English language
Published Aug. 12, 2012 by Basic Books.
"Wilson's book offers a novel approach to food writing, presenting a history of eating habits and mores through the lens of the technologies we use to prepare, serve, and consume food. This book tells the history of food through its tools across different eras and continents to present a fully rounded account of humans' evolving relationship to kitchen technology"--
Tells the history of how we made food through the ages, the tools we invented, and how we got to where we are. Fun and packed with trivia. I'll never look at my kitchen the same way again.
Consider the fork? I don't usually. I'm eating as I write this and almost didn't notice. I made tuna salad. I opened a can with one of those can openers that work so well I wouldn't ever have thought about it had I not read this book and learned about what went into their invention (which didn't happen until--spoiler alert--50 years after the invention of the can.)
I didn't make my own mayo even though I have a Cuisinart which makes it easy because I'd never done so before and it's always easier not to change, a fact which accounts for so many of the ways people prepare food--e.g. like their mother did.
If you're like me (you're not, but I mean in this one respect) and are fascinated by the history of things you take for granted, this is the book for you. You'll get to consider, in addition …
Consider the fork? I don't usually. I'm eating as I write this and almost didn't notice. I made tuna salad. I opened a can with one of those can openers that work so well I wouldn't ever have thought about it had I not read this book and learned about what went into their invention (which didn't happen until--spoiler alert--50 years after the invention of the can.)
I didn't make my own mayo even though I have a Cuisinart which makes it easy because I'd never done so before and it's always easier not to change, a fact which accounts for so many of the ways people prepare food--e.g. like their mother did.
If you're like me (you're not, but I mean in this one respect) and are fascinated by the history of things you take for granted, this is the book for you. You'll get to consider, in addition to the fork, chop sticks, sauce pans (I always wondered why they were so called) teflon coatings, stainless steel, sous vide, refrigeration, oven thermometers, ice cream makers, table manners, butter knives, etc.
This was one of my favorite Christmas presents this year. It covered my loves of history, gadgets, food, technology, entomology, popular culture and even evolution and anthropology. The major broad themes were very interesting and enlightening while being very well researched.
There were a few short sections on individual technologies which did feel a bit throw in almost as afterthoughts or which were related to the bigger topics, but just didn't stand up on their own. Fortunately these didn't detract from the overall work, though I did feel a bit more on these could have been written.
This is one of the most interesting books on food which I've had the pleasure of reading.
