Food

This illustrated book applies the discoveries of the new generation of food historians to the pleasures of dining and the culinary accomplishments of diverse civilizations, past and present. Freedman gathers essays by French, German, Belgian, American, and British historians to present a comprehensive, chronological history of taste from prehistory to the present day. The authors explore such topics as the early repertoire of sweet tastes and the way people learned to discriminate between different fats; the distinctive culinary contributions made by classical antiquity and China; the varied food customs created by the Islamic civilizations of Iberia, the Arabian desert, Persia, and the culinary capital of medieval Islam, Baghdad; the cuisine of the Middle Ages, influenced by Rome and adapted from Islamic Spain, Africa, and the Middle East; the decisive break with highly spiced food traditions after the Renaissance and the subsequent focus on primary ingredients and products from the New World; French cuisine's rise to dominance in Europe and America; the evolution of modern restaurant dining, modern agriculture, and modern kitchen technology; and today's tastes, which employ few rules and exhibit a glorious eclecticism.