Near a Thousand Tables: A History of Food

A fascinating and erudite account of our prehistoric and historic relationship with food. The book discusses such things as herding versus hunting, sea weed, cannibalism... etc. I highly recommend this page-turner for its delightful insights into our most treasured habit -- eating!

Instead of providing a linear timeline of food history, Felipe Fernandez-Armesto does soemthing a little different: He writes about the several food "revolutions". From the use of heat, to the idea of haute cuisine, Fernandez-Armesto explores how these revolutions affected teh various cultures throughout the world. I highly enjoyed this book and it's take on food history. It clarified some points that I had been mulling over in my head, and found it a wonderful companion to Reay Tannehill's book "History of food"

The key to enjoying this book is, perhaps, to have dipped widely into culinary lore before picking it up. The author presupposes not only a passion for food, but also a good breadth of knowledge and context among his readers. Yes, he has his opinions and tastes, but for every statement he makes he opens a question to remain answered. I particularly enjoyed his excoriation of food faddists like Horace Fletcher and James H. Salisbury, his keen analysis of cultural food proclivities, and the good taste he exercised by including a lengthy quote from Duke Ellington on the "cult of abundance." Near A Thousand Tables is a book for those who view cuisine as a multifaceted phenomenon, quintessentially human, and about as easy to understand as humankind itself. It may not be for every reader, but it offers a great deal to any food buff who likes to read and think.Food writer Elliot Essman's other reviews and food articles are available at www.stylegourmet.com

Felipe Fernandez-Armesto has written a comprehensive, unusual book about food and eating in human history. Beginning with his chapter, "The Invention of Cooking", and ending with a discussion of the fast food industry, his scholarly yet opinionated approach is thought-provoking. He debunks several widely held beliefs, such as the importance of the spice trade and its role in the voyages of European explorers. Also interesting is his attitude that sugar, salt, and fat are not villains in destroying health: He cites small percentages of people who are vulnerable to high cholesterol and heart disease, but says that for most people, consumption of these three food items should not be an issue. He writes of the "Columbian exchange" of animals and crops between the New World and the Old; of how the six major grain crops came to be grown, and where; of how colonization produced mixed cuisines. "Near a Thousand Tables", a blend of fact and opinions, is sure to provide excellent dinner table discussions with your friends.Gathering round the cooking fire is an ancient human pleasure, one that endures despite the rise of microwave single-serving meals and hectic family schedules. Recommended.

"It is no way to eat oysters," proclaims Fernandez-Armesto in his opening sentence, referring to the fiddly habits of restaurant diners. "This is deliberate provocation, designed to refresh the bivalves before death, a little mild torture under which you can sometimes feel that you see the victims wriggle or flinch." He goes on to describe the proper method: "Unless you discard the utensils, raise the half-shell to your mouth, throw back your head, scrape the creature from its lair with your teeth, taste its briny juice and squelch it slightly against the palate before swallowing it alive, you deprive yourself of a historic experience." Unlike almost every other food in Western cuisine, the oyster has remained virtually the same "since the first emergence of our species."Food writers need to be passionate and opinionated about their subject; dollops of wit and poetry are also esteemed. Though a scholar and historian rather than food writer, Fernandez-Armesto brings all of these qualities to the table as well as an almost staggering breadth of information. His aim, as stated in the preface: "to take a genuinely global perspective; to treat food history as a theme of world history, inseparable from all the other interactions of human beings with one another and with the rest of nature; to treat evenhandedly the ecological, cultural and culinary concepts of the subject; to combine a broad conspectus with selectively detailed excursions into particular cases; to trace connections at every stage, between the food of the past and the way we eat today; and to do all this briefly." Whew. And does he succeed? Yes, although at times the flow of knowledge overwhelms the ability to process.But that's fine. This is a book to savor and enjoy, to dip into and re-read, to pull out at dinner parties to settle arguments. For, besides liveliness and wit, Fernandez-Armesto's writing has another invaluable quality - authority. When he makes an unequivocal statement, you, the reader, do not doubt him. For instance, sugar, he writes, "is now the world's biggest food product, beating even wheat." Startling perhaps, but not subject to debate. Unfortunately the reader's audience, those recipients of unrequested quotes, not being under the author's authoritative spell, sometimes require more convincing, which Fernandez-Armesto's notes, though copious, cannot always supply. Reference to his credentials - Oxford University professor, author of 13 serious, popular and opinionated histories ("Millenium: A History of the Last Thousand Years," "Civilizations: Culture, Ambition, and the Transformation of Nature,") - may do the trick. The book is organized into eight "revolutions," beginning with the advent of cooking, which not only sets us apart from other animals, but contributes to social cohesion. Food as ritual discusses, among other things, cannibalism ("Strangely, cannibals turn out to have a lot in common with vegans") health fads, and sacred and taboo foods. Next comes