Food in History

The author, Reay Tannehill, has created a magnum opus about food in history, that fills in many blanks about how we have arrived from pre-BC to where we are today - cultivation of crops, the spice trade, bread, beer, wine, rice, meals and cooking from the 4 corners of the world. Incredible survey, well-written. A must have for food-o-philes.

Historical anecdotes that my food scientist daughter found amazing.

Je m'intéresse non seulement à la cuisine mais à son histoire et même si je possède déjà un grand nombre de livres sur le sujet celui ci vaut la peine d'être lu et relu.

Reay Tannahill is probably better known as an historical novelist but her Food in History is described as ‘a serious overview of food as a catalyst of social and historical development.’ Her account of what we have eaten over the centuries begins in the pre-historic period. The earlier sections will be of interest to social historians, to foodies (since when has that been a word?) and to anyone setting a novel in ancient Egypt or sixth century China (surely someone must be attempting the latter). From a family historian’s point of view, it is the last two parts (of six), covering 1492 onwards, that will be most relevant. Many foods that we take for granted were not available in Britain until comparatively recently. The impact of the age of exploration on our diet was unparalleled. It is not a coincidence that section five begins in 1492, when Columbus was sailing blue (or more plausibly grey) oceans. Tannahill also looks at the influence of the European Grand Tour, the industrial revolution and the use of pesticides, on what we ate and how we produced, prepared and stored food.If you want to make sure that the characters in your novel are not chomping on an anachronistic tomato, if you want to know what great great granny might have served for dinner or if you are interested in the way in which food and historical events interrelate, I can recommend this book. There are line drawings, notes on sources and an extensive bibliography to take you further. I particularly like the way in which the author weaves the history of food in to the wider historical context. This is a true social history.

Excellent book !Well researched on various aspects of food history of world,tasty for mind too,of that tasteful thing for tongue!