Synopses & Reviews
and#147;A triumph, pointing the way to a wholly new kind of historiography that can hold its own with more familiar work on political, economic, social, and intellectual history.and#147; and#151;G. W. Bowersock,
New York Review of Books and#147;Magnificent. . . . Some of Laudanand#8217;s and#145;diffusion mapsand#8217; of particular styles of cuisine are miniature masterpieces of cultural history.and#147; and#151;Peter Thonemann, Times Literary Supplement
"Rachel Laudan combines an impressive grasp of global history with a deep appreciation of the world's cuisines in all their glorious diversity. Readers who love food will find Cuisine and Empire both informative and entertaining." and#151;Daniel Headrick, author of Power over Peoples: Technology, Environments, and Western Imperialism, 1400 to the Present
"Few writers could tackle the sweeping subject matter of Cuisine and Empire with such grace and authority as Rachel Laudan. She rises to this challenge with fresh insights and a global perspective on our attitudes to food. This book is not to be missed by food historians and lovers of good eating." and#151;Anne Willan, author of The Cookbook Library: Four Centuries of the Cooks, Writers, and Recipes That Made the Modern Cookbook
and#147;Rachel Laudan offers a remarkable and always fascinating account of the rise and fall of cuisines, giving equal time to every part of the globe and situating the modern period within the much longer history of how people have gone about preparing food. The focus on cooking and cuisine demonstrates the durability of tastes, but also how such tastes are spread and influenced by political and cultural expansion. Cuisine and Empire is a riveting and unique combination of culinary ideas and exposition on the materiality of eating.and#8221; and#151;Paul Freedman, editor of Food: The History of Taste
and#147;In this groundbreaking book, Rachel Laudan takes a distinctive approach to the development and expression of food cultures throughout human history. She describes successive models of foodways that illuminate different periods and places, underpinned by persuasive historical analysis. Both general readers and professional historians will feel challenged by her arguments to integrate food and its culture into their thinking about human history, not just as an afterthought but as an essential tool of understanding and explanation.and#8221; and#151;Naomi Duguid, author of Burma: Rivers of Flavor
and#160;
Review
"During my forty year culinary career, there have been a select number of books that became touchstones, volumes that seemed to arrive just when inspiration was needed or direction was appropriate, books that somehow enhanced my sense of having found my calling. The newest addition to the list is a work of culinary history by Rachel Laudan."
Review
"It seems like every time you hear someone mention processed food, it's accompanied with the words 'bad' or 'unhealthy,' plus a shaking finger. Unless you're author Rachel Laudan."
Review
"Magnificent . . . Some of Laudan's 'diffusion maps' of particular styles of cuisine are miniature masterpieces of cultural history."
Review
"Epic in range. . . . Its solidity and substance make a change from the day-to-day scatter of information delivered and consumed in tweets and sound bites."
Review
"A fascinating account of the rise and fall of cuisines. . . . Touching on all parts of the globe, Rachel explores human development through the vastly understated tool of food."
Review
"A new standard for global culinary history."
Synopsis
Rachel Laudan tells the remarkable story of the rise and fall of the worldand#8217;s great cuisinesand#151;from the mastery of grain cooking some twenty thousand years ago, to the presentand#151;in this superbly researched book. Probing beneath the apparent confusion of dozens of cuisines to reveal the underlying simplicity of the culinary family tree, she shows how periodic seismic shifts in and#147;culinary philosophyand#8221;and#151;beliefs about health, the economy, politics, society and the godsand#151;prompted the construction of new cuisines, a handful of which, chosen as the cuisines of empires, came to dominate the globe.
Cuisine and Empire shows how merchants, missionaries, and the military took cuisines over mountains, oceans, deserts, and across political frontiers. Laudanand#8217;s innovative narrative treats cuisine, like language, clothing, or architecture, as something constructed by humans. By emphasizing how cooking turns farm products into food and by taking the globe rather than the nation as the stage, she challenges the agrarian, romantic, and nationalistic myths that underlie the contemporary food movement.
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About the Author
Rachel Laudan is the prize-winning author of The Food of Paradise: Exploring Hawaiiand#8217;s Culinary Heritage and a coeditor of the Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Mastering Grain Cookery, 20,000and#150;300 B.C.E.
2. The Barley-Wheat Cuisines of the Ancient Empires, 500 B.C.E.and#150;400 C.E.
3. Buddhist Cuisines, 260 B.C.E.and#150;4800 C.E.
4. Islam Transforms the Cuisines of Central and West Asia, 800and#150;1650 C.E.
5. Christianity Transforms the Cuisines of Europe and the Americas, 100and#150;1650 C.E.
6. Prelude to Modern Cuisines: Northern Europe, 1650and#150;1840
7. Modern Cuisines: The Expansion of Middling Cuisines, 1810and#150;1920
8. Modern Cuisines: The Globalization of Middling Cuisines, 1920and#150;2000
Notes
Bibliography
Index