* St. Peter's Fish with Parsley Sauce: Utilizes a pesto of parsley, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and onion and bass or trout
* Manaish with Goat Cheese: s Spread flatbread with a mixture of olive oil, zaatar, sumac and goat cheese. Serve with peppermint tea.
This well-researched book is pricey, however it's an excellent reference source and very possibly might serve as a format for a years-worth of fare for culinary groups' gatherings.
© Marty Martindale, 2006, Largo FL
Book Description
What makes fashionistas willing to pay a small fortune for a particular designer accessory -- a luxe handbag, for example? Why is it that people all over the world share the conviction that a special occasion only becomes really special when a champagne cork pops -- and even more special when that cork comes from a bottle of Dom Pérignon? Why are diamonds the status symbol gemstone, instantly signifying wealth, power, and even emotional commitment?
One of the foremost authorities on seventeenth-century French culture provides the answer to these and other fascinating questions in her account of how, at one glittering moment in history, the French under Louis XIV set the standards of sophistication, style, and glamour that still rule our lives today.
Joan DeJean explains how a handsome and charismatic young king with a great sense of style and an even greater sense of history decided to make both himself and his country legendary. When the reign of Louis XIV began, his nation had no particular association with elegance, yet by its end, the French had become accepted all over the world as the arbiters in matters of taste and style and had established a dominance in the luxury trade that continues to this day. DeJean takes us back to the birth of haute cuisine, the first appearance of celebrity hairdressers, chic cafes, nightlife, and fashion in elegant dress that extended well beyond the limited confines of court circles. And Paris was the magical center -- the destination of travelers all across Europe.
As the author observes, without the Sun King's program for redefining France as the land of luxury and glamour, there might never have been a Stork Club, a Bergdorf Goodman, a Chez Panisse, or a Cristophe of Beverly Hills -- and President Clinton would never have dreamed of holding Air Force One on the tarmac of LAX for an hour while Cristophe worked his styling genius on the president's hair.
Written with wit, dash, and élan by an author who knows this astonishing true story better than virtually anyone, The Essence of Style will delight fans of history and everybody who wonders about the elusive definition of good taste.
Customer Reviews:
The Origin Of Our Modern Concept Of Style.......2007-06-04
This is not really a book, but more of a collection of essays examining the origin of various modern concepts of style: hair, culture, fashion, marketing/tourism, footwear, fine dining, coffee, champagne, diamonds, mirrors, nightlife, umbrellas, shopping, perfumes, and entertaining.
As a scholar of French history and culture, the unifying theme of Joan DeJean's work is that the origins of these parts of our modern society came in the reign of Loius XIV of France, and fairly amazing are largly unchanged since their implementation.
By this I mean not the specifics of style, but in the way they function in the greater culture.
DeJean speaks well to the technology being developed at the time as well as the reasons that the late 1600's were the first time these aspects of life could be mass consumed, instead of say, the 1200's.
Frivolous.......2007-05-24
I wasted an hour searching for something of substantive interest in this work. It was time spent in vain. A frivolous book about frivolous things.
A good read, but lacks depth.......2007-05-15
Topic Selection: B+ Although the book may seem a little all over the place to some, focusing on such diverse aspects of culture as food, clothing, champagne, perfume, parties, and even umbrellas, DeJean does a good job of relating the different parts of the book to one another. She ties them all to a very specific period of history and especially to Louis XIV.
Scholarship: C- DeJean seems to rely fairly heavily on a rather small number of sources, despite the fact that the total number of sources is pretty good. Also, at least some footnotes would help the book.
Readability: A- This book was obviously written to be consumed by a general audience. DeJean's style is very easy to read, although some of the chapters seem repetitive, as she often comes to the same conclusion.
Impartiality: C I detected a definite "France is great" tone to this book that could sometimes be a little distracting. One also gets the impression that DeJean thinks that the move towards rapidly changing fashions was inevitably a good thing, for which she does not give a reason. She was not biased in an overbearing way, but there is definitely a bias there.
Overall: B- I really enjoyed the book and for beginners to this area of history, I think it is ideal. You learn a lot of those little things that you always wondered about, such as where the concept of dessert comes from. DeJean's style is readable and she is obviously passionate about the subject. Serious scholars should stay away, as the book does not always adequately cite it's sources and does not prove its argument as adequately as it could.
Vive La France!.......2006-06-01
Is not the words "Joie de Vivre" French for joy of life? Qui!
The French work to live while North Americans live to work. Life is short and no wonder Hemingway said that those who know Paris never forget it.
An interesting take on the Gaulle of living.
fluff history.......2006-03-03
Some more rigorous historical analysis would have turned this 'lite' read into something worthwhile. The crude translations of 17th-century France into modern-day America, irrespective of different economic systems and radically discrete cultures, turn what could have been an inspired thesis into the kind of chatter you'd expect to hear from grandma.
Amazon.com
The chocolate wars between industry giants Hershey and Mars are anything but sweet. In The Emperors of Chocolate, Joel Glenn Brenner reveals the bitter legal and marketing fights, palace intrigue, and personality clashes that dominate Hershey and Mars--and the candy industry as a whole. A talented writer and dogged researcher, Brenner concludes that after decades of competition between the two companies, the drama still is unfolding. Will Mars--privately held and publicity shy--be the ultimate winner with its global game plan? Or will it be Hershey--publicly traded and philanthropy-minded--with its aggressive strategy of growth by acquisition?
Brenner, a former Washington Post financial reporter, tells the stories of how Forrest Mars Sr. and Milton S. Hershey turned their two companies from small mom-and-pop operations into international forces over the last century. While they may have started small, their products--Mars's Snickers and M&M's and Hershey's milk-chocolate bars and Kisses--are ubiquitous. Hershey was a benevolent philanthropist who spent hundreds of millions to create a town and orphanage to fulfill his altruistic dreams. Mars was a short-tempered perfectionist who yelled at anyone who failed to meet his standards. "What made Forrest's blood rush was the thrill of mastering new opportunities and taming uncharted worlds," the author writes. "Like Milton Hershey, he was driven by his visions; but where Milton Hershey saw utopia, Forrest Mars saw conquest." Nine years in the making, The Emperors of Chocolate is a satisfying read about the two titans of the chocolate world and how they capitalized on our love of sweets. --Dan Ring
Book Description
Corporate candy giants Milton Hershey and Forrest Mars built business empires out of one of the world's most magical, sought-after substances: chocolate. In
The Emperors of Chocolate, Joël Glenn Brenner--the first person to ever gain access to the highly secretive companies of Hershey and Mars--spins a unique story that takes us inside a world as mysterious as Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Packed with flavorful stories and outrageous characters that give the true scoop on this real-life candyland,
The Emperors of Chocolate is a delectable read for business buffs and chocoholics alike. Start reading and you'll soon be hungry for more.
Customer Reviews:
As satisfying as your favorite chocolate indulgence.......2007-05-06
Ranks with the great business books of the last twenty years. An in- depth history of the Mars and Hershey empires, the history of chocolate and the personalities that created these great companies. The sucesses and mistakes astound, the basic goodness of Milton Hershey, his benevolence to his workers and his town and his ultimate unhappiness in losing the love of his life at a young age gives a great feeling of a man and time. The arrogance, power hunger and rigidity of the Mars family will make you wince, and remind you of the worst boss you ever had (especially the one who pays 30-40% above the industry average). Absolutely fascinating, a book you can't put down.
Fantastic.......2007-03-26
The Emperors of Chocolate was fantastic. I started reading it with absolutely no idea what to expect, and what I found was profoundly interesting. I would recommend this for anyone who, as I did, assumes that the candy industry is a real life version of Willy Wonka. The book is a thoroughly engrossing story describing two companies that are basically the opposite of that image, and of each other. Read it now.
Your first look at the Chocolate-industry?.......2007-01-24
As a preperation for a new job in the Internet-business I was searching for a book that layed out the history of Mars Inc. and the Chocolate-business. I found "The Emperors of Chocolate" and after consuming the book in just a few days, I will warmly recommend it.
The book lays out the history of the US-based giants Hershey and Mars. And as a european the Hershey brand and history was totaly new to me.
I now have a basic knowledge of the business, the products and companies, not just Hershey and Mars, and last but not least, the history and personality of some of the pioneering persons in the business, their drive and goals.
Eg. Milton Hershey's creation and support of an orphnage for boys, which still excist today. On my next trip to the States I shure want to visit the town Hershey and see for myself.
And the story of Forest Mars sr. and now the brothers who run the business of Mars Inc. The book gives a comprehensive collection of details regarding the management of Mars Inc., which I have not found anywhere else.
If you are interested in the Chocolate-business, with emphassis on Mars and Hershey, then this is the book for you.
Morgan
:-)
Great Reading Material.......2007-01-23
Superbly written book. Very interesting and packs alot of information between its covers. But I warn you,you will develop a deep love of chocolate by the time you finish reading the last page.
The candy monopoly!.......2006-12-21
The story of how Mars and Hershey have fought for control over the candy market is one of the most fascinating in business. Mars is one of the most secretive companies on the planet and the recopies for M&M's and Mars bars are closely guarded. Hershey in sharp contrast was crated be a paradise for the workers of the company with stores, theaters, theme parks and all of their needs taken care. These companies ruthlessly battled it out and while others are covered including Nestle the real winner are Hershey and mars controlling almost 75 percent of candy in the United States. If you are looking for a good business story this is the best. It is well written and a lot of fun to read.
Amazon.com
The Coes, both anthropologists with a culinary bent, delve deeply into the history of their mouth-watering subject. The material on ancient cultures is particularly fascinating--did you know that the Maya used unsweetened liquid chocolate as currency? And in a chapter called "Chocolate for the Masses," they detail the modernization of chocolate manufacture, which has allowed more than 25 million Hershey's Kisses to roll off the conveyor belt each day.
Book Description
Theobromo caco . . . chocolate . . . "the food of the gods." Delicious indulgence or cause of migraines? Aphrodisiac or medicinal tonic? Religious symbol or Mesoamerican currency? This delightful tale of one of the world's favorite foods draws upon botany, archaeology, socio-economics, and culinary history to present a complete and accurate history of chocolate. The story begins some three thousand years ago in the jungles of lowland Mexico and Central America with the tree Theobroma cacao and the complex processes necessary to transform its bitter seeds into what is now known as chocolate. This was centuries before chocolate was consumed in generally unsweetened liquid form and used as currency by the sophisticated Maya, and the Aztecs after them. The Spanish conquest of Central America introduced chocolate to Europe, where it became first the stimulating drink of kings and aristocrats and then was popularized in coffeehouses. Industrialization in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries made chocolate a food for the masses--until its revival in our own time as a luxury item. The True History of Chocolate is the first book to present the real facts of the pre-Spanish history of chocolate--and it does so with great authority, since the authors share an unrivaled knowledge of the history of pre-Columbian civilizations and their cuisine. We discover how chocolate got its name and how it was used as a medicine, and we find that the Spanish learned of chocolate through the Maya, not the Aztecs. From Maya hieroglyphs to the kingdom of the Hershey Bar, this is a fascinating history, beautifully told, and enhanced with quotations, illustrations, and old recipes--a book for chocolate-lovers everywhere. 97 illustrations, 13 in color.
Customer Reviews:
A Delectable Treat........2007-08-09
The history of chocolate has never been so wonderful woven like it is in this book. This uncomplicated book traces the cacao story back to its origin with the Olmec, Maya, and Aztecs, and from there it migrates to Europe and taking the noble courts by storm. The book goes beyond just the basic history, it lists in details how chocolate is manufactured, prepared and consumed since the beginning of time to the modern age. There isn't a part of chocolate the Coes don't cover. Unfortunately, this book focuses too much on the ancient history of chocolate with special attention to the three ancient Mesoamerican civilizations and then European consumption in the 16-19th century. The last chapter speaks briefly, too briefly, on the modern history of chocolate in the 20th century. The authors do not cover the modern chocolate trade, its environmental impact, what it's mean for million of people, or what are the modern significances of chocolate. The story basically stops at Hershey and his factory in Pennsylvania. The epilogue asks the readers to be conscious in buying fair-trade chocolate, but other than that, there isn't a modern history of chocolate in this book. Overall, however, this is a well written and heavily researched book that dispels many misconceptions and provides a clearer understand of this dark mistress to our taste bud.
Awesome Story.......2006-02-16
Story book style of delivery made this book enjoyable for the entire family. This book was packed full of information yet the manner in which it is written made it enjoyable to read as well as retain. Very informative and interesting as well as fun.
Delightful Reading!.......2004-08-25
This book was an extremely readable examination of the history of chocolate, starting with the ancient MesoAmericans and ending with contemporary European and American chocolate makers. Anyone interested in the history and development of their favorite confection or beverage should read this book - it's written engagingly in the first half, and then peters out just a tad towards the end. I wished for more about the modern chocolate industry, and a little more about the current manufacturing spike in fine chocolates. But as an anthropological study revolving around the development of chocolate, I could ask for nothing more. Coe and Coe have inspired a chocolate tasting party and an academic interest in a gastrologic subject.
Engaging: Academic yet Readable.......2003-08-28
This book went beyond my expectations by presenting the history of chocolate in an unbiased, academic yet readable format. A far cry from high school history textbooks, the authors enchant the reader with stories and historical tid-bits while maintaining a cohesive whole. I definitely recommend this book to chocolate connoisseurs, history-buffs, and chocoholics alike.
Delightful account of cacoa history.......2003-06-25
Sophie and Michael Coe have written a emminently readable history of chocolate. They emphasize the origins of cacoa in the New World, and the Spanish conquerors' response to their "discovery" of cacoa. The story fascinates, and I liked how the authors presented all the options when historical records were scarce or contradictory. The text is interspersed with clarifying illustrations, some are in color. The 19th and 20th centuries are covered in brief. The book ends with the resurgence in deluxe chocolates that use the rarer yet better tasting cacoa beans, and explains why these chocolates are so much better tasting than the supermarket candy bar. All in all, an excellent read.
Average customer rating:
- You're going to need caffeine to finish this book
- Very interesting
- Excellent condition
- Well-researched but somehow boring
- Intriguing, Original
|
The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug
B. Weinberg , and
Bonnie K. Bealer
Manufacturer: Routledge
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Coffee: A Dark History
ASIN: 0415927226 |
Book Description
Caffeine is the world's most popular drug! Almost all of us start our day with a jolt of caffeine from coffee, tea or cola. And many of us crave chocolate when we're stressed or depressed. Without it we're lethargic, head-achy and miserable. Why? Why do we crave caffeine? How much do we really know about our number one drug of choice?
Here is the first natural, cultural, and artistic history of our favorite mood enhancer--how it was discovered, its early uses, and the unexpected parts it has played in medicine, religion, painting, poetry, learning, and love. Weinberg and Bealer tell an intriguing story of a remarkable substance that has figured prominently in the exchanges of trade and intelligence among nations and whose most common sources, coffee, tea, and chocolate, have been both promoted as productive of health and creativity and banned as corrupters of the body and mind or subverters of social order.
Some Highlights From the World of Caffeine
Balzac's addiction to caffeine drove him to eat coffee, as some schizophrenic patients are observed to do today, and may have killed him
Mary Tuke breaks the male monopoly on tea in England in 1725
The ways caffeine functions as a "smart pill"
Goethe's responsibility for the discovery of caffeine
Did a mini Ice Age help bring coffee, tea and chocolate to popularity in Europe?
What is the mystery of coffee's origin?
As good as gold: the stories of how caffeine, in its various forms, was used as cash in China, Africa, Central America and Egypt
What does the civet cat have to do with the most costly coffee on earth today?
The World of Caffeine is a captivating tale of art and society -- from India to Balzac to cybercafes -- and the ultimate caffeine resource.
Customer Reviews:
You're going to need caffeine to finish this book.......2006-04-10
Weinberg and Bealer's The World of Caffeine brings together history, science, culture, and medical studies into one large volume. What promised, according to the cover, to be a book on the science and culture of the world's most popular drug, ended up being a boring treatise on the history of caffeine. It was only towards the last 1/3 of the book, that it really started picking up, and even then, the medical information bogged down.
The authors are careful to list all sides in the caffiene debate, from medical studies, to historical perspectives, never endorsing one side or the other. Because of this lack of a firm position on caffeine, the book read with a very dry, emotionless tone. I found the history interesting, but presented as it was here without any correlations and in strict, chronological order, it sounded more like a text book. Such circumstances, such as the rivalry between the British East India Tea Company and the Dutch East India Tea company might have made for more exciting reading, had they been explored further.
As someone who has had an on again-off again relationship with caffeine, I expected more than this book delivered. I wanted a thoughtful, compelling look at caffeine, not dry facts. Still, the book is interesting, if you can slog your way through it.
Very interesting.......2005-07-29
One of the best non-fiction I have ever read. Very interesting! It covers history, science, commerce and many other aspects of caffeine culture. Caffeine is THE drug of choice of most of the world population. Coffee, Cocoa, Tea, Guarana, Mate, and Cola: in all countries in the world at least one of these plants is a popular drink. Add soft drinks (most of them contain refined caffeine) to the above list and we may assume that most of the world population consumes caffeine on a regular basis.
Excellent condition.......2005-07-09
This book was supposedly used but came to me in perfect condition. Thank you!
Well-researched but somehow boring.......2003-12-12
This book is really well-researched. All you ever wanted to know about caffeine is in this book. The problem is that the authors stuff the book with so many facts and quotes from other books/treatises that they make it unreadable. This is especially true for the historical part (first part of the book). If you want to know about the history of caffeine, I would not buy this book. The book also has a lot of very interesting statistics and facts, and just for that reason, I will keep it.
Intriguing, Original.......2003-03-08
We hear a lot about the evil of stimulants. Amateur doctors who get their info from infomercials or Aunt Clara have begun to equate beverage/food stimulants with tobacco, alcohol and those absurdly misnamed "recreational" drugs. There is no comparison between being a zoned-out zombie and perking up to a Pepsi or cafe latte. Those who don't see this need a reality check. In fact, I am sipping a Dr. Pepper as I write (and, I might add, without a twinge of guilt.)
Caffiene is a modern development, especially the refining and concentrating of its powers. It emerged from the shadows in the Industrial Society and was indispensable in the conversion from a society of alcholic stupor to one that would revolutionize the world. The origins of both coffee and tea are quite similar - both being recognized for their medicinal purposes. Both had strong religious opposition (Islamic and Catholic) and both developed rituals and sites dedicated to the imbibing of the liquid.
Coffee and a few other naturally occurring plants also contain caffiene. The scientific section was too advanced for 99% of the readers- more like a chemistry treatise - but the history of
this ubiquitous drug was exciting and learned. The story of the rise of coffee houses, their political and social importance and the tale of the origins of afternoon "Tea" were both well done/ The history of soft drinks was an eye-opener as well. The book contains several illustrations and is best enjoyed with a hot cup of Costa Rican Arabica beaned coffee (not pre-ground).
Average customer rating:
- Not a good enough reference to be worth the money
- Taking a class with the editor
- Food for thinking with
- A warning note
- Not enough visual aids, i.e. illustrations, maps etc
|
The Cambridge World History of Food (2-Volume Set)
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0521402166
Release Date: 2000-11-14 |
Amazon.com
Have the French always enjoyed their renowned cuisine? When did Russians begin to eat pirogi? What was the first Indonesian spice to be cultivated elsewhere in the world? Questions such as these make for good Jeopardy material, but they're far from trivial--just ask anyone with a passion for good food and a curiosity for where that food originated. That person will know instinctively that the best way to approach a culture--and, indeed, the human animal--is through the stomach. For this individual, The Cambridge World History of Food will be something of a bible, and the best of gifts.
A massive scholarly tome in two volumes and more than 2,000 pages, the CWHF encompasses a wealth of learning that touches on nearly every aspect of human life. (It also reveals the answers to the three earlier questions: No, French cuisine as we know it is a 19th-century development; in the 16th century, following the conquest of the Volga Tatar; ginger, in colonial Mexico.) Thoroughly researched and highly accessible despite its formidable layout, the set addresses a groaning board of topics past and present, from the diet of prehistoric humans to the role of iron in combating disease; from the domestication of animals to the spread of once-isolated ethnic cuisines in a fast-globalizing world. Of greatest interest to general readers is its concluding section--a dictionary of the world's food plants, which gives brief accounts of items both common and exotic, from abalong to Zuttano avocado.
The product of seven years of research, writing, and editing on the part of more than 200 authors, The Cambridge World History of Food promises to become a standard reference for social scientists, economists, nutritionists, and other scholars--and for cooks and diners seeking to deepen their knowledge of the materials they use and consume. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
An undertaking without parallel or precedent, this monumental two-volume work encapsulates much of what is known of the history of food and nutrition throughout the span of human life on earth. It constitutes a vast and essential chapter in the history of human health and culture. Ranging from the eating habits of our prehistoric ancestors to food-related policy issues we face today, this work covers the full spectrum of foods that have been hunted, gathered, cultivated, and domesticated; their nutritional makeup and uses; and their impact on cultures and demography. It offers a geographical perspective on the history and culture of food and drink and takes up subjects from food fads, prejudices, and taboos to questions of food toxins, additives, labeling, and entitlements. It culminates in a dictionary that identifies and sketches out brief histories of plant foods mentioned in the text--over 1,000 in all--and additionally supplies thousands of common names and synonyms for those foods. The essays in this volume are the work of 220 experts in fifteen countries, in fields from agronomy to zoology. Every chapter is accompanied by bibliographical references. The volumes are organized in the following sections: 1. A determination of what our Paleolithic ancestors ate during their stay on the planet (over 99 percent of the time humankind has lived on earth). 6 chapters 2. An extensive treatment of the domestication and development of each of humankind's staple foods. 60 chapters 3. The history of our dietary liquids from beer through soft drinks to water. 13 chapters 4. Studies on the discovery of vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats, and the essential fatty acids along with a look at what they do for us. 37 chapters 5. A history of food and drink for all of the countries in the world. In addition there is a chapter on culinary history. 23 chapters 6. Historical issues involving human health, such as nutrition and mortality decline, height and nutrition, infection and nutrition. 18 chapters 7. Contemporary food-related policy issues are treated in this penultimate section of the work. Examples include chapters on food labeling, food biotechnology and the RDAs. 13 chapters 8. The last section of the work is a food-plant dictionary with over 1,000 entries that emphasize history and usage. The dictionary also includes over 4,000 synonyms for the names of plant food. Here readers well-informed about potatoes or asparagus can learn about lesser-known or strictly regional foods such as ackee or zamia and--among the thousands of synonyms provided--can discover that an aubergine is an eggplant, that "swedes" are rutabagas, and that "bulgar" comes from bulghur, which means "bruised grain."
Customer Reviews:
Not a good enough reference to be worth the money.......2004-10-29
This is a tremendously expensive reference that one should expect to be trustworthy. But it isn't. Nor is it as definitive as should be expected, though it does have some fascinating entries, such as the role of dogs in the history of food. For the price, there should be line drawings for some of the more unusual fruits and veg, because as it is, the verbal descriptions would lead a reader to think that something looked quite different than it does. So I use these two volumes with caution, referencing further anything said here before I take it as a given. Although some other reviewers here have criticized the dryness of style, that is what I want in this sort of thing, so I have no complaints there. Of far more importance is the slant that many of the articles have, which clearly have a political agenda that the information is wrapped around. So, while the bibliographies for same are useful, they also are selectively chosen. Given the guides to food now, and the many histories, I would think that a few books judiciously chosen are better value than this one reference, though if you are monied, this is an interesting addition to your library, to be read with a grain of salt in every 'Oh, my! I didn't know that.'
Taking a class with the editor.......2003-05-01
Argghhhh I have Kenneth Kipple for a teacher, arghhhhh. The greatest use of this book is in the bibliographies at the end of the chapts. Skip the articles and look for the books in the bibliography.
Food for thinking with.......2001-08-07
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. The Oxford Companion to Food is also a fine volume, and while it is sometimes more useful with regard to specific foods, it is much lighter on analysis and unneccesarily flippant in places. I would recommend that you buy both the Cambridge volumes and the OCF. Together they almost completely fill the reference spot on the bookshelf of the serious student of food.
To dine well is to touch the face of God
A warning note.......2001-06-12
This is a bumper book, stuffed with good articles by leading authorities in the field. As other reviewers have pointed out, this is a relatively dry volume that concentrates overmuch on archaeology and evolution (well documented elsewhere) and not enough on food history, on which there is a huge amount of misleading literature.
Sadly these volumes require a warning notice for their dictionary of plant foods (a hefty part of the book: pages 1711-1889). Evidently a last-minute attempt to widen the appeal of the book, this is woefully and grossly inaccurate. For example, pink peppercorns are wrongly identified as Piper nigrum, rather than Schinus terebinthifolius (and their mild toxicity is not noted either). Almost every entry in the directory is wrong or questionable. There is further evidence of underinvestment in editing elsewhere in the book; for example, botanical names are not consistent between chapters.
Most readers would fare much better with Alan Davidson's amusingly written, comprehensive and (above all) accurate "Oxford Companion to Food". This Cambridge volume belongs on library shelves - where it will occasionally be very useful.
Not enough visual aids, i.e. illustrations, maps etc.......2001-06-01
I bought this book recently and really enjoy reading the various articles. The style is quite scholarly, like articles published in refereed scientific journals, complete with a reference list at the end of every article. Being an engineer and not a medical doctor or biologist I usually have to look up several words per article. So this is not necessarily light reading.
Unfortunately, with very few exceptions, the chapters of the book are almost devoid of illustrations. This is my big gripe and the reason I rate this work 4 stars instead of 5. I guess I should have been warned by the absence of the word "illustrated" from the title. Especially where more exotic food stuffs (such as a Durian) are concerned illustrations (pictures) would be helpful. Also, where different variants of the same produce, e.g. bananas are compared it would be easiest to show the difference with a pictorial comparison instead of with a table. The descriptions are very good and detailed, but as they say 'a picture says more than a thousand words'.
Also, for some of the articles more maps would be helpful to give a quick overview where certain items are grown and foods are used. Unless proficient in geography, having an atlas by your side may be a good idea when reading some of the articles.
Average customer rating:
- Very solid contribution!
- A useful text
- Interesting collection.
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Food and Culture: A Reader
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ASIN: 0415917107 |
Book Description
Food touches everything important to people: it marks social differences and strengthens social bonds. Common to all peoples, yet it can signify very different things from table to table.
Food and Culture takes a global look at the social, symbolic and political-economic role of food. The stellar contributors to this reader examine some of the meanings of food and eating across cultures, with particular attention to how men and women define themselves differently through their foodways. Articles reveal how food habits and beliefs both present a microcosm of any culture and also contribute to our understanding of human behavior. Crossing many disciplinary boundaries, this reader includes the perspectives of anthropology, history, psychology, philosophy, and sociology.
The reader starts out by illustrating food's ability to convey symbolic meaning and communicates about a wide range of subjects. Next, the articles draw attention to how the practices of giving, receiving and refusing food initiate, solidify or rupture social bonds. Essays exploring the relation between body image, eating and sexuality in different societies give particular attention to the special and contradictory relation between women and food. Also demonstrated is the relation between the commodification of food, food industries, political power and colonial dominance.
Contributors include: Roland Barthes, Susan Bordo, Carolyn Walker Bynum, M.F.K. Fisher, Anna Freud, Jack Goody, Claude Levi-Strauss, Margaret Mead, and Elisa J. Sobo.
Customer Reviews:
Very solid contribution!.......2002-10-30
Rarely does one edited volume do such a good job of covering the essential essays about a topic. Counihan and Van Esterik do just that in their well-wrought _Food and Culture_. They skillfully offer food in an anthropological and historical perspective, giving attention to feminist, structuralist, semiotic, and other approaches. The essays themselves are effectively trimmed down by the editors, and the resulting book is consistently rewarding.
The book is weak on vegetarianism, meat as meaning, post-structuralism, and fast food, and could use a bit of help on "ethnic" uses of food. The addition of Doris Witt, Eric Schlosser, and Judith Farquhar would be helpful. It also lacks Peter Singer's new classic, "The Singer Solution to World Poverty." A second edition with these modifications would be welcome!
This book can rival, supplant, or supplement most any professor's undergraduate reading packet on the anthropology of food. Truly well-done. Probably a staple meal on campuses for years to come.
A useful text.......2000-03-14
I assigned this text almost unseen as a course book because it included so many of the classic essays which one might have ended up xeroxing. The students found the book very useful. I would have liked a more historical focus but that's because of my own training. I will assign the book again.
Interesting collection........1997-10-28
Food and culture are examined in 28 essays by noted anthropologists and other social scientists in this uneven but valuable survey.
Reading some of the academese is like treading molasses, but the collection is redeemed by such gems as Brumberg's examination of the Victorian roots of anorexia nervosa, Sobo's study of the social meanings of obesity in Jamaica, and Harris' "The Abominable Pig". Other writers explore such issues as breast-feeding, "industrial food", and hunger.
Very interesting and worthwhile for those interested in the deeper meanings of food and eating.
(The numerical rating above is an ineradicable feature of this page. This reviewer does nor employ numerical ratings.)
Book Description
Nobel laureate Robert Fogel's compelling new study examines health, nutrition and technology from 1700 to 2100. Although throughout most of human history, chronic malnutrition has been the norm, a synergy between improvements in productive technology and human physiology has enabled humans to more than double their average longevity and to increase their body size by over fifty percent over the past three centuries. Larger, healthier humans have contributed to the acceleration of economic growth and technological change, resulting in reduced economic inequality, declining hours of work and a corresponding increase in leisure time. Increased longevity has also brought increased demand for health care. Fogel argues that health care should be viewed as the growth industry of the twenty-first century and systems of financing it should be reformed. His book will be essential reading for all interested in economics, demography, history and health care policy. A professor at the University of Chicago, Robert William Fogel has taught at the University of Rochester, Cambridge University, and Harvard University. He has received numerous awards and prizes for his work, including the Arthur C. Cole Prize (1968), the Schumpeter Prize (1971), the Bancroft Prize (1975), the Gustavus Myers Prize (1990), and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science (1993). Previous books include Without Consent or Contract: The Rise and Fall of American Slavery (W.W. Norton & Company, 1994) and The Fourth Great Awakening and the Future of Egalitarianism (The University of Chicago Press, 2000).
Customer Reviews:
A glass more than half-full?.......2006-04-16
Given that our vision is so heavily freighted with the moment, ideas of human progress are in short supply lately. Although not an easy ride, economic historian and Nobel laureate Robert William Fogel's survey of the long run, at least in respect to human morbidity, leisure and longevity, provides escape velocity from pressing concerns about war, pandemic, income inequality and the health of the ecosphere. It might be as another noted economist, Alfred Lord Keynes, said in a different context: In the long-run we are all dead. But, the long-run seems to be getting longer.
The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death, 1700-2100 is an extension of Fogel's briefer 1993 Nobel Prize Lecture. It provides a synergistic view of the impact of increasing human environmental control on the demographic, economic and physiological conditions of successive generations over the past 300 years. According to Fogel, the interaction of these forces has over this period, and most dramatically over the last century, brought about a new stage of evolution - non-genetic "techno-physio evolution." He indicates this is evidenced by an unprecedented positive change during this period in caloric intake of about 250%, human body size of over 50%, and an increase in longevity of over 100%. Pointing to the future, Fogel's extrapolation of data over the last 140 years in optimal life circumstances, suggests that centenarians will be common by the last quarter of the 21st century. During the past three centuries there has also been an accompanying substantial decrease in the hours it takes each day to earn one's daily bread and increase in the percentage of discretionary income.
Although this is a "little" book, just 111 pages in the main body, it is densely packed with deep-mine data and illuminating higher-order concepts derived from a lifetime of concentration on economic development, particularly when Fogel was affiliated with the National Bureau of Economic Research as director of its Development of the American Economy Program and subsequently at the University of Chicago as the Charles R. Walgreen Professor of American Institutions and director of the university's Center for Population Economics. Metabolic indices, the thermodynamics of human physiological activity, Waaler curves, in-utero effects on morbidity, protein energy, malnutrition, physiological capital, and Gini ratios are grist for Fogel's mill.
Fogel's treatment of the confluence of technological change, diet, morbidity, work demands, leisure and mortality extends beyond developments in Western society to include the rapid pace of technophysio evolutionary changes in third world countries whose per capita income increases piggybacked on Western innovations, consequently dwarfing the much slower pace of Western improvements a century earlier. In the process of his examination he emphasizes the need to recognize the optimal conditions for human adaptation rather than settle for standards such as daily caloric requirements derived from earlier phases of technophysio evolution. Policy issues in the areas of health care, personal savings and retirement are also discussed in the light of the demographic changes that are occurring.
Some data reported by Fogel and those from other sources are anomalous. For instance, in view of the technophysio evolution particularly of the last 100 years, it seems strange that Dutch males, who were on average about 5'5" in 1860 are now the tallest in the world at about 5'11" while over the same period US men, who were about 5'7" then, are only 5'8" now after the declines of the last few decades. One explanation derives from the widening gap between the rich and the poor in the US (Gini = 45) compared to the greater income equality in the Netherlands (Gini = 30.9). (The Gini coefficient ranges from 1-100 with lower scores representing less income inequality). Also, there are data from millennia ago indicating a decline in average heights in the Eastern Mediterranean in the transition period from the hunter-gatherer economic regime to the first agricultural revolution (11,000 BC - 5000 BC). In John Kolmos (Ed.) Stature, Living Standards and Economic Development (Univ. of Chicago Press, 1994) there are a number of contributions that focus on such issues.
Professor Fogel touches very briefly on in utero, childhood and adolescence effects of economic status on morbidity and mortality, but his comment that "The exact mechanisms by which malnutrition and trauma in utero or in early childhood are transformed into organ dysfunctions are still unclear." (p. 32) is unwarranted. These relationships are detailed extensively in various chapters of the volume by Bruce S. McEwen and H. Maurice Goodman (Eds.) Handbook of Physiology: Coping with the Environment: Vol. IV (Oxford Univ. Press, 2001) for neuroendocrine abnormalities; in D.J.P. Barker's Mothers, Babies and Health in later Life (Churchill Livingstone, 1998) and Fetal Origins of Cardiovascular and Lung Disease (Marcel Dekker, 2001) for specific organ effects; in Peter Gluckman and Mark Hansen's The Fetal Matrix (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2005) for more general morbidity effects; and A.R. Cellura's The Genomic Environment and Niche-Experience (Cedar Springs Press, 2005) for the confluence of genetic influences, economic regimes, ecological niches, caloric intake, stature, morbidity and mortality.
Robert William Fogel's The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death, 1700-2100 is that rare species of research - longitudinal study. Unlike the cross-sectional snapshots whose importance often quickly fades, there is gold in these data mines that is so precious because it is so difficult to find and so hard to get to. It is must reading for those in human biology, medicine and the social sciences who are interested in the issues surrounding human adaptation. It will also appeal to life-long learners drawn to the interface between the biology, economics and history of the human condition.
Amazon.com
This first authoritative expose of the 1958-1962 famine prompted by China's collectivization plan, "The Great Leap Forward," comes at a time when the cult of Mao is alive and well inside China, and while agents of Chinese influence are able to arrange audiences with a President. Via his painstaking research and reporting that included two treks through interior Chinese provinces, Becker tells how the famine occurred because ill-trained peasants were forced to undertake a gigantic and centralized industrial and agricultural expansion. The new factories, canals, and irrigation systems failed spectacularly, and in contrast to propaganda boasts of having economically outstripped the U.S., when in reality the populace was driven by starvation to cannibalism, slavery, and madness.
Book Description
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Chinese people suffered what may have been the worst famine in history. Over thirty million perished in a grain shortage brought on not by flood, drought, or infestation, but by the insanely irresponsible dictates of Chairman Mao Ze-dong's "Great Leap Forward," an attempt at utopian engineering gone horribly wrong. Journalist Jasper Becker conducted hundreds of interviews and spent years immersed in painstaking detective work to produce Hungry Ghosts, the first full account of this dark chapter in Chinese history. In this horrific story of state-sponsored terror, cannibalism, torture, and murder, China's communist leadership boasted of record harvests and actually increased grain exports, while refusing imports and international assistance. With China's reclamation of Hong Kong now a fait accompli, removing the historical blinders is more timely than ever. As reviewer Richard Bernstein wrote in the New York Times, "Mr. Becker's remarkable book....strikes a heavy blow against willed ignorance of what took place."
Customer Reviews:
Worthwhile.......2006-02-25
I find this book a most fascinating one . . . and a "required" reading for those interested not just in China's history but modern genocide, mass media control by state press, Communist theory development, among many other topics. It is easy to read and gruesome aspects of the famine are dealt with respectfully and with sensitivity.
I give it only four stars (rather than five) because I feel there is, at times, repetition of facts. All in all I highly recommend this book. Every person should read it to better understand and bring to light shameful acts against humanity.
A must read book.......2006-01-24
This book isn't especially well written from a literary perspective. In the reviews below you will find one or two criticisms such as an incomplete understanding of ancient Chinese history, which may well be valid. Unfortunately some people have obviously got hung up on the "30 million" deaths claim, but Becker does little to independently research the size of the death toll. He just summarises the various research that has been carried out, with what looks to me like a fair-minded commentary of the problems of estimating an accurate number.
However this is not the point of the book, which is firstly to gather together evidence that this famine did happen and secondly to piece together the complex strands explaining why it happened.
Ultimate blame is placed at the foot of Mao who firstly was the architect of the radical and in some cases barmy social and agricultural reforms which initiated the famine and secondly put in place a regime of terror which led most non-heroic subordinates to feedback the information they thought he wanted to hear regardless of the reality on the ground. Most of those who dared to tell the truth, ultimately paid with their life, either immediately or a few years later in the Cultural Revolution, which itself is seen by Becker as the way Mao sought to regain control of the party from the more moderate voices who had eventually managed to put in place the reforms to Mao's policies which ended the famine.
To his credit, Becker spends some time discussing the previous famines and periods of war and unrest which provide a backdrop to the situation. He also recognises, though does not emphasis some of Mao's achievements. His overall thesis is I think not, as some seem to suggest, that Mao deliberately and consciously murdered his own people in the way that Stalin did. It's more that Mao though he might have been a master political and military tactician had little understanding of human nature or science and was so drunk on his own propaganda that he refused to see how he could have been mistaken. Becker leaves open the morally important question of the extent to which Mao had deluded himself about the suffering of his people, and the extent to which he believed that such suffering was of little consequence in the greater scheme of things.
Becker also correctly lays considerable blame at the doors of those western commentators, China watchers and academics who were duped by Mao's propaganda - way up until the early 1990s, thus paving the way for a series of disasters around the world as various third world governments from Cambodia to Tanzania tried to emulate the apparent achievements of Mao's China with disastrous policies of their own.
I believe that Becker puts forward a fair minded and highly plausible analysis of what happened during this period, and given its importance not only from a moral perspective but in understanding the history of China and the world during the subsequent 50 years, it's a book that as many people as possible should be encouraged to carefully and open mindedly read.
More excellent information here..!.......2005-08-23
After reading this book, I also went to this website http://www.theepochtimes.com/jiuping.asp and read its articles entitled, "Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party". The information is very in-depth and goes steps further in exposing the CCP during its bloody rise to power and its current efforts to maintain absolute control. I would highly recommend checking it out.. All the materials are FREE and they even have free audio book format mp3's
World's best kept Communist tragedy .......2004-10-03
The tragedy of the massive famine that devoured untold numbers of lives in China during the 1959 - 1961 "Great Leap Forward" campaign was that the official stand of the Chinese Communist Party refused to acknowledge it as a man-made mistake.
This book acts like Spielberg's "Shoah Foundation", it's a testament to a fatalistic catastrophe of biblical proportions. It contains testimonies of survivors which the author had interviewed. Simple as it may seem, but some of the testimonies are indeed moving, touching and shows how hunger can reveal the bestial and the monstrosity of what a human being is capable of.
The greatest peacetime disaster of the 20th century.......2003-12-26
-----------------------------------------------------------
A horrifying and well-researched history of how Mao's "Great
Leap Forward" became the worst famine in history, killing
perhaps 30 million Chinese (1958 - 1960) -- it appears
unlikely an exact fatality figure will ever be known. Which
adds to the horror, I think, that millions of people, with hopes
and dreams like our own, could vanish without leaving
a trace, even a number, in the world outside their homes.
Not to mention uncounted millions of children whose lives
were blighted by brain-damage from malnutrition....
FWIW, Jasper concludes that Mao's Great Famine was more
omission than commission (in contrast to Stalin's): Mao's
absurd ideas of backyard industrialization, plus turning
loose the Red Guards chaos, ruined the harvests. Then
Communist Party officials simply denied the problem, and
concocted elaborate coverups -- even painting the tree
trunks to hide that the bark had been eaten by starving
people -- when Mao or senior officials were to visit famine
areas. And a smiling-peasants "Big Lie" for foreigners,
which worked for years.
It's a remarkable, and depressing, account. Highly recommended.
review copyright 1999 by Peter D. Tillman
Book Description
An affectionate and informative look at women on the Home Front in the 1940s, Grandma's Wartime Kitchen presents more than 150 classic recipes (updated for today's kitchens) along with anecdotes, advertisements, advice, and archival recipes from a unique and defining period in America's history.With details and personal voices that make the material come to life, the book covers: * The U.S. government's food rules and ration books * Substitutes for rationed sugar, and the delicious dessert recipes they inspired * Stretching butter, meat, coffee, and other staples * Cooking and baking for the troops abroad * Wartime entertaining including Defense Parties, progressive parties, and a traditional Thanksgiving dinner using wartime commodities * Monday Meatloaf, Mother's Fried Chicken, Macaroni and Cheese, Apple Dumplings, Vermont Johnny Cake, Honey Apple Pie, and many other recipes. At a time when America is saluting the soldierswho fought in World War II, this one-of-a-kind collection offers a portrait of the courageous (and delicious) contributions of the women who stayed behind.
Customer Reviews:
wartime recipes.......2006-11-06
This book brought back many childhood memories for me. I found recipes that my grandma used to make and I enjoyed. I thought of our victory garden and the canning that my mother and grandmother did. We made lots of sacrifices and didn't complain. I wonder why we didn't have to make
any sacrifices for this present war? --like gasoline!
This book has great recipes!.......2006-10-03
Recently I served as a cook at a weekend training event. The cook staff tried 7 recipes in this book and everyone loved them. We made several cakes, muffins and the No Knead rolls. The Crybabies were a great hit. The other cooks on the staff are planning to get their own copies.
Just what I wanted.......2006-01-15
I am writing a book sent during WW2, and I needed a good sense of day-to-day life in the era. This book provides that with authentic recipes and loads of other information about food purchasing and cooking tips that help to explain the era. I think this would be a useful and fun book for students of the era, regardless of their age.
The Greatest Generation of Cooks.......2001-02-02
Those of us living in this age of plenty have no idea what it was like to cook during World War II when sugar, butter, meat and oh, so many canned foods were rationed. I was a very little girl then and didn't understand so many of the hardships my mother endured. This book answers so many of the questions left unanswered and for me it is a joy to read. I do remember many of the recipes included here and for old times sake, I plan to give many of them a try. This book is a must for anyone interested in food or food history. We may not cook this way today-- we don't have to. But these old make-do recipes can teach us all a lot.
A look back in time to our "home front".......2000-12-27
I just purchased this book for my mother as a Christmas present, as she was born just before the USA's involvement in WWII. I gave it to her yesterday at our family gathering. Once she saw the cover, it was VERY difficult to get her to stop looking through it...she had to force herself to put it away!
I did check it out before I wrapped it...like Mom, I enjoy reading cookbooks in general, as well as being an American history buff. I don't know if I would actually try any of the recipes in this book (just not the kind of stuff I usually eat these days) but the chapters on food rationing and wartime entertaining (usually just glossed over in most books about the era) were very interesting! I just gave this book three stars since I would have liked more historical photos, as well as pictures of some of the completed dishes. If you enjoyed this book, I would also recommend the "Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook" which was first published in the 40's, as another view of American cookery at that point in time.
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Tasty Bible Stories: A Menu of Tales & Matching Recipes (Bible)
Cooking with the Ancients : Bible Food Book
Food At The Time Of The Bible: From Adam's Apple To The Last Supper
A Biblical Feast, Foods from the Holy Land
Celebrating Biblical Feasts: In Your Home or Church
