Food, 21: The History of Taste

Replaying history in the context of food makes for a very engaging read. If you are really passionate about food this book offer tremendous insight into food trends world wide.

The eating of food has often had a prominent place in literature because it says so much about who's doing the eating. So it's not surprising that this assemblage of well-written academic essays on cuisines and the societies that produce them captures the reader's interest so readily. The diversity of cuisines covered both in geography and time provides a real feel for the diversity of human experience at the table (or at the Neolithic hearth). Professor Freedman's book works either as a coffee table browser or a straight read. I read it cover to cover and enjoyed it all. My own preferences are the chapters on prehistory, ancient Greece and Rome, and the development of the restaurant in the 18th century. The many pictures included are great fun.

I must say I was truly fortunate to receive a pre-publication copy of this exquisite volume. Editor Paul Freedman displays all the literary deftness of an M.F.K. Fisher or Calvin Trillin, without ignoring the analytic depth of gastronomic writing since Brillat-Savarin. An academic historian, Freedman treats the history of cuisine with a refreshing clarity and seriousness in his introduction. Connecting matters of food to class and taste throughout the history of the West and its influences, the editor provides ample fodder for "foodie," academic, and lay-reader alike with his lively and engaging overview of world cuisine that opens the volume and connects its essays. Both the UC Press edition and the Thames & Hudson edition feature lavish illustrations and elegant typography. The essays are cutting-edge without ignoring the needs of the previously un-informed or merely curious, making this an ideal coffee-table volume or holiday gift as much as it could be serious reading. Ideally shelved near Harold McGee, "Food: The History of Taste" is likely to become a cross-market classic for the near future.