Category: Archaeology

“A Hastiness of Cooks”: A How-to Handbook for Lovers of Historic Cooking and Cookbooks

March 23, 2019

You’re probably wondering what “A Hastiness of Cooks” means. Read the following definition and you’ll see why the phrase inspired me in writing my new book, “A Hastiness of Cooks“: A word game, popular in the great households of late medieval England, had at its heart the creation of collective nouns. In the lists of … More “A Hastiness of Cooks”: A How-to Handbook for Lovers of Historic Cooking and Cookbooks

Prometheus Unbound: New Evidence on Humans’ Early Use of Fire

May 30, 2015

I woke up this morning fully intending to end my two weeks of silence on this blog – due to familial obligations – with a preliminary examination of the role of ducks in French cuisine. But that alluring topic took a sudden backseat when I opened up my local newspaper and read, “Humans May have … More Prometheus Unbound: New Evidence on Humans’ Early Use of Fire

Hunger is the Best Sauce

November 11, 2009

A hungry people listens not to reason, nor cares for justice, nor is bent by any prayers. [Lat., Nec rationem patitur, nec aequitate mitigatur nec ulla prece flectitur, populus esuriens.] De Brevitate Vitoe (XVIII), Seneca (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) Chronic hunger is something that most of us in the United States will never really know.* Yet … More Hunger is the Best Sauce

No Thanks to Marco Polo: An Encyclopedia of Italy’s Pasta Shapes

November 6, 2009

Marco Polo returned to Italy from his Chinese travels in 1296. The myth, legend, what have you, credits him with introducing pasta into Italy’s culinary repertoire. But Marco Polo did NOT bring pasta to Italy. And 73-year-old Italian author Oretta Zanini de Vita wants you to know that, immediately, upfront and center. Zanini de Vita … More No Thanks to Marco Polo: An Encyclopedia of Italy’s Pasta Shapes