Cultural Foods: Traditions and Trends

Cultural Foods: Traditions and Trends, by Pamela Goyan Kittler and Kathryn P. Sucher, Wadsworth/Thompson Learning, Belmont, California, is a remarkable achievement. The authors, both nutritionists with a galloping interest in culture, have examined the many ethnic groups and cuisine traditions which comprise "what Americans eat." I was pleased to find that Native Americans, usually left out of such surveys, were included, along with Ugandans, Yemenese, Armenians, Basques and many, many others. Though initially written with food service professionals in mind, this is a book any foodie would devour. It starts with the food customs of individual countries and then looks at how arriving immigrants have adapted their usual ways of preparing foods to American ingredients and customs. The authors examine regional American foodways and typical specialties and provide an ethnic foods glossary, a lengthy bibliography and a dense index which allows the reader to dip in and out of the book with ease. Even the margins are peppered with food lore tidbits.