[Sca-cooks] Book Questions...

[margaret]

The Food Chronology is a history timeline with brief entries on a year by 
year basis.  Tannahill's Food in History and Toussaint-Samat's History of 
Food are historical surveys, broad coverage, but little depth. 
Toussaint-Samat organizes the work for greater depth than Tannahill, but has 
a Franco-centric view.  Flandrin and Montanari's (editors) Food: a Culinary 
History is a translation (overseen by Sonnenfeld) of their French edition 
and is a collection of scholarly essays on culinary history.  While the 
scope of the book is world-wide, the essays are limited in scope and provide 
academic depth, which explains the vocabulary.

All of these books contain errors, so if you are using them for research, 
check the sources and the facts.

Bear


> I have just recently started the search and what not
> of history with food.  I have not heard of the book
> you mentioned, but, I did find 2 in a local library
> (Virginia Beach, VA).  One is titled "Food in History"
> and is by Reay Tannahill most recent copyright is
> 1988.  It does the same thing you are mentioning,
> timeline type of stuff starting with pre-cave man type
> all the way up to what they call 'current day'.  There
> is references and such through out the book and is
> fairly easy to read.
>
> The other is called "Food: A culinary History" the
> copy I have says the English Edition is by Albert
> Sonnefeld and copyright 1999.  Again, it starts with
> prehistory and early civilizations and goes up to
> current day.  It is a little more difficult to read
> due to some of vocabulary.  It also has references.
>
> Both not only look at food and where they come from,
> but also the cultural aspects of food and how it
> evolved.  Not sure if that helps.
>
> Alexa