A History of Food in 100 Recipes

April 1, 2013
In this U.S. version of British food writer Sitwell’s trek through culinary space and time, dishes like fish and chips and toad in the hole are still of major import, adding quirky charm to this entertaining and well-researched compendium. From recipes based on Egyptian tomb wall paintings and the Bible up to those of Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver, the author’s timeline covers such foodie milestones as the first written reference to pasta, the first pie, the advent of the fork, a 17th-century meditation on salad dressing, and the realization that the Earl of Sandwich was more a discoverer than an inventor. Along the way, meals and the presentation of recipes grow ever more sophisticated. There’s a palatable change in specificity between a 1660s recipe for pea soup calling for “about two quarts of peas... and a little slice of bacon” and a 1900s Scotch barley broth calling for one-and-a-quarter pounds of beef and five ounces of barley. In an intriguing chapter focusing on a butter crawfish recipe written circa 1604 by a Lady Elinore Fettiplace, Sitwell points out how, in her recipe collection, she “separates the sweet from the savory, moving away from the medieval habit of laying everything on the table at once. ” With such instances of cultural insight, Sitwell elevates this collection from curious cookbook to a serious study. Agent: Caroline Michel, PFD.

April 1, 2013
British food writer/editor Sitwell explores shifting tastes and styles in cooking through individual dishes. The author begins in the second millennia B.C. with a bread recipe, including an ancient Egyptian wall painting to illustrate the methods involved. The early recipes are quite vague; Sitwell notes that well into the 19th century, with fine cuisine limited to aristocratic mansions, published cookbooks were generally expositions of food philosophy by male chefs who "wouldn't want [their] rivals to get hold of [their] kitchen secrets." Cooking times began to appear during the Renaissance, and it was the influential Victorian manual for anxious wives Beeton's Book of Household Management that popularized the practice of listing the ingredients separately from instructions. Mrs. Beeton's roly-poly jam pudding (1861) joins a cavalcade of quintessentially British items, including "peas soope" (1669), but Sitwell gives ample space to such revered Frenchmen as Brillat-Savarin (stuffed roast pheasant, 1825) and Escoffier (peach Melba, 1903). No-nonsense Americans like Fannie Farmer (strawberry shortcake, 1896) and The Joy of Cooking's Irma Rombauer (quick oatmeal cookies, 1931) also get their due, though Sitwell is dubious about modern shortcuts like microwaves and bagged salads. Virtually all the big names of the late-20th-century food revolution are here, from Alice Waters (plum tart, 1971) to Ferran Adria (an extremely elaborate brioche with rose-scented mozzarella, 2008), as well as such mass-market stalwarts of the Food Network as Emeril Lagasse (pecan waffles, 1998) and Nigella Lawson (fairy cakes, 2000). Sitwell deftly inserts interesting tidbits ranging from the changes wrought by such appliances as refrigerators and gas stoves to the impact of online technology. Indeed, the recipes are basically an excuse for the history, which is fine when the history is this engaging. Good fun, though best taken in small bites; the chatty tone can be cloying in large amounts.

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April 15, 2013

Here food writer and BBC personality Sitwell manages to trace culinary history from ancient Egypt to Heston Blumenthal's 2011 "meat fruit" in 100 steps. First published in the UK last year (and thus somewhat British in focus), this volume presents a series of informative, often playful, and nearly always opinionated essays, each focusing on a particular recipe or dish chosen to illustrate an important shift or trend in food or cooking. Entries include a recipe for salad dressing from 1699, the Anglo-Indian dish kedgeree (1845), and Rice Krispies Treats (1941). Some recipes are detailed enough to cook from; others--particularly the older ones--are more basic sketches. But high-brow or low-brow, basic or gourmet, the 100 points of focus Stillwell brings before the reader are widely sourced from various cultural traditions and together constitute an enjoyably meandering and thought-provoking journey through the role of cooking in daily life. VERDICT More a good read than a recipe book (though both in a pinch), this title ought to interest foodies, especially Anglophiles.--Courtney Greene, Indiana Univ. Lib., Bloomington

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