Product Description

In Near a Thousand Tables, acclaimed food historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto tells the fascinating story of food as cultural as well as culinary history -- a window on the history of mankind.

In this "appetizingly provocative" (Los Angeles Times) book, he guides readers through the eight great revolutions in the world history of food: the origins of cooking, which set humankind on a course apart from other species; the ritualization of eating, which brought magic and meaning into people's relationship with what they ate; the inception of herding and the invention of agriculture, perhaps the two greatest revolutions of all; the rise of inequality, which led to the development of haute cuisine; the long-range trade in food which, practically alone, broke down cultural barriers; the ecological exchanges, which revolutionized the global distribution of plants and livestock; and, finally, the industrialization and globalization of mass-produced food.

From prehistoric snail "herding" to Roman banquets to Big Macs to genetically modified tomatoes, Near a Thousand Tables is a full-course meal of extraordinary narrative, brilliant insight, and fascinating explorations that will satisfy the hungriest of readers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #135341 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780743227407
• BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Amazon.com Review
How best to grasp food's place in history? Historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto's Near a Thousand Tables places its beginnings in cooking, a social act that forges culture (and is perhaps responsible for it), then pursues it as a series of "revolutions"--from the inception of cooking, herding, and agriculture to food industrialization and, finally, modern globalization. Informatively dense yet spry and aphoristic, the book explores food as rite and magic (it "binds those who believe, brands those who don't"); the domestication of animals (snails are the world's oldest "cattle"); farming and food's use as an index of rank ("greatness goes with greatness of girth"--or at least it did); food's role in trade and cultural exchange (Tex-Mex cooking as a form of colonial miscegenation); and as a force in and for industrialization (canning as the cooking of the Industrial Revolution). In the end, we are brought to "the loneliness of the fast food eater" and the "desocializing" effect of microwave cooking and other forms of modern food manipulation that alienate us from the communal act that "made" culture. "Food gives pleasure," Fernández-Armesto writes, and "can change the eater for better or worse." He concludes, "the role of the next revolution will be to subvert the last."

This is a fascinating book that shows us ourselves: like the cannibal, who eats his enemy to appropriate his power, we believe in food's transformative effect, which through devotion to vegetarianism and other special diets will make us "better." It paints a picture both sweeping and precise. --Arthur Boehm

From Publishers Weekly
For sheer volume of fascinating facts, this survey of gastronomic lore can't be beat. Fernùndez-Armesto (Millennium), a Professional Fellow at the University of London and member of the modern history faculty at Oxford, debunks popular myths, such as the idea that spices were needed in medieval times to disguise tainted meat and fish (in fact, fresh foods in the middle ages were fresher than today and healthier as well). He shows why the cultivation of rye, barley and wheat is one of the most spectacular achievements of humankind and informs readers that the whole grain cracker invented by Sylvester Graham was intended to impede sexual desire and promote abstinence. But the book is more then a litany of quirky tidbits; Fernùndez-Armesto charts how the evolution of human culture is directly connected to the way food is obtained. The logistics of agriculture and hunting have shaped notions of gender and community; food is often integral to concepts of the sacred in a society; and the loneliness of the fast food eater aided by such inventions as the microwave has become emblematic of contemporary society's fragmentation. Fernùndez-Armesto writes lucidly and conveys his enormous enthusiasm for his subject. While he draws upon the work of many historians and theorists including Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, Claude LEvi-Strauss and Ferdinand Braudel his erudite analysis always engaging and accessible.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Noted historian Fern ndez-Armesto (Millennium: A History of the Last Thousand Years) has undertaken to provide us with a brief alternative to volumes like Alan Davidson's The Oxford Companion to Food and The Cambridge World History of Food. He proposes to "treat food history as a theme of world history to trace connections, at every stage, between the food of the past and the way we eat today." To cover this vast topic in a brief volume, the author has divided the subject into eight revolutions that range from the invention of cooking to industrialization in the 19th and 20th centuries. This approach works well within each chapter but makes it difficult for the reader to put the events from different "revolutions" in order. Throughout the book, Fern ndez-Armesto makes no secret of his opinions and presents several surprising but well-supported arguments, such as microwave ovens are returning us to a presocial phase of evolution and "cannibals turn out to have a lot in common with vegans." His well-written, thought-provoking overview of food history is recommended for academic or special libraries where there is interest in food history. Mary Russell, New Hampshire State Lib., Concord
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

As entertaining as it is erudite
"It is no way to eat oysters," proclaims Fernandez-Armesto in his opening sentence, referring to the fiddly habits of restaurant diners. "This is deliberate provocation, designed to refresh the bivalves before death, a little mild torture under which you can sometimes feel that you see the victims wriggle or flinch." He goes on to describe the proper method: "Unless you discard the utensils, raise the half-shell to your mouth, throw back your head, scrape the creature from its lair with your teeth, taste its briny juice and squelch it slightly against the palate before swallowing it alive, you deprive yourself of a historic experience." Unlike almost every other food in Western cuisine, the oyster has remained virtually the same "since the first emergence of our species."

Food writers need to be passionate and opinionated about their subject; dollops of wit and poetry are also esteemed. Though a scholar and historian rather than food writer, Fernandez-Armesto brings all of these qualities to the table as well as an almost staggering breadth of information. His aim, as stated in the preface: "to take a genuinely global perspective; to treat food history as a theme of world history, inseparable from all the other interactions of human beings with one another and with the rest of nature; to treat evenhandedly the ecological, cultural and culinary concepts of the subject; to combine a broad conspectus with selectively detailed excursions into particular cases; to trace connections at every stage, between the food of the past and the way we eat today; and to do all this briefly." Whew. And does he succeed? Yes, although at times the flow of knowledge overwhelms the ability to process.

But that's fine. This is a book to savor and enjoy, to dip into and re-read, to pull out at dinner parties to settle arguments. For, besides liveliness and wit, Fernandez-Armesto's writing has another invaluable quality - authority. When he makes an unequivocal statement, you, the reader, do not doubt him. For instance, sugar, he writes, "is now the world's biggest food product, beating even wheat." Startling perhaps, but not subject to debate. Unfortunately the reader's audience, those recipients of unrequested quotes, not being under the author's authoritative spell, sometimes require more convincing, which Fernandez-Armesto's notes, though copious, cannot always supply. Reference to his credentials - Oxford University professor, author of 13 serious, popular and opinionated histories ("Millenium: A History of the Last Thousand Years," "Civilizations: Culture, Ambition, and the Transformation of Nature,") - may do the trick.

The book is organized into eight "revolutions," beginning with the advent of cooking, which not only sets us apart from other animals, but contributes to social cohesion. Food as ritual discusses, among other things, cannibalism ("Strangely, cannibals turn out to have a lot in common with vegans") health fads, and sacred and taboo foods. Next comes herding and farming animals, then agriculture, then food as status (which includes eye-popping menus of conspicuous consumption through the ages).

Things begin to get more complicated with "The Edible Horizon" - long-range trade and food in cultural exchange - which ranges from cultural bias in food to the broadening of diet through war and imperialism, particularly Western empire building in the 17th to 19th centuries. "Challenging Evolution" explores the movement of food around the world, particularly between "Old" world and "New" world. The "Colombian Exchange" of the last 500 years has resulted in radical diet change. Imagine Italy without the tomato, Ireland without the potato, India or Thailand without chilies, our Midwest without wheat. The final chapter concerns the industrialization of the last two centuries, from the "Green Revolution" of world feeding through pesticides and mono-crops and factory farms and production to the giants of food industry (Hershey and Mars, the Quakers of England) and preserving from canning and freezing to irradiation.

No surprise, Fernandez-Armesto is not in favor of irradiation, fast food ("the closest thing to conveyor-belt eating the Industrial Revolution had yet produced."), fusion cookery ("Lego cookery") or the microwave, which "is best suited to that public enemy, the solitary eater," destroying the communal ritual of mealtime. His opinions, which crop up with refreshing acidity throughout the book, portray a man of keen and discerning appetite, whose love of food extends to this scholarly and entertaining professional treatment. Although the author himself does not take this work as seriously as his other books, calling it a "devoir de vacances," with research spun-off from a previous work, "Civilizations: Culture, Ambition, and the Transformation of Nature," it is enjoyably written, thought provoking, myth debunking and convincingly thorough. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in food that goes beyond shoveling it in.

fascinating, unusual
Felipe Fernandez-Armesto has written a comprehensive, unusual book about food and eating in human history. Beginning with his chapter, "The Invention of Cooking", and ending with a discussion of the fast food industry, his scholarly yet opinionated approach is thought-provoking. He debunks several widely held beliefs, such as the importance of the spice trade and its role in the voyages of European explorers.

Also interesting is his attitude that sugar, salt, and fat are not villains in destroying health: He cites small percentages of people who are vulnerable to high cholesterol and heart disease, but says that for most people, consumption of these three food items should not be an issue.

He writes of the "Columbian exchange" of animals and crops between the New World and the Old; of how the six major grain crops came to be grown, and where; of how colonization produced mixed cuisines.

"Near a Thousand Tables", a blend of fact and opinions, is sure to provide excellent dinner table discussions with your friends.
Gathering round the cooking fire is an ancient human pleasure, one that endures despite the rise of microwave single-serving meals and hectic family schedules. Recommended.

Stimulates The Food Knowledge Appetite
The key to enjoying this book is, perhaps, to have dipped widely into culinary lore before picking it up. The author presupposes not only a passion for food, but also a good breadth of knowledge and context among his readers. Yes, he has his opinions and tastes, but for every statement he makes he opens a question to remain answered. I particularly enjoyed his excoriation of food faddists like Horace Fletcher and James H. Salisbury, his keen analysis of cultural food proclivities, and the good taste he exercised by including a lengthy quote from Duke Ellington on the "cult of abundance." Near A Thousand Tables is a book for those who view cuisine as a multifaceted phenomenon, quintessentially human, and about as easy to understand as humankind itself. It may not be for every reader, but it offers a great deal to any food buff who likes to read and think.

Food writer Elliot Essman's other reviews and food articles are available at www.stylegourmet.com