Delicious Geography

January 30, 2017
This delightful (though U.S.-centric) book about the close bonds between the world’s regions and their distinctive cuisines holds no surprises, but geographer Fuller and chef Reddekopp capture the reader’s attention with a series of intriguing facts, trivia, and recipes. The authors, a father-daughter team, explore “the sense of place, the role of familial traditions, and regional values.” They point out the significance to international appetites of essential foods such as spices, rice, sugar, vanilla, and cacao, as well as charting the arrival in the U.S. of key ingredients brought by immigrants from Europe, Africa, Russia, the Pacific, and South America. The recipes are uncomplicated, and the writing shows a wealth of knowledge about the history of foods and their cultural and political introduction to the U.S.