Food in World History ‐ By Jeffrey M. Pilcher
2008; Wiley; Volume: 93; Issue: 309 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1111/j.1468-229x.2008.416_9.x
ISSN1468-229X
Autores Tópico(s)Culinary Culture and Tourism
ResumoFood in World History . By Jeffrey M. Pilcher . Routledge . 2006 . ix + 132 pp. £12.99 . Professor Pilcher has provided a succinct survey of this theme, ranging from the beginnings of measurable time to the present. The last chapters (12, 13) even get as far as current debate over fast food and obesity. At the end, as elsewhere, we are reminded of the ‘persistent’ and ‘age-old’ issues of the inequality of food provision and attendant social and political problems. The social functions of food are discussed in chapter 1 and later, and the importance of sugar and spice (and slaves) is raised in both chapters 2 and 3. There and in chapters 4, 8, 9, the interplay of Old and New Worlds, the effects of nouvelles cuisines as of ‘high table’ eating and needs are rehearsed. Modernity and the developing consumer culture (pp. 51–2) are featured in the second part of the book. There are useful points made about technologies (including refrigeration, baked beans, cornflakes, better food hygiene) in chapter 6 while chapter 7 discussed elements of ‘cuisine and nation-building’. Chapter 10 consciously raises the global picture with issues of ‘guns and butter’ in the context of the two world wars and the ‘kitchen debate’ within the context of the cold war. The inequalities of food provision, expressed in famines, form a late theme (pp. 103–5). The range here is impressive; the feats of compression admirable. There are enough further reading references to enable the interested reader to follow up the ideas offered. Certainly, there is mileage in developing the whole arena of the politics of food, an ever-present and important element in each age. By definition, such a survey as that offered here must be the basis for extended reading and understanding.
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