Cultural studies: food and society Books

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThere are hundreds of myths and misunderstandings about food today. Whether you're wondering if certain foods are good or bad for you, or just looking for a few interesting facts about cooking, this book will surely keep you entertained and well informed. * How it Works *This is a stunning book which I recommend with great enthusiasm. Dorling Kindersley are a British publisher specialising in visual reference books, and they have, yet again, shown their mastery in translating complex information into gorgeous pictures. And most importantly, retaining detail and accuracy of the subject, without drift and dilution. This book provides lots of great science about food and nutrition, presented beautifully. * Network Health Digest *

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Book SynopsisIncluding recipes for baking with Einkorn Wheat is the most widely grown crop on our planet, yet industrial breeders have transformed this ancient staff of life into a commodity of yield and profit—witness the increase in gluten intolerance and 'wheat belly’. Modern wheat depends on synthetic fertilizer and herbicides that damage our health, land, water, and environment. Fortunately, heritage ‘landrace' wheats that evolved over millennia in the organic fields of traditional farms do not need bio-chemical intervention to yield bountifully, are gluten-safe, have rich flavor and high nutrition. Yet the robust, majestic wheats that nourished our ancestors are on the verge of extinction. In Restoring Heritage Grains, author Eli Rogosa of the Heritage Grain Conservancy, invites readers to restore forgotten wheats such as delicious gluten-safe einkorn that nourished the first Neolithic farmers, emmer—the grain of ancient Israel, Egypt, and Rome that is perfect for pasta and flatbreads, rare durums that are drought-tolerant and high in protein, and many more little known wheat species, each of which have a lineage intertwined with the human species and that taste better than any modern wheat. Restoring Heritage Grains combines the history of grain growing and society, in-depth practical advice on landrace wheat husbandry, wheat folk traditions and mythology, and guidelines for the Neolithic diet with traditional recipes for rustic bread, pastry and beer. Discover the ancient grains that may be one of the best solutions to hunger today, and provide resilience for our future.Trade ReviewChoice- "This work is a thought-provoking polemic against industrial wheat and its negative impact on the environment and human health. Rogosa, who has conducted work in biodiversity preservation and is also a farmer, argues that heritage wheat varieties or landrace grains, such as einkorn, are more biodiverse, more healthful, easier to grow, and essential for the ecosystem. Growing these grains is covered in detail—in fact, a significant portion of the book is aimed at farmers or gardeners looking to grow landrace grains and/or wishing to troubleshoot common problems. Along with the discussion on growing the crops, the author delves into folk traditions regarding the consumption of these grains and historical recipes. In addition to her environmental argument, Rogosa is a passionate advocate for replacing modern wheat and links its development with a variety of health issues, such as the rise in celiac disease and digestive ailments. Though Rogosa is a thorough researcher and an engaging writer, the audience this book is aimed toward is likely to be the most sympathetic to her cause. This title is an engaging and stimulating work, but its narrow, mostly agricultural content makes it a peripheral purchase for academic libraries. Summing Up: Optional. All readers.” Foreword Reviews- "While wheat continues to serve as an important part of the Western diet, today’s wheat itself is radically different from that eaten in earlier centuries. It is that contradiction that Eli Rogosa explores in Restoring Heritage Grains, an interesting and informative volume about how humans have altered the world’s wheat supply. Rogosa explains how the various kinds of wheat that once flourished across Europe were gradually homogenized, from the Romans planting easy-to-maintain wheats that could quickly reinforce their supply lines, to the Soviet Union instituting a common agricultural approach throughout Eastern Europe. She also highlights the way that agribusiness has changed the wheat crop in the United States, replacing diverse ‘landrace' seeds with genetically modified crops designed to be resistant to weeds, but which likely play a role in the rapid growth of gluten allergies. Beyond diagnosing these problems, however, Rogosa presents a thorough solution. She describes the variety of wheats available, from durum to spelt to Indian wheat, highlighting the advantages of each, and explains how best to grow these heritage grains. She covers where these crops grow most effectively, and how they can be used to restore soil that is often ruined by mandates to produce mass quantities of wheat. She also explains harvesting techniques and shares personal stories of traveling to different parts of the world to speak with farmers about how they restore and protect their native landrace seeds. The text of Restoring Heritage Grains is nicely supplemented with images that visually demonstrate the diversity of these ancient grains. The book also includes a useful resources section with information about seed banks, and—perhaps best of all—a selection of recipes that make use of heritage grains. Whether of traditional cookies, pie crust, pizza, or challah, these recipes provide opportunities to practice what Rogosa preaches, and to taste the different flavors heritage wheats offer."“Eli Rogosa has delivered to us, her many fans, the long-awaited book, Restoring Heritage Grains, in which she totally blows the lid off of this historic moment in the world of bread. She not only artfully guides us through thousands of years of the history and botanical evolution of wheat but also, prophetically, shows us its very future. And now we all have access to Eli’s inner world, to the passion that has been fermenting within her for many years and now exists forever through her brilliant words.”--Peter Reinhart, educator; author of Bread Revolution“Most wheat grown worldwide today can be described as an in-bred, dwarfed, distant cousin of the genetically diverse, farmers’ landrace cereal crops of the past. Eli Rogosa argues passionately and convincingly in her book that from many perspectives, including food security and nutritional value, our landrace cereals need to be brought back from the brink of extinction. Eli illustrates the central role of cereals in human civilization as we know it, including in myth and religion and how this role has been traduced by agribusiness interests. Eli adds valuable advice and knowledge for the grower and the cook on preservation and use of our cereal crop inheritance.”--Andy Forbes, secretary, Brockwell Bake Association, London, UK“In this book, agro-anthropologist, farmer, and baker Eli Rogosa helps us rediscover ancient landrace and traditional pre-Green Revolution wheats—varieties that are more delicious, nutritious, drought-resistant, and resilient than modern wheats, and that are already organic-adapted. The author covers everything from the romantic to the practical: personal stories about finding individual plants of rare wheats in Israel; historical and anthropological information; methods for growing, harvesting, and threshing; as well as many detailed recipes. A must read for anyone who has a garden or farm and who likes good bread.”--Carol Deppe, author of The Tao of Vegetable Gardening“Restoring Heritage Grains is both poetic and practical. Eli Rogosa first tells the sad story of how the Green Revolution transformed the staff of life into a toxic-drenched monocrop. Then she shares the joyful story of her life’s work discovering, growing, distributing the seed and spreading the word about heritage grains. She makes a compelling case for heirloom landraces, the deep-rooted, diverse gene pools that coevolve with changing conditions, “people and seeds” finding ways to survive through climate challenges. Along the way, she recounts the history of wheat from the earliest human discoveries through ancient and modern Near East and European history, including the new world of the Americas. She lingers over the early millennia of matriarchy and the sacred rituals of many different peoples. Especially striking is her account of ancient Israeli practices as a sophisticated community food system based on social justice. This is a book to cherish.”--Elizabeth Henderson, author of Sharing the Harvest“Eli Rogosa has lived among the world’s few remaining peasant farmers who continue to cultivate landrace wheat seeds and traditions. She has collected and faithfully tended and multiplied their unique local varieties, learned their traditional production techniques, and recorded their special recipes. She brought them to her home in New England and crossed them to combine their qualities and adapt them to the very different climate of their new home. Now, in Restoring Heritage Grains, she shares the wealth of information that she has preserved and the flavor of the seeds that she has saved, with people in this country and around the world.”--Klaas Martens, farmer, Lakeview Organic Grain, Penn Yan, NY“This is a marvelous book, which I will read again and again over the years. Eli has woven a tapestry of fact and flavour, drawing on botanical, agricultural, nutritional, and folk information never before assembled under one cover. And she has included practical information on how to make delicious bread and beer. She has described how the first farmers were ‘evolutionary plant breeders’ and worked with nature to create the biodiverse crops we now call ‘heritage’ grains. Sadly, much of this diversity was lost as farmers abandoned their traditional crops for modern varieties, beguiled by promises of bumper yields and a ‘green revolution’ that would feed the world. Unfortunately, these yield increases have been achieved at immense environmental, social, and nutritional costs. This book is a critique of industrial agriculture, but it is also a practical manual for how to reintroduce diversity into our farming systems by growing heritage grains, and how we can help repair our spiritual relationship with the earth.”--John Letts, archaeo-botanist and farmer, Heritage Harvest Ltd., Oxford, UK“This beautiful book is unlike any other publication on wheat or grains that I have ever read. Written poetically, it is a rare mix of science, history, and culture; therefore, the book will be equally inspiring for scientists, students, farmers, seed savers, culinary experts, or just any person looking for interesting reading. With this book, Eli gives us a key to restoring our bread of life.”--Mariam Jorjadze, director, Biological Farming Association Elkana (Georgia)“Let yourself be inspired by the inflammable enthusiasm of Eli Rogosa about the diversity of ancient wheats, their historical backgrounds, and notes from her many encounters in different countries. The author brings these wheats not only into your stomach with lots of recipes, but also into your heart, which is the most important step on their way into the fields, where they can develop in our modern times into what wheat should be for humans: a well-balanced partner that can help us to cultivate our minds, our bodies, and our sentiments.”--Dr. Karl-Josef Mueller, biodynamic cereal breeder at Cereal Breeding Research, Neu Darchau, Germany“Restoring Heritage Grains offers a veritable treasure trove from the past, yet one that is very relevant for today! The book introduces truly healthier, more nutritious, beautiful, and exciting grains to cultivate in your garden and farm and to enhance your palate. Read, grow, preserve, eat, and enjoy ancient grains for a biodiversity of taste and nourishment!”--John Jeavons, author, How to Grow More Vegetables; executive director of Ecology Action“Our common cultural history goes all the way back to the very roots of civilization: the domestication of the cereals 12,000 years ago. In page after page of this book, Eli Rogosa’s profound knowledge, love, and passion for our common culinary and genetic heritage links our history with our daily bread, and fills the reader with enthusiasm to go into the field, and into the kitchen, to follow her example: Grow it, bake it, and eat it! Eli Rogosa’s quest for restoring quality bread from heritage grains is not only for the sake of your own health but to restore what unites us all, and thereby a mission of peace.”--Dr. Anders Borgen, organic wheat breeder, Denmark“Eli Rogosa deserves credit for pioneering the current return of interest in heritage grains. In a compelling and inspiring book, she retraces her own voyage of discovery into the beauty and importance of endangered grain varieties, the tragic loss of their presence in our fields and diets, and how we can participate in returning this most ancient of foods to our tables. Her wide-ranging work is a powerful reminder of the depth of our connection to the first crops cultivated by humans.”--Sylvia Davatz, Solstice Seeds

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Book SynopsisSejal Sukhadwala probes the complex intersection of tradition and colonialism through the fascinating history of curry, from its association with Ayurveda - one of the world's oldest holistic healing systems to its enduring popularity in contemporary British culture.

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Book SynopsisIslam is the only major world religion that resists the juggernaut of alcohol consumption. In many Islamic countries, alcohol is banned; in others, it plays little role in social life. Yet, Muslims throughout history did drink, often to excess—whether sultans and shahs in their palaces, or commoners in taverns run by Jews or Christians. This evocative study delves into drinking’s many historic, literary and social manifestations in Islam, going beyond references to ‘hypocrisy’ or the temptations of ‘forbidden fruit’. Rudi Matthee argues that alcohol, through its ‘absence’ as much as its presence, takes us to the heart of Islam. Exploring the long history of this faith—from the eight-century Umayyad dynasty to Erdoğan’s Turkey, and from Islamic Spain to modern Pakistan—he unearths a tradition of diversity and multiplicity in which Muslims drank, and found myriad excuses to do so. They celebrated wine and used it as a poetic metaphor, even viewing alcohol as a gift from God—the key to unlocking eternal truth. Drawing on a plethora of sources in multiple languages, Matthee presents Islam not as an austere and uncompromising faith, but as a set of beliefs and practices that embrace ambivalence, allowing for ambiguity and even contradiction.Trade Review'[A] sensitive and nuanced exploration of the inner lives of people with whom, though remote in time and place from us, we would have enjoyed sharing a drink.' -- Asian Review of Books‘This evocative study delves into drinking’s many historic, literary and social manifestations in Islam.’ -- H-Net'That Islamic culture makes no room for alcohol is a myth that has long clouded views of and within Islam. Rudi Matthee debunks this myth with the deftness and authority we have come to expect from one of our most accomplished scholars of Islamic cultures. Intoxicatingly good.' -- Christopher de Bellaigue, author of 'The Islamic Enlightenment' and 'The Lion House''Matthee's fascinating study of wine and wine-drinking in the Muslim world explores not only production and consumption but a rich culture of poetic ecstasy and revelry. Erudite and yet accessible, this outstanding book will find its deserved place within a growing body of sociocultural histories.' -- Abbas Amanat, William Graham Sumner Professor of History Emeritus, Yale University, and author of 'Iran: A Modern History''An excellent and important book covering the entire history of Islam and a very large part of the Islamic world. Drawing on a wide variety of sources, it is engaging and well written throughout.' -- Devin Stewart, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Emory College of Arts and Sciences'The first comprehensive engagement with the history of alcohol in the Islamic world, from the early days of the revelation to the nuances of contemporary alcohol policy and practice in major Muslim-majority countries. A novel, timely and compelling contribution.' -- Maziyar Ghiabi, Senior Lecturer in Medical Humanities and Politics, University of Exeter

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Book Synopsis''I have yet to meet anyone who hasn''t adored this book'' Nigella Lawson''Absolutely not to be missed'' Spectator ''Like all great food writing, The Man Who Ate Everything celebrates much more than the journey from plate to palate . . . An excellent investment.'' Time Out Jeffrey Steingarten''s award-winning collection of essays on food. Jeffrey Steingarten is to food writing what Bill Bryson is to travel writing. Whether he is hymning the joys of the perfect chip, discussing the taste of beef produced from Japanese cows which are massaged daily and fed on sake, or telling us the scientific reasons why salad is a ''silent killer'', his humour and his love of good food never fail. The questions he asks will challenge everything you assume you know about what you eat, yet his characteristic wit imparts masses of revelatory information in the most palatable of ways. As weTrade ReviewI have yet to meet anyone who hasn't adored this book once they've read it. * Nigella Lawson *'wonderfully extreme' Independent 23/9Gastronomic writing of the highest order, deserving a place alongside Elizabeth David and MFK Fisher. * Independent *Here is a great feast of a volume, a banquet of a book. It is both long and rich, full of intense flavours, new discoveries, unexpected contrasts ... Splendid. * Sunday Telegraph *Like the best modern-day food writers, Steingarten's style is a mix of wittily intellectual inquiry and glorious gluttony ... Little escapes his scrutiny, humour or delight. * The Times *Absolutely not to be missed. * Jennifer Paterson *

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Book SynopsisThe Great Famine, an Gorta Mór in Irish, was a period of mass starvation, disease and emigration in Ireland between 1845 and 1852. Often referred to as the Irish Potato Famine, particularly outside Ireland, as around forty percent of the population were reliant on this crop. Over a million people died and over a million more emigrated, often in appalling circumstances. This book explains what happened before and during the Famine, with an account of the consequences of this epic tragedy.

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Book Synopsis@font-face { font-family: Times New Roman ; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman ; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: Times New Roman ; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } In Dates, Nawal Nasrallah draws on her experience of growing up in the lands of ancient Mesopotamia, where the date palm was first cultivated, to explore the history behind the fruit. Dates have an important role in their arid homeland of the Middle East, where they are a dietary staple, consumed fresh or dried, as a snack or a dessert. They are even thought to have aphrodisiac qualities. The ancients said that the date palm had 360 uses: its seeds can be burned for charcoal, its trunk used as an irrigation pipe in fields, its leaves are woven into baskets and its sap can be turned into wine. It is no wonder, then, that it has played such a central role in the economy - and the culture - of the Middle East. The date palm's story follows its journey from its land of origin to the far-flung regions where it is cultivated today, such as Australia, California and Spain. Along the way, Nasrallah weaves many fascinating and humorous anecdotes that explore the etymology, history, culture, religion, myths and legends surrounding dates. She explains how the tree came to be a symbol of the Tree of Life; how it is associated with the fiery phoenix bird, the famous ancient goddess Ishtar and the moon; and lifts the veil on the curious sex life of the date palm. This delightful and unusual book gives a new perspective on the 'bread of the desert', the fruit from this most beautiful and useful of trees.Trade Review'These are food memoirs, salacious and exotic, colourful, powdered, sweet, greasy and globe-trotting ... sharp and speedy little reads, spotted with off-kilter illustrations' - Chicago Tribune 'Nasrallah's epic food memoir offers a smorgasbord of date history and fascinating facts topped with a dash of culture and a sprinkling of Arabic myth. Spicy and exotic, Dates: A Global History is also jam-packed with scrumptious date recipes for every occasion. After one read of this book, you'll feel like an honorary member of Nasrallah's huge family: armed and ready to prepare your own Middle Eastern date banquet.' - Etihad In-flight

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Book SynopsisA free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at www.luminosoa.org. The Scarcity Slot is the first book to critically examine food security in Africa's deep past. Amanda L. Logan argues that African foodways have been viewed through the lens of the scarcity slot,' a kind of Othering based on presumed differences in resources. Weaving together archaeological, historical, and environmental data with food ethnography, she advances a new approach to building long-term histories of food security on the continent in order to combat these stereotypes. Focusing on a case study in Banda, Ghana that spans the past six centuries, The Scarcity Slot reveals that people thrived during a severe, centuries-long drought just as Europeans arrived on the coast, with a major decline in food security emerging only recently. This narrative radically challenges how we think about African foodways in the past with major implications for the future.Trade Review"The book provides an accessible way to understand the foodstuffs and foodways in the region and contains an impressive review of the food literature written in English. It is also methodologically exemplary for food archaeology analyses. I highly recommend this book to a large audience interested in West Africa, to specialised archaeobotanists, and also to archaeologists who will here be shown the potential of food archaeology." * Journal of African Archaeology *“This masterful book is essential reading for Africanist students, scholars, policymakers, and anyone else interested in African food security and how the past can inform and shape the present.” * African Archaeological Review *"[Logan] builds a strong argument for using excavation of soil, of histories, of cuisines as a key method for food studies. . . .the African continent should be an essential component of food inquiry and education; Logan provides a framework for where to begin." * Gastronomica *"This is a superb book which calls into question many basic assumptions about African agricultural productivity and food history. It is beautifully argued and thoroughly documented. . . . The Scarcity Slot not only makes a hugely important contribution to the study of African food histories but also demonstrates the need for a much more nuanced understanding of Africa as a whole." * Ethnoarchaeology *

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Book SynopsisThe chemical compound DDT first earned fame during World War II by wiping out insects that caused disease and boosting Allied forces to victory. Americans granted it a hero''s homecoming, spraying it on everything from crops and livestock to cupboards and curtains. Then, in 1972, it was banned in the US. But decades after that, a cry arose to demand its return. This is the sweeping narrative of generations of Americans who struggled to make sense of the notorious chemical''s risks and benefits. Historian Elena Conis follows DDT from postwar farms, factories, and suburban enclaves to the floors of Congress and tony social clubs, where industry barons met with Madison Avenue brain trusts to figure out how to sell the idea that a little poison in our food and bodies was nothing to worry about.In an age of spreading misinformation on issues including pesticides, vaccines, and climate change, Conis shows that we need new ways of communicating about science-as a constantly evolving discipline, not an immutable collection of facts-before it''s too late.

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Book SynopsisA rich, long-term ethnography of women seafood traders in Mexico.Table of Contents Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Amber Sunsets and Pink Gold Chapter 1. Contested Grounds: Women Shrimp Traders and Street Economies Chapter 2. On Becoming Changueras: Gendered Livelihoods and Contested Identities Chapter 3. The Street of the Women Shrimp Traders: Learning the Tricks of the Trade in Space and Place Chapter 4. Here We Are Like a Family: The Complexity of Social Relations Chapter 5. The Culture and Economy of Pink Gold: The Meanings, Processes, and Values of Shrimp Chapter 6. Sometimes We Work Just to Pay Our Debts: Informal Credit and Savings Systems Chapter 7. From Outcasts to Icons: Women Shrimp Traders and Expressive Culture Conclusion: Feminist Political Ecology, Ethnography, and Uncovering Lived Realities References Index

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Book SynopsisFigs, fresh and dried, have become the fruit of celebrations and festivities throughout the Western world, and have been typically associated with Christmastime since the nineteenth century. In Figs: A Global History, David Sutton examines the festive and celebratory importance of figs in many countries by placing this luscious and festive fruit in its historical context. Beginning with an account of the strange biology of the fig - which is botanically not a fruit at all, but rather a cluster of ingrowing flowers - Sutton moves on to consider the Arabian origins of figs, including the possibility that the earliest fig seeds were transported from Yemen to Mesopotamia in the dung of donkeys. Proposing that the 'forbidden fruit' eaten by Adam and Eve was in fact a fig rather than an apple, this book explores the history of the fruit in fascinating detail, from the Crusaders to the wonderful fig festivals of the modern world. Including numerous recipes both sweet and savoury, and countless facts, myths and stories about the fig, such as the bizarre tale of the American fig-wasp, Figs is a fascinating account of this unique and delicious food.

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Book SynopsisIllustrates how neoliberalism influences the production, branding, and regulation of local foods and drinks. This book also challenges the strategy of relying on alternative markets to protect food cultures and rural livelihoods.Trade Review"There is not much published about the two iconic Mexican spirits, except for consumer books and tasting guides to different brands. Bowen's perspective is fresh and thought-provoking." -- Fabio Parasecoli The Huffington Post "This is far from a breezy read, and that's exactly the point. In today's spirits landscape, where a new celebrity tequila brand seems to launch each month and mezcal has gone viral, it's rare that we pause to consider the consequences of our adoration ... Offers an exhaustively researched, academic look at the forces that threaten these two great spirits that should be essential reading for anyone with an interest in protecting all that makes them great." Punch "Engaging ... A top gift book for the beverage drinker." -- Dean Tudor Gothic Epicures VinCuisineTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Abbreviations 1. The Promise of Place 2. From the Fields to Your Glass 3. Whose Rules Rule? Creating and Defining Tequila Quality 4. The Heart of the Agave: Farming in Tequila Country 5. Making Mezcal in the Shadow of the Denomination of Origin 6. Hipsters, Hope, and the Future of Artisanal Mezcal 7. Looking Forward Methodological Appendix Notes Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisAn award-winning pastry chef’s foolproof recipes and fresh take on the history of American desserts, from chocolate chip cookies to toaster pastries.Trade Review"This is not everyday baking – nor does it celebrate an everyday occasion – but the whisking of egg whites to make the marshmallow icing (inspiration for which I thank the ever-illuminating, ever-inspiring American baker-sleuth Stella Parks, author of the compendious BraveTart)..." -- Nigella Lawson - Observer Food Monthly"Fans of American desserts need look no further than this book." -- Choice

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Book SynopsisBill Buford has been a writer and editor for the New Yorker since 1995. Before that he was the editor of Granta magazine for sixteen years and, in 1989, became the publisher of Granta Books. He is also the author of Heat and Among the Thugs. He was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, grew up in California, and was educated at UC Berkeley and Kings College, Cambridge, where he was awarded a Marshall Scholarship for his work on Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. He lives in New York City with his wife, Jessica Green, and their two sons.Trade ReviewFor a rip-roaring account of French food culture and the dos and don'ts of working in a kitchen, look no further. -- Olivia Marks * Vogue *The Best Food Writing For Autumn 2020* *Hugely enjoyable... Buford's patience and composure are remarkable, his reportage illuminating. -- Roger Lewis * The Times *This book may well be an even greater pleasure than its predecessor... Delightful, highly idiosyncratic. -- Lisa Abend * New York Times Book Review *Buford is excellent company - candid, self-deprecating and insatiably, omnivorously interested... [I] wolfed it down. -- Orlando Bird * Telegraph *I adore Buford's enthusiasm, which is unstinting, endlessly curious and absolutist in the best sense. -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *

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Book SynopsisTo some it''s antisocial anathema, to others it is a harmless way to relax, or provides relief from crippling pain. Some fear it is a dangerous drug that leads to ''reefer madness'' and addiction; to others still it is a legal anomaly and should be decriminalized. Whatever the viewpoint, and by whatever name it is known, cannabis - or marijuana, hashish, pot, dope, kif, weed, dagga, grass, ganja - incites debate at every level. In this definitive study, Martin Booth - author of the acclaimed OPIUM: A HISTORY - charts the history of cannabis from the Neolithic period to the present day. It is a fascinating, colourful tale of medical advance, religious enlightenment, political subterfuge and human rights; of law enforcement and customs officers, smugglers, street pushers, gang warfare, writers, artists, musicians, hippies and pot-heads.Booth chronicles the remarkable and often mystifying process through which cannabis, a relatively harmless substance, became outlawed tTrade ReviewEnlightening...a very engaging history. * Daily Telegraph *Booth tells this story with admirable restraint...this book should be on the shelf of anyone interested in human freedoms and bad laws. * Independent *So good no one will need to do another for at least fifty years...mesmerizing detail, fantastical digressions, lots of jokes and wry asides. -- James Delingpole * Literary Review *A testament to the late Booth that he could make such a boring subject so interesting. * Sunday Times *A colourful tale ... Chronicles the remarkable and often mystifying process through which cannabis became outlawed throughout the Western world, and the devastating effect such legislation has had on the global economy. * Sunday Telegraph *Table of ContentsTo some it's anathema, to others it provides relief from crippling pain: to others still, it is a legal anomaly and should be decriminalized. Whatever the viewpoint, and by whatever name it is known, cannabis - or marijuana, hashish, dope, kif, weed, dagga, grass, ganga - incites debate at every level and its impact on the world's cultures and economies is undeniable. Dating back to the Neolithic period, the history of cannabis is a tale of medical advance, religious enlightenment, political subterfuge and human rights; of law enforcement and customs officers, cunning smugglers, street pushers, gang warfare, writers, artists, musicians and happy-go-lucky hipples and pot-heads.

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Book SynopsisA ground-breaking book by the world-leading expert in sensory science: Freakonomics for food''Popular science at its best'' - Daniel Levitin Why do we consume 35% more food when eating with one more person, and 75% more when with three? Why are 27% of drinks bought on aeroplanes tomato juice?How are chefs and companies planning to transform our dining experiences, and what can we learn from their cutting-edge insights to make memorable meals at home? These are just some of the ingredients of Gastrophysics, in which the pioneering Oxford professor Charles Spence shows how our senses link up in the most extraordinary ways, and reveals the importance of all the ''off-the-plate'' elements of a meal: the weight of cutlery, the placing on the plate, the background music and much more. Whether dining alone or at a dinner party, on a plane or in front of the TV, he reveals how to understand what we''re tasting and influenceTrade ReviewTruly accessible, entertaining and informative. On every page there are ideas to set you thinking and widen your horizons -- Heston Blumenthal, OBEHis delight in weird food facts is infectious...fascinating -- James McConnachie * Sunday Times *Not many people are as ready to realize the importance of the senses as Charles Spence -- Ferran Adria, El Bulli restaurant, SpainPopular science at its best. Insightful, entertainingly written and peppered throughout with facts you can use in the kitchen, in the classroom, or in the pub -- Daniel J. Levitin, New York Times bestselling author of 'The Organized Mind' and 'This Is Your Brain on Music'This is partly serious tome and partly an amusing guide for the layperson to a whole new gustatory world. Gastrophysics is packed with such tasty factual morsels that could be served up at dinner parties. If Spence can percolate all these factual morsels to the mainstream, the benefits to all of us would be obvious -- Nick Curtis * Daily Telegraph *Spence allows people to appreciate the multisensory experience of eating * The New Yorker *The scientist changing the way we eat * Guardian *Spence romps around such factoids in the style of a Blue Peter presenter . . . fascinating and provocative -- Melanie Reid * Times *A fascinating look at the science of food and how our perception is shaped by all our senses, not just taste * Sunday Times *If simply changing the name of a dish on a menu or the color of the plate on which it is served can dramatically alter our perception of taste and food quality, then everyone in the restaurant industry needs to read this and take a deeper look at the scientific secrets Professor Spence reveals in Gastrophysics -- Larry Olmsted, New York Times bestselling author of 'Real Food, Fake Food: What You Don’t Know About What You’re Eating & What You Can Do About It'Wonderfully curious and thought-provoking . . . brilliant -- Bee Wilson * Guardian *Spence cheerily whisks the reader through the senses like a magician . . . a mind-bending menu of fascinating insights -- Nicola Davis * Observer *Revealing, very interesting and well worth understanding . . . highly enlightening -- Rose Prince * Spectator *Spence takes a jovial pleasure in puncturing our perceptions and showing that there's a lot more going on in our mouths than what we think we're tasting . . . Spence has given us much food for thought -- Julia Platt Leonard * Independent *A chatty whirl through the latest discoveries and their real-world applications -- Rachel Laudan * Wall Street Journal *I wanted to reach out and thank you for your absolutely brilliant book Gastrophysics. As a thirty year restaurant veteran just venturing out on my own into the wild world of consulting, I found your research confirmed many of my long-held beliefs while adding tons of things I had never considered. -- Sean S. Reiter, Chief Synthesist, Sean Reiter ConsultingIt can't fail to entertain, inform and ultimately dazzle -- Heston Blumenthal, chef and owner of The Fat Duck, on The Perfect Meal

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**Shortlisted for the 2017 André Simon Food and Drink Book Awards****Shortlisted for the 2018 Fortnum & Mason Food Book Award**'The next Bill Bryson.’ New York TimesFood and travel writer Michael Booth and his family embark on an epic journey the length of Japan to explore its dazzling food culture. They find a country much altered since their previous visit ten years earlier (which resulted in the award-winning international bestseller Sushi and Beyond). Over the last decade the country’s restaurants have won a record number of Michelin stars and its cuisine was awarded United Nations heritage status. The world’s top chefs now flock to learn more about the extraordinary dedication of Japan’s food artisans, while the country’s fast foods – ramen, sushi and yakitori – have conquered the world. As well as the plaudits, Japan is also facing enormous challenges. Ironically, as Booth discovers, the future of Japan’s culinary heritage is under threat.Often venturing far off the beaten track, the author and his family discover intriguing future food trends and meet a fascinating cast of food heroes, from a couple lavishing love on rotten fish, to a chef who literally sacrificed a limb in pursuit of the ultimate bowl of ramen, and a farmer who has dedicated his life to growing the finest rice in the world… in the shadow of Fukushima.

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Book Synopsis `If you find the subject of food to be both vexing and transfixing, you'll love What She Ate' Elle

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Book SynopsisIn its current state, the global food system is socially and ecologically unsustainable: nearly two billion people are food insecure, and food systems are the number one contributor to climate change. While agro-industrial production is promoted as the solution to these problems, growing global "food sovereignty" movements are challenging this model by demanding local and democratic control over food systems. Translating Food Sovereignty accompanies activists based in the Pacific Northwest of the United States as they mobilize the claim of food sovereignty across local, regional, and global arenas of governance. In contrast to social movements that frame their claims through the language of human rights, food sovereignty activists are one of the first to have articulated themselves in relation to the neoliberal transnational order of networked governance. While this global regulatory framework emerged to deepen market logics, Matthew C. Canfield reveals how activists are leveraging this order to make more expansive social justice claims. This nuanced, deeply engaged ethnography illustrates how food sovereignty activists are cultivating new forms of transnational governance from the ground up. Trade Review"This book brings to life interactions among globally connected activist communities seeking to challenge dominant and rather simplistic ways of thinking about inequality, the environment, poverty, and food production. A must-read for scholars, students, and activists as well as those seeking to implement more inclusive and realistic policies."—Eve Darian-Smith, University of California, Irvine"Matthew Canfield is one of the leading socio-legal scholars focused on food sovereignty and agroecology. In this gripping account of the burgeoning food sovereignty movement in the US, he highlights how activists use food sovereignty to challenge transnational governance and neoliberal economic models. Canfield grounds his work in detailed ethnographical study and tells a bigger story of how struggles over the control of food systems can transform law, society, and economy. The food sovereignty movement is over 25 years old and has used law in complex and creative ways. While at the same time, food politics today are more intense than ever. This book is incredibly timely and provides an account of legality in the food sovereignty movement that we've all been waiting for."—Michael Fakhri, UN Special Rapporteur to the Right to Food"Translating Food Sovereignty is as ambitious as it is engaging. Expertly weaving together ethnography with legal studies, Canfield not only helps us to re-imagine more just food systems, he shows us how this is already being done."—Jessica Duncan, Wageningen University"Canfield examines the 'social practices of translation' involved in food sovereignty, whereby power and meaning are constantly contested and shifting. Using ethnographic research methods, the author traces the historical evolution of food sovereignty and then provides examples of how groups attend to issues such as control and communication in food governance at local, national, and international levels.... Recommended."—C. L. Lalonde, CHOICE"Canfield's book represents a grounded and inspiring assessment of how strategically cultivating justice in an age of global governance, through different local and global forms of legal mobilization of food sovereignty – from street protests to strategic litigation – can hold tremendous promise."—Jeff Handmaker, The Journal of Peasant Studies"Canfield's book points to openings in an ongoing and probably irresolvable debate. His careful, comprehensive, and rigorous examination of several cases invites us to step into them and explore what the right to food and other rights could look like in some places. He allows us to explore what is possible and what could be realized through collective, concerted action on multiple scales. Ultimately, the struggle and debate continues well beyond the conclusion of the book, and we can thank Canfield for offering us some new tools and insight toward carrying on the struggle."—Amy Trauger, The AAG Review of Books"This work is extremely useful for community organizers and activists in this area and policymakers at all levels, local, national, and international."—Richard Zimmer, Food Anthropology"[W]ell written, informative, and engaging. For anyone interested in learning about the FS [food sovereignty] movement, this book provides a general history of the global FS movement and a detailed record of FS activism in western Washington.... Due to Canfield's selected methodology and active participation in the FS struggle, presented perspectives feel personal, giving you insights on why the FS movement is important to many."—Tiffany K. Woods, Agriculture and Human Values"In an era marked by widespread food insecurity and escalating concerns about climate change, Translating Food Sovereignty: Cultivating Justice in an Age of Transnational Governance by Matthew C. Canfield offers a timely and thought-provoking analysis of the global food system.... With a wealth of experiences spanning from 'formal' to 'informal' and encompassing both legal and practical dimensions, each perspective presented feels remarkably comprehensive and worthy of serious consideration."—Mallory Cerkleski, Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development"In this engaging empirical account, we not only learn about recent and ongoing food sovereignty struggles in their local specificity but also glimpse how these struggles extend beyond lawmaking institutions and across legal jurisdictions. Translating Food Sovereignty thus offers a welcome contribution to legal anthropology, studies of social movements, and scholarship on governance from below."—Leila Kawar, Political and Legal Anthropology ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction: The Law and Politics of Food Sovereignty 1. Translocal Translation and the Practice of Networks 2. Constructing and Contesting "Local" Food Governance 3. Revaluing Agricultural Labor 4. Protecting People's Knowledge 5. Democratizing Global Food Governance Conclusions: Cultivating Justice in an Age of Transnational Governance

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Book SynopsisA fascinating and approachable deep dive into the colonial roots of the global wine industry. Imperial Wine is a bold, rigorous history of Britain's surprising role in creating the wine industries of Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. Here, historian Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre bridges the genres of global commodity history and imperial history, presenting provocative new research in an accessible narrative. This is the first book to argue that today's global wine industry exists as a result of settler colonialism and that imperialism was central, not incidental, to viticulture in the British colonies. Wineries were established almost immediately after the colonization of South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand as part of a civilizing mission: tidy vines, heavy with fruit, were symbolic of Britain's subordination of foreign lands. Economically and culturally, nineteenth-century settler winemakers saw the British market as paramount. However, British drinkers were apathetic towards what they pejoratively called colonial wine. The tables only began to turn after the First World War, when colonial wines were marketed as cheap and patriotic and started to find their niche among middle- and working-class British drinkers. This trend, combined with social and cultural shifts after the Second World War, laid the foundation for the New World revolution in the 1980s, making Britain into a confirmed country of wine-drinkers and a massive market for New World wines. These New World producers may have only received critical acclaim in the late twentieth century, but Imperial Wine shows that they had spent centuries wooing, and indeed manufacturing, a British market for inexpensive colonial wines. This book is sure to satisfy any curious reader who savors the complex stories behind this commodity chain.Trade Review"Historical insights and sharp commentary. A must-read for students of wine history." * Australian Financial Review *"Imperial Wine teaches wine enthusiasts about the role of empire in shaping the wine world of the past, present, and probably the future, too. And it teaches students of imperialism that the influence of those forces continues even in something as seemingly simple as a glass of wine. Interesting. Well-written. Thought-provoking. I learned a lot." * Wine Economist *"Really fascinating . . . . Very accessible to the average reader who has any interest at all in the history of wine. Most important, however, is I think the author has contributed an original idea or at least fully fleshed out an idea concerning the significance and utility of the 'Old World' / 'New World' structure that has for so long now played a key role in discussions of wine history and the world wine marketplace." * Fermentation newsletter *"As with any good history, Regan-Lefebvre’s book sparks more questions than it answers. . . . This is, however, not a shortcoming of the book but a strong point: like a glass of rich red wine, the topic of wine in the British Empire certainly has legs. These legs— and the ideas propounded in this book—will provide fertile ground for future discussion and scholarship in the years to come." * Gastronomica *"It's a brilliant book from start to finish. Academic rigour and discipline structures every page. The weight of detail is formidable. The subject is uncomfortable, even ugly. But Regan-Lefebvre has a gift – she knows how to curlicue dry facts just enough to make them intriguing without losing their accuracy. She’s delivered all this in what amounts to a cracking read. It is a fascinating book. A page-turner, even!" * JancisRobinson.com *"A novel approach. . . . Imperial Wine is the vinous equivalent of a rags-to-riches story. Based on an impressive amount of research, it springs the occasional surprise." * TLS *"Shows how the modern consumer’s​ ​choice of an alcoholic beverage rested on centuries of canny merchant​ ​schemes, land grabs, and exploitation of Indigenous peoples​. . . . ​This book clearly proves that good commercial wine is one of the​ ​ways that the system convinces players that the game is worth playing​." * Journal of Interdisciplinary History *"Informed readers will appreciate its extensive coverage and writing style, in which lively and uncomplicated prose is enlivened with numerous wry asides. . . . It tells a compelling story of how wines from the former Empire came to win over British palates, and capture a major share of the global market. It is the first book that succeeds in explaining how this unfolded over the course of more than two centuries.​" * Journal of Wine Economics *"Imperial Wine… [offers] a master class in historical storytelling. Carving out a space between academia and popular historical writing, it offers a compelling critique of the global forces underpinning the production, consumption, and circulation of wine across the British Empire." * Social History of Alcohol and Drugs *Table of ContentsContents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction PART ONE. ORIGINS, C. 1650–1830 1 • Writing about Wine 2 • Why Britain? 3 • Dutch Courage: The First Wine at the Cape 4 • First Fleet, First Flight: Creating Australian Vineyards 5 • Astonished to See the Fruit: New Zealand’s First Grapes PART TWO. GROWTH, C. 1830–1910 6 • Cheap and Wholesome: Cape Producers and British Tariffs 7 • Echunga Hock: Colonial Wines of the Nineteenth Century 8 • Have You Any Colonial Wine? Australian Producers and British Tariffs 9 • Planting and Pruning: Working the Colonial Vineyard 10 • Sulphur! Sulphur!! Sulphur!!! Phylloxera and Other Pests 11 • Served Chilled: British Consumers in the Victorian Era 12 • From Melbourne to Madras: Wine in India, Cyprus, Malta, and Canada PART THREE. MARKET, C. 1910–1950 13 • Plonk! Colonial Wine and the First World War 14 • Fortification: The Dominions and the Interwar Period 15 • Crude Potions: The British Market for Empire Wines 16 • Doodle Bugs Destroyed Our Cellar: Wine in the Second World War PART FOUR. CONQUEST, C. 1950–2020 17 • And a Glass of Wine: Colonial Wines in the Postwar Society 18 • Good Fighting Wine: Colonial Wines Battle Back 19 • All Bar One: The New World Conquers the British Market Conclusion Appendix: Notes about Measurements Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisOur future diet will be shaped by diverse forces. It will be shaped by novel technologies and the logic of globalisation, by geopolitical tensions and the evolution of cultural preferences, by shocks to the status quo - pandemics and economic strife, the escalation of the climate and ecological crises - and by how we choose to respond. It will also be shaped by our emotions. It will be shaped by the meat paradox.''Should we eat animals?'' was, until recently, a question reserved for moral philosophers and an ethically minded minority, but it is now posed on restaurant menus and supermarket shelves, on social media and morning television. The recent surge in popularity for veganism in the UK, Europe and North America has created a rupture in the rites and rituals of meat, challenging the cultural narratives that sustain our omnivory.In The Meat Paradox, Rob Percival, an expert in the politics of meat, searches for the evolutionary origins of the meat paradox, asking wTrade ReviewIn all the best ways, The Meat Paradox complicates the ongoing debate between omnivores and herbivores. It's a funny, reverent reminder that meat has always been central to our story as a society. -- Dan Barber, author of The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of FoodHow can humans simultaneously love animals and love to eat them? In The Meat Paradox, Rob Percival takes on this question, combining great story telling with the latest findings in fields ranging from psychology and neuroscience to anthropology and moral philosophy. Whether you are an omnivore, a vegetarian, or a vegan, this book is a page turner that will spin your head around. -- Hal Herzog, author of Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It’s So Hard to Think Straight About AnimalsPassionate, sophisticated, urgently important and compulsively readable. Percival's enquiry dives into deep time, into other dimensions and ranges across the continents in a search not only for our relationship with meat, but our relationship with ourselves. It's an exhilarating and salutary record of our stuttering conversation with the non-human world, and a robust interrogation of our whole way of being. -- Charles Foster, author of Being a Human and Being a BeastThe Meat Paradox is utterly brilliant, in the range of its erudition, the power of its argument, its revelatory profundity and its compelling storytelling. -- Jay Griffiths, author of Why RebelA fearless exploration of the question that has shaped human evolution and could determine whether we survive as a species into the future: Should we eat animals? Making an important contribution to the debate that goes deep into the question of whether we humans evolved to be omnivores, The Meat Paradox asks whether we should continue eating meat in the face of the climate catastrophe. Percival takes a detailed look at the history and the arguments and ultimately answers the question of how to be an 'ethical omnivore'. -- Louise Gray, author of The Ethical Carnivore: My Year Killing to EatAn even-handed and nuanced exploration of our deeply complex moral relationships with other animals, The Meat Paradox is a compelling journey into the evolutionary past, potential future, and conflicted psyche of the planet's most dangerous and empathetic predator: us. -- Tovar Cerulli, author of The Mindful Carnivore: A Vegetarian’s Hunt for SustenanceIn searching for the answers to a complicated question, this beautifully written book will take you to some unexpected and fascinating places. Written by someone who clearly cares deeply about animals and our planet, it provides much needed nuance in an often polarized debate. -- Tobias Leeneart, author of How to Create a Vegan World: a Pragmatic ApproachBrilliantly provocative, original, electrifying -- Bee Wilson * Financial Times *It's very much worth a read * Times Radio *The Meat Paradox is a fascinating book, part cultural history of meat, part manifesto, part pilgrimage. Percival is a gifted writer, marshalling evidence, weaving together interviews and offering descriptions that at times verge on the poetic. * Sunday Times *In this fascinating must-read for anyone interested in understanding and addressing exactly why morally troublesome behaviours vanish into the commonplace and every day, Percival grippingly guides the reader through the psychological complexity of our challenges, finding a middle ground in the debate and helping people decide where they may sit in the midst of it all. * Bristol Mag *[This] provocative book presents a challenge that most haven't even begun to confront - and few are ready to meet. * Guardian *Impressively nuanced * The Week *Rob Percival delves into our carnivorous history and culture and examines its deep connection to the human psyche. It's an erudite and entertaining excavation, but it also brings us to the present, prompting us to ask what relationship to animals, both wild and domesticated, we should choose now, in a warming world where very few of us need meat to survive. It's one of the big questions of our age, and Percival compellingly insists we mustn't shrink from it. * Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall *Rob Percival does for meat what David Graeber did for debt, drawing on a wealth of knowledge about the ways that humans have made life work in different times and places to redraw the lines of today's ethical debate. Fascinating and unsettling, this is a book about how we became what we are - and where we go from here. * Dougald Hine, co-founder of the Dark Mountain Project *In searching for the answers to a complicated question, this beautifully written book will take you to some unexpected and fascinating places. Written by someone who clearly cares deeply about animals and our planet, it provides much needed nuance in an often polarized debate. * Tobias Leenaert, author of How to Create a Vegan World: a Pragmatic Approach *The Meat Paradox exposes the deeply complex and haunting relationship we have with the animals we eat. As a livestock farmer, I've considered this as much as I've dared, but Rob opens the paradox to unblinking scrutiny. The meat debate is one of the most contested raging in the world at the moment, with opposing camps waging war. Rob demolishes the propaganda on both sides, and having exposed the paradox, refuses to provide a pat solution. This is an existential issue which demands that we consider deeply but perhaps can never fully resolve. * Helen Browning, author of Pig: Tales from an Organic Farm *An even-handed and nuanced exploration of our deeply complex moral relationships with other animals, The Meat Paradox is a compelling journey into the evolutionary past, potential future, and conflicted psyche of the planet's most dangerous and empathetic predator: us. * Tovar Cerulli, author of The Mindful Carnivore: A Vegetarian’s Hunt for Sustenance *In all the best ways, The Meat Paradox complicates the ongoing debate between omnivores and herbivores. It's a funny, reverent reminder that meat has always been central to our story as a society. -- Dan Barber, author of The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of FoodHow can humans simultaneously love animals and love to eat them? In The Meat Paradox, Rob Percival takes on this question, combining great story telling with the latest findings in fields ranging from psychology and neuroscience to anthropology and moral philosophy. Whether you are an omnivore, a vegetarian, or a vegan, this book is a page turner that will spin your head around. -- Hal Herzog, author of Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It’s So Hard to Think Straight About AnimalsPassionate, sophisticated, urgently important and compulsively readable. Percival's enquiry dives into deep time, into other dimensions and ranges across the continents in a search not only for our relationship with meat, but our relationship with ourselves. It's an exhilarating and salutary record of our stuttering conversation with the non-human world, and a robust interrogation of our whole way of being. -- Charles Foster, author of Being a Human and Being a BeastThe Meat Paradox is utterly brilliant, in the range of its erudition, the power of its argument, its revelatory profundity and its compelling storytelling. -- Jay Griffiths, author of Why RebelA fearless exploration of the question that has shaped human evolution and could determine whether we survive as a species into the future: Should we eat animals? Making an important contribution to the debate that goes deep into the question of whether we humans evolved to be omnivores, The Meat Paradox asks whether we should continue eating meat in the face of the climate catastrophe. Percival takes a detailed look at the history and the arguments and ultimately answers the question of how to be an 'ethical omnivore'. -- Louise Gray, author of The Ethical Carnivore: My Year Killing to EatAn even-handed and nuanced exploration of our deeply complex moral relationships with other animals, The Meat Paradox is a compelling journey into the evolutionary past, potential future, and conflicted psyche of the planet's most dangerous and empathetic predator: us. -- Tovar Cerulli, author of The Mindful Carnivore: A Vegetarian’s Hunt for SustenanceIn searching for the answers to a complicated question, this beautifully written book will take you to some unexpected and fascinating places. Written by someone who clearly cares deeply about animals and our planet, it provides much needed nuance in an often polarized debate. -- Tobias Leeneart, author of How to Create a Vegan World: a Pragmatic ApproachBrilliantly provocative, original, electrifying -- Bee Wilson * Financial Times *It's very much worth a read * Times Radio *The Meat Paradox is a fascinating book, part cultural history of meat, part manifesto, part pilgrimage. Percival is a gifted writer, marshalling evidence, weaving together interviews and offering descriptions that at times verge on the poetic. * Sunday Times *In this fascinating must-read for anyone interested in understanding and addressing exactly why morally troublesome behaviours vanish into the commonplace and every day, Percival grippingly guides the reader through the psychological complexity of our challenges, finding a middle ground in the debate and helping people decide where they may sit in the midst of it all. * Bristol Mag *[This] provocative book presents a challenge that most haven't even begun to confront - and few are ready to meet. * Guardian *Impressively nuanced * The Week *Rob Percival delves into our carnivorous history and culture and examines its deep connection to the human psyche. It's an erudite and entertaining excavation, but it also brings us to the present, prompting us to ask what relationship to animals, both wild and domesticated, we should choose now, in a warming world where very few of us need meat to survive. It's one of the big questions of our age, and Percival compellingly insists we mustn't shrink from it. * Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall *Rob Percival does for meat what David Graeber did for debt, drawing on a wealth of knowledge about the ways that humans have made life work in different times and places to redraw the lines of today's ethical debate. Fascinating and unsettling, this is a book about how we became what we are - and where we go from here. * Dougald Hine, co-founder of the Dark Mountain Project *In searching for the answers to a complicated question, this beautifully written book will take you to some unexpected and fascinating places. Written by someone who clearly cares deeply about animals and our planet, it provides much needed nuance in an often polarized debate. * Tobias Leenaert, author of How to Create a Vegan World: a Pragmatic Approach *The Meat Paradox exposes the deeply complex and haunting relationship we have with the animals we eat. As a livestock farmer, I've considered this as much as I've dared, but Rob opens the paradox to unblinking scrutiny. The meat debate is one of the most contested raging in the world at the moment, with opposing camps waging war. Rob demolishes the propaganda on both sides, and having exposed the paradox, refuses to provide a pat solution. This is an existential issue which demands that we consider deeply but perhaps can never fully resolve. * Helen Browning, author of Pig: Tales from an Organic Farm *An even-handed and nuanced exploration of our deeply complex moral relationships with other animals, The Meat Paradox is a compelling journey into the evolutionary past, potential future, and conflicted psyche of the planet's most dangerous and empathetic predator: us. * Tovar Cerulli, author of The Mindful Carnivore: A Vegetarian’s Hunt for Sustenance *

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Book SynopsisOffering a sweeping overview of how and what humans have eaten in their long history as a species, this book uses case studies from recent archaeological research to tell the story of food in human prehistory.Trade ReviewThe Story of Food in the Human Past is fascinating and well written and covers a broad swath of archaeology with a tone that will not only engage students, but also general readers interested in the archaeology of food."—Jerry D. Moore, author of The Prehistory of Home and Visions of Culture: An Introduction to Anthropological Theories and Theorists, Fifth Edition

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Book Synopsis'The late Jim Harrison was one of the true greats when it came to writing about food. He combined an attention to detail with a glorious prose style and a massive appetite... A must read.' - ObserverNew York Times bestselling author Jim Harrison was one of America's most beloved writers, a muscular, brilliantly economic stylist with a salty wisdom. He also wrote some of the best essays on food around, earning praise as 'the poet laureate of appetite' (Dallas Morning News). A Really Big Lunch collects many of his food pieces for the first time - and taps into his larger-than-life appetite with wit and verve. Jim Harrison's legendary gourmandise is on full display in A Really Big Lunch. From the titular New Yorker piece about a French lunch that went to thirty-seven courses, to pieces from Brick, Playboy, the Kermit Lynch Newsletter and more on the relationship between hunter and prey, or the obscure language of wine reviews, A Really Big Lunch is shot through with Harrison's pointed aperçus and keen delight in the pleasures of the senses. And between the lines the pieces give glimpses of Harrison's life over the last fifteen years. A Really Big Lunch is a literary delight that will satisfy every appetite.Trade ReviewThe late Jim Harrison was one of the true greats when it came to writing about food. He combined an attention to detail with a glorious prose style and a massive appetite... A must read. * Observer *A celebration of eating well and drinking even better as a recipe for the good life... If this is the last we get from Harrison, it serves as a fitting memorial. * Kirkus *[His] gusto sparkles throughout this collection of magazine essays on food... the result is a tasty nosh for foodies with a literary bent. * Publishers Weekly *A Really Big Lunch showcases Harrison's enthusiastic, funny, and uncompromising views on how to eat, drink, and live well. His tone is conversational, generous, the sort of person with whom you'd want to share a 37-course lunch that lasts 11 hours . . . His writing is bodily, bawdy, sharp. The more we have of his voice, the better. * Boston Globe *The intimacy and enthusiasm of Harrison's food correspondent style makes reading A Really Big Lunch feel like sitting at a table during a really big lunch with the best, and smartest, and most entertaining of friends. * Salon *With an introduction from Harrison's longtime friend Mario Batali, this is for Harrison fans as well as a great addition to popular food and wine collections. * Booklist *Harrison writes with enough force to make your knees buckle and with infectious zeal that makes you turn the pages hungry for more . . . Jim Harrison has staked out a distinctive place in the world of food writing. -- Jane and Michael Stern * New York Times Book Review on THE RAW AND THE COOKED *Harrison is the American Rabelais, and he is at his irreverent and excessive best in this collection. -- John Skowles * San Diego Union-Tribune on THE RAW AND THE COOKED *Jim Harrison is the Henry Miller of food writing. His passion is infectious. . . By virtue of talent, Mr. Harrison would sit at the same table as A.J. Liebling and M.F.K. Fisher. -- Jeffrey Trachtenberg * Wall Street Journal on THE RAW AND THE COOKED *Jim Harrison is the Homer, the Michelangelo, the Lamborghini, the Willie Mays, the Secretariat of words, the peak of perfection in all writing, but achieves Jimi Hendrix solo perfection when he waxes the gristle about our most primordial need and luxury. -- Mario Batali * on THE RAW AND THE COOKED *A rumination on the unholy trinity of sex, death and food, this long-awaited collection of gastronomic essays reads like the love child of M.F.K. Fisher and James Thorne - on acid. Harrison . . . writes with a passion for language equal to his passion for good food. * Publishers Weekly on THE RAW AND THE COOKED *

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Book SynopsisAcomprehensive and entertaining historical and botanical review, providing an enjoyable and cognitive read.Nature The foods we eat have a deep and often surprising past. From almonds and apples to tea and rice, many foods that we consume today have histories that can be traced out of prehistoric Central Asia along the tracks of the Silk Road to kitchens in Europe, America, China, and elsewhere in East Asia. The exchange of goods, ideas, cultural practices, and genes along these ancient routes extends back five thousand years, and organized trade along the Silk Road dates to at least Han Dynasty China in the second century BC. Balancing a broad array of archaeological, botanical, and historical evidence,Fruit from the Sandspresents the fascinating story of the origins and spread of agriculture across Inner Asia and into Europe and East Asia. Through the preserved remains of plants found in archaeological sites, Robert N. Spengler III identifies the regions where our most familiar crops were domesticated and follows their routes as people carried them around the world. With vivid examples,Fruit from the Sandsexplores how the foods we eat have shaped the course of human history and transformed cuisines all over the globe.Trade Review“An excellent example of a comprehensive and entertaining historical and botanical review, providing an enjoyable and cognitive read for scientists, general public, students and policy makers.” * Nature *“Combines the studies of history, archaeology, and botany in an excellent account of where many of our foodstuffs originate, showing how they became distributed over most of Eurasia.” * CHOICE *“Spengler tells a fascinating tale of a culinary past that is just beginning to come into focus. . . .Provides lots of food for thought.” * Science News *"An entertaining and thought provoking historical, botanical and archaeological review of a vast swathe of the Old World. It is accessible for specialists and the general public alike, and should be read by policy makers as well, with a mind to thinking about agricultural diversity and sustainability." * Central Asian Archaeological Landscapes *"A book that you are likely to turn to again and again for that extra bit of insight into the story behind the food on your plate, which is the true test of great plants-and-people ‘story-telling’." * Botany One *"The volume is truly a mine of information. This book is a must for anybody interested in food, cultural diversity, archaeology, exchange networks and the impact of modern globalisation on food and cultural homogenisation." * Antiquity *"The acts of buying, cooking, or studying food are enriched by the historical and scientific background that the author provided after serious consideration of aspects related to botany, history, and geography." * Graduate Journal of Food Studies *"The unique contribution of this book is its ability to bring evidence from archaeological plant remains to life, in a style that could be readily appreciated by readers with a variety of interests." * Plant Science Bulletin *"Fruit From the Sands stands most definitely as a solid analysis of early Asian food origins and exchanges, and as such is a welcome addition to the literature on Asian cultural history, but should find resonance in other spaces as well." * Asian Review of World History *"Filled with details about plant and human movements and adaptations, Fruit from the Sands speaks to scholars from a wide range of fields in humanities, social sciences and biological sciences." * Food, Culture & Society *Table of ContentsA Word on Semantics A Note on Dates Map of Central Asia part i. how the silk road influenced the food you eat 1. Introduction 2. Plants on the Silk Road 3. The Silk and Spice Routes part i i. artifacts of the silk road in your kitchen 4. The Millets 5. Rice and Other Ancient Grains 6. Barley 7. The Wheats 8. Legumes 9. Grapes and Apples 10. Other Fruits and Nuts 11. Leafy Vegetables, Roots, and Stems 12. Spices, Oils, and Tea 13. ConclusionAppendix: European Travelers along the Silk Road Acknowledgments Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisFarmers like Charles and Perrine Hervé-Gruyer are among the beacons of light. Their work allows the rest of the world to see that there is another life, there is another way. From the foreword by Eliot Coleman, author of The New Organic Grower This book, more about philosophy than a how-to, describes how two inexperienced beginners succeeded in creating a gorgeous, productive, self-sustaining farm Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics What began as a simple dream in an historic Normandy village has turned into one of the world’s most radical, innovative experiments in small-scale farming. When Charles and Perrine Hervé-Gruyer set out to create their farm in a historic Normandy village, they had no idea just how much their lives would change. Neither one had ever farmed before. Charles had been traveling the globe teaching students about ecology and indigenous cultures. Perrine had been an international lawyer in Japan. Their farm Bec Hellouin has since become an internationally celebrated model of innovation in ecological agriculture. Miraculous Abundance is the eloquent tale of the couple’s quest to build an agricultural model that can carry us into a post-carbon future. The authors dive deeper into the various farming methods across the globe that contributed towards the creation of the Bec Hellouin model, including: Permaculture and soil health principles Korean natural farming methods Managing a four-season farm Creating a productive agroecosystem that is resilient and durable Using no-dig methods for soil fertility Modelling an agrarian system that supports its community in totality; from craft, restaurants and shared work spaces to jobs, agritourism, energy and ecological biodiversity Perfect for aspiring and experienced farmers, gardeners and smallholders, Miraculous Abundance is a love letter to a future where ecological farming is at the centre of every community. Trade Review"This book, more about philosophy than a how-to, describes how two inexperienced beginners succeeded in creating a gorgeous, productive, self-sustaining farm on 1000 square meters of land in Normandy—La Ferme du Bec Hellouin….If the color photographs are any indication, the results are magnificent….The mandala garden alone made me want to get on the next plane just to see how it works in controlling weeds. The moral: you could do this at home."--Marion Nestle, author of Food PoliticsPublishers Weekly- "Charles Hervé-Gruyer tells the starry-eyed, dirty-nailed story of how he and his wife, Perrine, transformed a 'dilapidated cottage' and 'a mediocre field' into an idyllic, prolific 37-acre farm and educational center in Normandy over the course of eight years. La Ferme du Bec Hellouin, one of the few French farms employing permaculture and intensive, nonmechanized agriculture, has attracted the attention of aspiring microfarmers and mainstream agronomists. Grounded in permaculture and inspired by intuition and beauty, Charles modestly acknowledges that their techniques are not original. They draw on a multitude of sources from indigenous Asian and South American cultures to 19th-century Parisian market gardeners and modern California biointensive gardening, and their teachers include English agrarian-self-sufficiency author John Seymour, Maine year-round farming expert Elliot Coleman, Quebec market gardener Jean-Martin Fortier, and a number of French organic-farming pioneers. Charles extrapolates from his own experience and environmental concerns to propose a worldwide agricultural transformation into “agrarian solidarity systems,” quasi-land trusts managed and cultivated by multiple individual farmers and the cottage industries that develop from them.” “’Dare to imagine the new,’ Perrine and Charles Hervé-Gruyer tell us. ‘Take the best of the many traditions of humanity, and the best of modernity, to shape a world that has never existed.’ These authors synthesize the best from multiple indigenous cultures with successful patterns of modern small-scale farming to create a soaring example and vision of a future—one in which human beings are an essential and positive force helping to preserve the biosphere, and even a quarter acre can be a full-fledged and productive farm yielding amazing agricultural bounty.”--Carol Deppe, author of The Tao of Vegetable Gardening and The Resilient Gardener“Miraculous Abundance is a true marvel! Like Perrine and Charles Hervé-Gruyer's amazing farm, their book blends science and anthropology, but it also mixes memoir and travelogue to create a beautiful whole that will inspire the next generation of farmers.”--Novella Carpenter, author of Farm City; coauthor ofThe Essential Urban Farmer“This book will be a source of inspiration and guidance for those striving toward an agriculture that is not merely sustainable but also regenerative and rewarding. Charles and Perrine are trailblazers, courageous visionaries who have drawn inspiration from sources as varied as 19th century Parisian market gardeners and Amazonian tribes people. As their method is a fusion, so too is the book; practical, historical, and philosophical in tone, it shows us how practicing agriculture as part of the ecosystem is not only economically viable but also spiritually fulfilling. We need people like the Hervé-Gruyers to show us what is possible in reality rather than just theory, and in sharing their journey, they tell an important story for the future of humankind.”--Caroline Aitken, permaculture teacher and consultant at Patrick Whitefield Associates; coauthor of Food from Your Forest Garden“At their farm in Normandy, France, Perrine and Charles Hervé-Gruyer have created an inspiring example of how it is possible to intensively farm a small plot of land and produce an abundance of food while at the same time enriching the fertility of the soil and the health of the people, plants, and animals that live there. Their work demonstrates how people and nature can again co-exist for mutual benefit—and their self-sufficient way of living and farming is certainly the future of agriculture.”--Larry Korn, author of One-Straw Revolutionary; editor of Masanobu Fukuoka’s The One-Straw Revolution and Sowing Seeds in the Desert“Miraculous Abundance is a dynamic combination of permaculture, biointensive, four season, natural farming, and Amazonian farming approaches with exciting practical goals to pattern after. The book is about healing ourselves and the Earth in a post-carbon era. Worth reading for inner growth and outer growing of food, compost materials, income, and soil!”--John Jeavons, author; biologically intensive farming specialist“Miraculous Abundance is absolutely the right book for right now. I don't know when I have been more encouraged about the future. The authors tell how, after some ten years of upward—not always successful—experimentation, going directly against the grain of modern industrial farming, they have advanced the renaissance of small-scale agriculture to near biological perfection. They are combining biointensive farming and permaculture to make a viable, diversified microfarm on test plots that are little more than two acres with the possibility of reducing that size down to as small as one fourth acre. They do their farming almost entirely by hand and with the utmost refinements and advances in agronomic soil enrichment. They use hardly any fossil-fuel energy at all, calling what they do the ‘agriculture of the sun.’ Along the way they provide solid evidence from sources all over the world to back up the conclusions they are drawing from their work, including achieving more healthful food, food security for the coming population increases, more jobs, effective sequestration of CO2, and indeed a whole new world order that would insure better social stability out of the chaos we presently face.”--Gene Logsdon, author of A Sanctuary of Trees and The Contrary Farmer “In this lovely, hopeful book, an unlikely couple creates an astonishingly productive edible landscape in Normandy, weaving together the insights, materials, and techniques of dozens of acknowledged predecessors. Miraculous Abundance is a modestly written song of defiance, a demonstration that the world can readily feed its projected 9 billion with an agriculture that restores the biosphere.”--Joan Gussow, author of Growing, Older and This Organic Life“Miraculous Abundance offers one of the most readable, visceral blueprints for earth-healing abundance I've ever seen. Absolutely captivating. Only true-blue practitioners, hands in the soil, can offer the kind of eclectic synthesis—combining the best of all the earth-healing traditions and technologies—discovered on this permaculture microfarm. A fantastic book with iconic potential. I couldn't put it down.”--Joel Salatin, owner , Polyface Farm; author of Fields of Farmers"Miraculous Abundance tells the story of a pioneering permaculture market garden in France. Small, highly diverse, highly productive microfarms are a critical part of climate-change mitigation; their 'agroecological intensification’ means we can grow more on less land and reduce deforestation at the same time. Perrine and Charles Hervé-Gruyer's book covers more than the logistics of their operation—it delves into their philosophy and historical roots in French market garden history. Miraculous Abundance is a powerful case study of an intensive, commercial permaculture production system."--Eric Toensmeier, The Carbon Farming Solution“Can farming a tiny quarter-acre piece of land be sustainable, economic, and fulfilling? In Miraculous Abundance, Perrine and Charles Hervé-Gruyer tackle that very questions and answer it positively in the affirmative. This fascinating book describes the evolution of their farm from its beginnings in 2004, when the authors knew little, over the next ten years as they discovered biointensive agriculture, permaculture, forest gardens, and more. The authors are passionate about small, human-scale farming and the role it can play in the future, and they envisage a future with numerous small farms, enabling many more people to live on the land and lessening the effects of climate change. Their farm in France now attracts farmers, chefs, and scientists and also hosts a school to teach how a diverse edible landscape can be created to both earn a living and make a beautiful space and a fulfilling life.”--Martin Crawford, author of Trees for Gardens, Orchards and Permaculture

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Book SynopsisGary Paul Nabhan takes the reader on a vivid and far-ranging journey across time and space in this fascinating look at the relationship between the spice trade and culinary imperialism. Drawing on his own family's history as spice traders, as well as travel narratives, historical accounts, and his expertise as an ethnobotanist, Nabhan describes the critical roles that Semitic peoples and desert floras had in setting the stage for globalized spice trade. Traveling along four prominent trade routesthe Silk Road, the Frankincense Trail, the Spice Route, and the Camino Real (for chiles and chocolate)Nabhan follows the caravans of itinerant spice merchants from the frankincense-gathering grounds and ancient harbors of the Arabian Peninsula to the port of Zayton on the China Sea to Santa Fe in the southwest United States. His stories, recipes, and linguistic analyses of cultural diffusion routes reveal the extent to which aromatics such as cumin, cinnamon, saffron, and peppers became adopted worldwide as signature ingredients of diverse cuisines. Cumin, Camels, and Caravans demonstrates that two particular desert cultures often depicted in constant conflictArabs and Jewshave spent much of their history collaborating in the spice trade and suggests how a more virtuous multicultural globalized society may be achieved in the future. Trade Review"Richly embroidered with detail, Cumin, Camels, and Caravans by scholar Gary Paul Nabhan is part history, part geography, part cookbook, and part travel memoir. . . . Interspersed with recipes from various stops on historical spice routes, Nabhan discusses the botany, linguistic history, and trade history of each substance, but far from being dry accounts, they bring the wonder of many ingredients we now view as commonplace into focus; Nabhan's painstaking research has not eclipsed an evident natural knack for storytelling." * Saveur *"Nabhan is the ideal travelling companion. With an ancestry that stretches back to the spice-trading Nabheni tribe of Oman, Nabhan is by profession an ethnobotanist and food writer with a clutch of culinary history books under his belt. And he wears his erudition lightly. Although the book is referenced like an academic tome, it reads like a detective story – albeit one with generous pinches of exotic smells and alluring flavours thrown in. Spiced locusts, anyone?" * History Today *"Heady historical and cultural study of ancient trade routes. . . . Nabhan adds pungent pinches of botany and gastronomy." * Nature *"Gary Paul Nabhan, a food scholar and prolific author, is the guide on a journey that also travels through subjects as diverse as botany and archaeology. Even when following well-worn paths, he is never a dull host. . . . While the book is ostensibly about spices, what holds it together is a deeper sense of distance from nature and the deep past, a force that continues to impel pilgrims, travellers and even foodies towards distant and exotic places." * Times Higher Education *"...a worthwhile read. Nabhan achieved what he set out to in this book, and brings to light a cultural historical geography of spices and people that has not, to my knowledge, been pulled together in quite the way he has done before." * AAG Review of Books *"Gary Paul Nabhan weaves a fascinating story." * Santa Fe New Mexican *"This book is a singular achievement . . . . A most absorbing book and highly recommended." * Chicago Botanic Garden *“Anyone who has traveled ancient routes, or dreamed of doing so, will find deep satisfaction in Cumin, Camels and Caravans: A Spice Odyssey." * Forbes *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations List of Recipes List of Spice Boxes Introduction: The Origin of “Species” 1. Aromas Emanating from the Driest of Places 2. Caravans Leaving Arabia Felix 3. Uncovering Hidden Outposts in the Desert 4. Omanis Rocking the Cradle of Civilization 5. Mecca and the Migrations of Muslim and Jewish Traders 6. Merging the Spice Routes with the Silk Roads 7. The Flourishing of Cross-Cultural Collaboration in Iberia 8. The Crumbling of Convivencia and the Rise of Transnational Guilds 9. Building Bridges between Continents and Cultures 10. Navigating the Maritime Silk Roads from China to Africa 11. Vasco da Gama Mastering the Game of Globalization 12. Crossing the Drawbridge over the Eastern Ocean Epilogue: Culinary Imperialism and Its Alternatives Acknowledgments Notes Index

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Book Synopsis"One of the most enduring myths on the Nigerian Femme Fatale - mammy-water, 'winch' or husband-snatcher - has to do with the cooking of fish stew ...A woman can do what she likes with a man when she knows how to satisfy his appetite for food."Longthroat Memoirs presents a sumptuous menu of essays about Nigerian food, lovingly presented by the nation's top epicurean writer. As well as a mouth-watering appraisal of the cultural politics and erotics of Nigerian cuisine, it is also a series of love letters to the Nigerian palate. From innovations in soup, fish as aphrodisiac and the powerful seductions of the yam, Longthroat Memoirs examines the complexities, the peculiarities, the meticulousness, and the tactility of Nigerian food. Nigeria has a strong culture of oral storytelling, of myth creation, of imaginative traversing of worlds. Longthroat Memoirs collates some of those stories into an irresistible soup-pot, expressed in the flawless love language of appetite and nourishment.A sensuous testament on why, when and how Nigerians eat the food they love to eat; this book is a welcome addition to the global dining table of ideasTable of ContentsIntroduction A Bowl of Aloof Nigerian Soup How to Make Meat The Purist’s Pot of Soup My Mother, I Will Not Eat Rice Today Bones of Choice Eating Dog Akara and Honey Kings of Umami Letter from Candahar Road Okro Soup, Gorgeous Mucilage Long Throat Memoirs The Snail Tree Fainting at the Sight of an Egg Sweet Stolen Waters Forgotten Seasoning Secrets A Beautiful Girl Named Ogbono Henshaw Town Beach Market Ekoki Like Gold To Cook or Not to Cook Okro Soup and the Demonic Encyclopaedia of Dreams Oseani Mellowing, Bursting, Deepening, Merging Institution of Stew Lost in Translation Afang Soup and Hairy Legs Between Eba and Gari Ila Cocoa Nsala with Chicken Fermentation and Fornication Rice in Many Guises Fish Soups and Love Potions Dead Man’s Helmet Peppered Snails Ram Testicle Suya Ewa Oloyin Bush Cuisine Between a Trophy and a Wife The Secret Ingredient of My Secret Ingredient Soup Molara’s Jollof Beans The Marketplace Safe as Stews A Pot from Efak Satan Bibliography Acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisFrom oolong to sencha to chai, tea is one of the world's most popular beverages. Perhaps that is because it is a uniquely adaptable drink, consumed in many different varieties and ways by cultures across the globe and in many different settings, from the intricate traditions of the Japanese tea ceremony to the elegant tea-rooms of Britain to iced tea drunk on the verandas of the American Deep South. In Tea food historian Helen Saberi explores this rich and fascinating history. Saberi looks at the economic and social uses of tea, such as its use as a currency during the Tang dynasty; its role in American independence at the Boston Tea Party; afternoon tea drunk by the British in India; and the 1913 creation of a tea dance or The Dansant that combined tea with tango. Saberi also explores where and how tea is grown around the world and how customs and traditions surrounding the beverage have evolved from its legendary origins to its present-day popularity. Featuring vivid images as well as recipes from around the world, Tea is a refreshing and stimulating treat.Trade Review'These are food memoirs, salacious and exotic, colorful, powdered, sweet, greasy and globe-trotting ... sharp and speedy little reads, spotted with off-kilter illustrations' - Chicago Tribune 'These little morsels of books are part of a delightful and new imprint known as the Edible series ... The history of each foodstuff is set out compactly and with erudition ... in each case, it's when the history moves closer to current day that revelation and delight meet.' - Diplomat magazine 'The Edible series of books, with titles such as Tea, Sandwich, Soup and others, are full of fascinating facts but are almost small enough to squeeze into a Christmas stocking.' - Delicious 'a charming, erudite little book' - Oxford Times 'as the subtitle of this handy, informative little volume indicates, tea is enjoyed the world over and ranks, globally,as the second-most-popular beverage after water.' - Booklist 'a highly readable, engaging book, one best enjoyed while sipping a cup of tea oneself.' - InMamasKitchen

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Book Synopsis'Too ravishing for moral taste ...like lovers' kisses she bites - she is a pleasure bordering on pain, from the fierceness and insanity of her relish' wrote the poet Charles Lamb about the pineapple, the fruit that seduced the world. From the moment Christopher Columbus discovered it on a Caribbean island on 4 November 1493, the pineapple became an object of passion and desire, in a culinary romance that anthropologist Kaori O'Connor follows across time and cultures. The first New World explorers called the pineapple the apple with which Eve must have tempted Adam. Transported to Europe where it could only be grown in hothouses at vast expense, the pineapple became an elite mania, the fruit of kings and aristocrats. Soon established as the ultimate status symbol, London society hostesses would rent a pineapple at great cost for a single evening to be the centrepiece of their parties, and pineapples were as popular in the new American republic, where they were a sign of hospitality and a favourite of George Washington. Celebrated in art and literature, pineapples remained a seasonal luxury for the rich until fast shipping and then refrigeration meant they could be brought to the major markets of Europe and America, but these imported fruit were never as luscious as those eaten fresh and ripe in the tropics. Then the pineapple found its ideal home in Hawaii, the invention of canning made perfect golden fruit available and affordable all year round and the Fruit of Kings became the Queen of Fruits for all. Pineapple is a culinary love story enriched with vivid illustrations and irresistible recipes from around the world for eating and drinking the pineapple.Trade Review'Books in Reaktion's Edible series are paragons of their type; concise and flavourful, jammed with interesting facts, period photos and just a handful of recipes, in case you want to "do it yourself". I recommend these books to foodies and academics alike.' - Robert Sietsema, restaurant critic for The Village Voice 'Embellished with clever illustrations and a nice selection of historical and contemporary recipes ... [an] outstanding series of food volumes.' - Wall Street Journal

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Book Synopsis''In the black out visit a bright inn.'' So read stickers on the windows of Watney''s pubs all over London. In Brewing for Victory, Brian Glover shows in lively detail how beer and pub culture aided Britain''s community spirit during the Second World War. From ''Guinness for Strength!'' adverts to women shifting casks and packing coppers with hops, the effect the war had on brewing in England, and the effect brewing had on the war effort, is explored from every angle.Beginning at home in Britain and London, Glover tracks the course of tuns all the way out to the front line in the army, air force and navy. ''Brewing under the jackboot'' is also considered, with a chapter on breweries in British territory that had been captured by the Nazis, such as Guernsey. With over 70 illustrations showing war era adverts and bombed out boroughs with their pubs still standing, Brewing for Victory is a remarkable demonstration of the Blitz Spirit in action as the public, pubs and brewers worked togethTrade Review'An interesting book to read . as well as the excellent subject matter, the book is written in a manner and style which encourages the reader to read through to the end. The combination of factual description, anecdote and narrative is a winning style which makes the book a must for anyone interested in the history of beer, including bottled beer.' - Mike Peterson, What's Bottling 'Here is a lively history of breweries and public houses during the War, with a serious point to make as well.' - Forces News 'In Brewing for Victory, Brian Glover tells the heady and enlightening tale of how a drop of ale boosted the morale of everyone of drinking age throughout the dark days of 1939-45.' - Soldier MagazineTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgements 1. Enemy Behind the Lines 2. Ally on the Home Front 3. Blockhouse on the Home Front 4. Nation's Liquid Asset 5. The Blitz 6. Pubs in the Front Line 7. Miracle in the Mash Tun 8. No Beer Today 9. Better Than Bullets 10. Davy Jones' Delight 11. Brewing Under the Jackboot 12. The Pint in Peace Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn 1939, Britain was preparing for war. As well as building aeroplanes and digging Anderson shelters, this meant managing food supplies for the home front.The Ministry of Food rose to the challenge, introducing rationing, encouraging the nation to dig for victory, and issuing cookbooks and health advice.Drawing inspiration from Britain’s ‘finest hour’, when the thrifty British housewife had to grow her own veg, stretch the butter ration and still keep her family fighting fit, this is both a social history of wartime dining and a collection of over sixty delicious and healthy seasonal recipes with a vintage twist.

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Book SynopsisNOW WITH TWO BONUS CHAPTERS INCLUDING AN FAQTHE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERFORTNUM & MASON''S DEBUT FOOD BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024A TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES SCIENCE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023AN ECONOMIST, DAILY MAIL, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING and AMAZON BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONE''S BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023Chosen by the SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN, FT and DAILY MAIL as one of their BEST SUMMER BOOKS OF 2023As seen on Chris'' BBC documentary about ultra-processed foods, Irresistible: Why We Can''t Stop Eating''''Clearly a brilliant book'' James O''Brien''If you only read one diet or nutrition book in your life, make it this one'' Bee Wilson''A devastating, witty and scholarly destruction of the shit food we eat and why'' Adam Rutherford---An eye-opening investigation into the science, economics, history and production of ultra-processed food.It''s not you, it''s the food.We have entered a new ''age of eating'' where most of our calories come from an entirely novel set of substances called Ultra-Processed Food, food which is industrially processed and designed and marketed to be addictive. But do we really know what it''s doing to our bodies?Join Chris in his travels through the world of food science and a UPF diet to discover what''s really going on. Find out why exercise and willpower can''t save us, and what UPF is really doing to our bodies, our health, our weight, and the planet (hint: nothing good).For too long we''ve been told we just need to make different choices, when really we''re living in a food environment that makes it nigh-on impossible. So this is a book about our rights. The right to know what we eat and what it does to our bodies and the right to good, affordable food.Number 1 Sunday Times bestseller, August 2023

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Book SynopsisA shocking portrait of corporate corruption in America's food industry, its implications on democracy, and what we cando to improve it.

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