At supermarkets across the nation, customers waiting in line—mostly female—flip through magazines displayed at the checkout stand. What we find on those magazine racks are countless images of food and, in particular, women: moms preparing lunch for the team, college roommates baking together, working women whipping up a meal in under an hour, dieters happy to find a lowfat ice cream that tastes great. In everything from billboards and product packaging to cooking shows, movies, and even sex guides, food has a presence that conveys powerful gender-coded messages that shape our society. Kitchen Culture in America is a collection of essays that examine how women's roles have been shaped by the principles and practice of consuming and preparing food. Exploring popular representations of food and gender in American society from 1895 to 1970, these essays argue that kitchen culture accomplishes more than just passing down cooking skills and well-loved recipes from generation to generation. Kitchen culture instructs women about how to behave like "correctly" gendered beings. One chapter reveals how juvenile cookbooks, a popular genre for over a century, have taught boys and girls not only the basics of cooking, but also the fine distinctions between their expected roles as grown men and women. Several essays illuminate the ways in which food manufacturers have used gender imagery to define women first and foremost as consumers. Other essays, informed by current debates in the field of material culture, investigate how certain commodities like candy, which in the early twentieth century was advertised primarily as a feminine pleasure, have been culturally constructed. The book also takes a look at the complex relationships among food, gender, class, and race or ethnicity-as represented, for example, in the popular Southern black Mammy figure. In all of the essays, Kitchen Culture in America seeks to show how food serves as a marker of identity in American society.

Elegantly written by a distinguished culinary historian, Food Is Culture explores the innovative premise that everything having to do with food--its capture, cultivation, preparation, and consumption--represents a cultural act. Even the "choices" made by primitive hunters and gatherers were determined by a culture of economics (availability) and medicine (digestibility and nutrition) that led to the development of specific social structures and traditions. Massimo Montanari begins with the "invention" of cooking which allowed humans to transform natural, edible objects into cuisine. Cooking led to the creation of the kitchen, the adaptation of raw materials into utensils, and the birth of written and oral guidelines to formalize cooking techniques like roasting, broiling, and frying. The transmission of recipes allowed food to acquire its own language and grow into a complex cultural product shaped by climate, geography, the pursuit of pleasure, and later, the desire for health. In his history, Montanari touches on the spice trade, the first agrarian societies, Renaissance dishes that synthesized different tastes, and the analytical attitude of the Enlightenment, which insisted on the separation of flavors. Brilliantly researched and analyzed, he shows how food, once a practical necessity, evolved into an indicator of social standing and religious and political identity. Whether he is musing on the origins of the fork, the symbolic power of meat, cultural attitudes toward hot and cold foods, the connection between cuisine and class, the symbolic significance of certain foods, or the economical consequences of religious holidays, Montanari's concise yet intellectually rich reflections add another dimension to the history of human civilization. Entertaining and surprising, Food Is Culture is a fascinating look at how food is the ultimate embodiment of our continuing attempts to tame, transform, and reinterpret nature.

Cuisine and Culture presents a multicultural and multiethnic approach that draws connections between major historical events and how and why these events affected and defined the culinary traditions of different societies. Witty and engaging, Civitello shows how history has shaped our diet--and how food has affected history. Prehistoric societies are explored all the way to present day issues such as genetically modified foods and the rise of celebrity chefs. Civitello's humorous tone and deep knowledge are the perfect antidote to the usual scholarly and academic treatment of this universally important subject.

'Kitchens' takes the reader into the robust, overheated, backstage world of the contemporary restaurant. In this portrait of the real lives of kitchen workers, the author brings their experiences, challenges, and satisfactions to life.

Step into a world where cultures come alive with every bite! "Cultures in the Kitchen" is not just an eBook—it's your passport to the diverse universe of culinary alchemy known as fermentation. For food enthusiasts and health-conscious adventurers alike, this treasure trove of gastronomic wisdom unlocks the timeless secrets of transforming simple ingredients into an array of tangy, zestful, and probiotic-rich delicacies. Embark on a palate-pleasing journey through chapters like "The Lure of Lacto-Fermentation" and "Kimchi Chronicles," each crafted to guide you through the processes that have captivated taste buds and nourished bodies across civilizations. You'll uncover the pivotal role of beneficial bacteria in "The Science of Good Bacteria" and stir your culinary curiosity with chapters such as "Advanced Flavor Building" and "A Pickle for Every Palate." "Cultures in the Kitchen" does more than simply impart recipes; it enlightens you on the holistic experience of fermentation. Delve into "The Basics of Brining," where the mysteries of salt and water ratios are demystified, and master the art of "Pickling Proficiency" with a smorgasbord of flavor twists that promise to add a zing to your meals. With your eBook in hand, you'll create a symphony of taste while learning the secrets to "Preserving Your Bounty" and "Elevating Meals with Ferments." Savvy tips on "Troubleshooting Your Ferments" ensure your kitchen experiments result in success, not stress. "The Art of Quick Pickling" delivers the satisfaction of homemade crunch in record time, perfect for those hankering for instant gratification. Dedicated chapters such as "Community and Culture of Fermentation" and "Hosting a Fermentation Party" show how these timeless techniques foster connection, transforming your crafted creations into the heart of gatherings and shared traditions. Woven into every chapter are the threads of history, science, and practical wisdom that will guide you from "The Chemistry of Fermentation" to "Incorporating Ferments into Clean Eating." Whether you're courting "Creative Containers and Weights" to perfect your pickles, or navigating "The Business of Ferments" to take your passion to market, "Cultures in the Kitchen" is your comprehensive guide to the fermenting arts. Don't just feed your body; nourish your soul. This eBook is the key to unlocking a transformative world of flavors. It's time to redefine your dining experience—one ferment at a time. Welcome to "Cultures in the Kitchen"!

Guild of Food Writer’s Awards, Highly Commended in ‘First Book’ category (2022) Tools For Food explores the history of 250 of our most-loved and intriguing kitchen items and how they've changed the way we live. From 12th century Mongolian fire pots, to 17th century Chinese scissors, from beloved Tupperware food containers to the iconic Alessi lemon squeezer, this culinary journey covers well-loved items, as well as lesser known objects. From primitive tools to high-end objects conceived by brands such as Le Creuset, Joseph Joseph, IKEA, Tala, Rosti, Pyrex, Oxo Good Grips, Droog, Staub and many more, the reader will be taken on a journey around the globe, exploring how and what we cook has changed over the centuries, showing similarities and diversity across times and cultures. From basic necessities to design objects, each image is accompanied by a text detailing its origin, as well as interesting facts about its relationship between culture and cooking.

An award-winning food writer takes us on a global tour of what the world eats--and shows us how we can change it for the better Food is one of life's great joys. So why has eating become such a source of anxiety and confusion? Bee Wilson shows that in two generations the world has undergone a massive shift from traditional, limited diets to more globalized ways of eating, from bubble tea to quinoa, from Soylent to meal kits. Paradoxically, our diets are getting healthier and less healthy at the same time. For some, there has never been a happier food era than today: a time of unusual herbs, farmers' markets, and internet recipe swaps. Yet modern food also kills--diabetes and heart disease are on the rise everywhere on earth. This is a book about the good, the terrible, and the avocado toast. A riveting exploration of the hidden forces behind what we eat, The Way We Eat Now explains how this food revolution has transformed our bodies, our social lives, and the world we live in.

2018 James Beard Foundation Book of the Year | 2018 James Beard Foundation Book Award Winner inWriting | Nominee for the 2018 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in Nonfiction | #75 on The Root100 2018 A renowned culinary historian offers a fresh perspective on our most divisive cultural issue, race, in this illuminating memoir of Southern cuisine and food culture that traces his ancestry—both black and white—through food, from Africa to America and slavery to freedom. Southern food is integral to the American culinary tradition, yet the question of who "owns" it is one of the most provocative touch points in our ongoing struggles over race. In this unique memoir, culinary historian Michael W. Twitty takes readers to the white-hot center of this fight, tracing the roots of his own family and the charged politics surrounding the origins of soul food, barbecue, and all Southern cuisine. From the tobacco and rice farms of colonial times to plantation kitchens and backbreaking cotton fields, Twitty tells his family story through the foods that enabled his ancestors’ survival across three centuries. He sifts through stories, recipes, genetic tests, and historical documents, and travels from Civil War battlefields in Virginia to synagogues in Alabama to Black-owned organic farms in Georgia. As he takes us through his ancestral culinary history, Twitty suggests that healing may come from embracing the discomfort of the Southern past. Along the way, he reveals a truth that is more than skin deep—the power that food has to bring the kin of the enslaved and their former slaveholders to the table, where they can discover the real America together. Illustrations by Stephen Crotts

As African American women left the plantation economy behind, many entered domestic service in southern cities and towns. Cooking was one of the primary jobs they performed, feeding generations of white families and, in the process, profoundly shaping southern foodways and culture. Rebecca Sharpless argues that, in the face of discrimination, long workdays, and low wages, African American cooks worked to assert measures of control over their own lives. As employment opportunities expanded in the twentieth century, most African American women chose to leave cooking for more lucrative and less oppressive manufacturing, clerical, or professional positions. Through letters, autobiography, and oral history, Sharpless evokes African American women's voices from slavery to the open economy, examining their lives at work and at home.

"Discusses the cuisine to understand the construction of colonial middle-class in Bengal"--