The Secret History of Food
Strange but True Stories About the Origins of Everything We Eat
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3.5 • 13 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
An irreverent, surprising, and entirely entertaining look at the little-known history surrounding the foods we know and love
Is Italian olive oil really Italian, or are we dipping our bread in lamp oil? Why are we masochistically drawn to foods that can hurt us, like hot peppers? Far from being a classic American dish, is apple pie actually . . . English?
“As a species, we’re hardwired to obsess over food,” Matt Siegel explains as he sets out “to uncover the hidden side of everything we put in our mouths.” Siegel also probes subjects ranging from the myths—and realities—of food as aphrodisiac, to how one of the rarest and most exotic spices in all the world (vanilla) became a synonym for uninspired sexual proclivities, to the role of food in fairy- and morality tales. He even makes a well-argued case for how ice cream helped defeat the Nazis.
The Secret History of Food is a rich and satisfying exploration of the historical, cultural, scientific, sexual, and, yes, culinary subcultures of this most essential realm. Siegel is an armchair Anthony Bourdain, armed not with a chef’s knife but with knowledge derived from medieval food-related manuscripts, ancient Chinese scrolls, and obscure culinary journals. Funny and fascinating, The Secret History of Food is essential reading for all foodies.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Food writer Siegel debuts with a delightful and unusual look at the evolution of food. The famed early-19th-century French food writer Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin once claimed, "Tell me what you eat, and I shall tell you what you are." Siegel takes these words to heart, asserting that "what we eat defines us not just physically but psychologically, socially, symbolically, and spiritually." He bolsters this notion with research that suggests that parents' food diets can affect everything from their offspring's metabolism to disease resistance, and impact their children's tastes even before their "first bite of food." (In one such study, "infants whose mothers consumed carrot juice during pregnancy... showed a greater preference for carrot-flavored cereal.") He traces how apple pie became "the ultimate symbol" of American independence, innovation, and excess, and shares zany facts on everything from vanilla (which was a term of endearment until the 1800s) to honey and chili peppers (both of which have been used in "ritual torture"). The food-related trivia surprises throughout, such as the tumultuous history of the tomato, including a fruit-versus-vegetable debate that ended in the U.S. Supreme Court and its long suspected poisonous attributes thanks to its connection to its cousin, the lethal nightshade. An invigorating culinary romp through time, this is a cheeky treat for history buffs and foodies alike.
Customer Reviews
Very interesting if not somewhat depressing
This book isn’t about all food. It focuses on specific foods. Much of what we thought was good for us may not be. And much of what we thought was bad for us is really bad for us. You’ll definitely not look at certain foods the same way again.
Peppered with patently false information
This guy clearly is desperate to blow our minds - so much so that he's not above basting us with fallacies. And he keeps referencing isolated little correlations in data as if it implies the same thing that a meta study does. Fail.