And writers take these foods and weave words around and around like so many carefully knitted stitches, creating new books, making this year an exciting time for food and history lovers.
The increasing onslaught of books on preserving and preparing traditional foods promises to create a generation of cooks far more savvy than those of the previous one. Starving for knowledge, yearning to break free of Big Food, cooks will find much to chew on in the following list. Note that some of the books have not yet been published, but that’s OK.
Having something to look forward to makes life magical, conjuring up images of birthdays and other holidays, regardless of culture. One reason why saints’ day feasts and seasonal festivals helped people in the past in dealing with the harsh mundane.
And these books conjure up that delightful, delicious feeling of anticipation. A true reason to celebrate.
97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement, by Jane Ziegelman
Appetite City: A Culinary History of New York, by William Grimes
As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto, edited by Joan Reardon
Barbecue: The History of an American Institution, by Robert Moss
The Book of Marmalade (ENGLISH KITCHEN), by C. Anne Wilson
Food Heroes: 16 Culinary Artisans Preserving Tradition, by Georgia Pellgrini
Forgotten Skills of Cooking: The Time-Honored Ways are the Best – Over 700 Recipes Show You Why, by Darina Allen
The Fruit, Herbs & Vegetables of Italy (1614), by Giacomo Castelvetro; Gillian Riley, editor
Game: A Cookbook, by Tom Norrington-Davies
Ham: An Obsession with the Hindquarter, by Bruce Weinstein
Ice Cream: A History (Shire Library), by Ivan Day
The Lost Art of Real Cooking: Rediscovering the Pleasures of Traditional Food One Recipe at a Time, by Ken Albala and Rosanna Nafziger
THE NOBEL BANQUETS: A Century of Culinary History (1901 – 2001), by Ulrica Soderlind
Pig: King of the Southern Table, by James Villas
The River Cottage Preserves Handbook, by Pam Corbin
Storied Dishes: What Our Family Recipes Tell Us About Who We Are and Where We’ve Been, by Linda Murray Berzok
Table Settings: The Material Culture and Social Context of Dining, AD 1700-1900, by James Symonds
Tastes of Byzantium: The Cuisine of a Legendary Empire, by Andrew Dalby
Twain’s Feast: Searching for America’s Lost Foods in the Footsteps of Samuel Clemens, by Andrew Beahrs