A Woman's Place

February 1, 2019
This compendium celebrates women who have made contributions to how we eat and prepare food. It's notable for a couple of reasons. First, it's truly international in scope, celebrating past and present culinary celebrities from an array of cultures. Second, it's organized into sections that help readers better understand the impact each subject had on eating habits and food consumption. The fifty entries average two or three pages each, and are sorted into Innovators (Lena Michael, an African American restaurateur whose dining rooms defied segregation laws); Instigators (Nitza Villapol, a Cuban TV chef whose program lasted through the Castro regime); or Inventors (Yi Di, a Chinese empress, who invented beer around 2100 BCE). The profiles are light and breezy but still manage to convey significant amounts of information, usually concentrating on how these determined women prevailed despite societal opposition and gender prejudice. Plentiful illustrations, occasional recipes, and further-reading recommendations add interest. Historically, women have logged a lot more time in the kitchen than men. This enjoyable overview redirects the spotlight toward some deserving culinary luminaries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)