‘This is a book about Australian food, not the foods that European Australians cooked from ingredients they brought with them, but the flora and fauna that nourished the Aboriginal peoples for over 50,000 years. It is because European Australians have hardly touched these foods for over 200 years that I am writing it.’ We celebrate cultural and culinary diversity, yet shun foods that grew here before white settlers arrived. We love ‘superfoods’ from exotic locations, yet reject those that grow here. We say we revere sustainable local produce, yet ignore Australian native plants and animals that are better for the land than those European ones. In this, the most important of his books, John Newton boils down these paradoxes by arguing that if you are what you eat, we need to eat different foods: foods that will help to reconcile us with the land and its first inhabitants. But the tide is turning. European Australians are beginning to accept and relish the flavours of Australia, everything from kangaroo to quandongs, from fresh muntries to the latest addition, magpie goose. With recipes from chefs such as Peter Gilmore, Maggie Beer and René Redzepi’s sous chef Beau Clugston, The Oldest Foods on Earth will convince you that this is one food revolution that really matters.

Interest in bush foods is booming. From Warrigal greens and saltbush to kangaroo and yabbies, more and more growers’ markets and local supermarkets are stocking these foods, and restaurants are serving them on their menus. Cooking With the Oldest Foods on Earth – winner of the 2020 Gourmand Award for Innovation – shows you how to cook with bush foods, where to find them and how to grow them. Organised by ingredient, each chapter includes a brief history, a practical guide, and recipes for you to make in your very own kitchen. Now updated, including new recipes, Cooking With the Oldest Foods on Earth promises to broaden Australians’ culinary horizons in every way. 'This book is full of the information about Australian foods that your country refused to teach you. Here’s your chance to fully appreciate your homeland.' — Bruce Pascoe ‘A handy resource that aims to encourage more commonplace use of Australia’s delicious and healthy native produce.’ — Gardening Australia ‘This fabulous book gives a detailed rundown of the sort of ingredients we can use in ordinary cooking, with plenty of delicious recipes.’ — The Daily Telegraph ‘John Newton encourages us to delve into the food of our country and bring the tastes home to our kitchens and tables.’ — Organic Gardener

In this intriguing blend of the commonplace and the ancient, Jean Bottéro presents the first extensive look at the delectable secrets of Mesopotamia. Bottéro’s broad perspective takes us inside the religious rites, everyday rituals, attitudes and taboos, and even the detailed preparation techniques involving food and drink in Mesopotamian high culture during the second and third millennia BCE, as the Mesopotamians recorded them. Offering everything from translated recipes for pigeon and gazelle stews, the contents of medicinal teas and broths, and the origins of ingredients native to the region, this book reveals the cuisine of one of history’s most fascinating societies. Links to the modern world, along with incredible recreations of a rich, ancient culture through its cuisine, make Bottéro’s guide an entertaining and mesmerizing read.

A complete guide to the healthiest foods you can eat and how to cook them!

Native produce business is booming and it's about to enter a new phase--Australian native ingredients are beginning to turn up in growers' markets and even local supermarkets. From Warrigal greens and saltbush, to kangaroo and yabbies--John Newton will inspire you to grab some and take it home. This short companion book to the award-winning The Oldest Foods on Earth shows you how to cook with Australian ingredients, where to find them, and how to grow them. Organised by ingredient, each chapter includes a brief history, a practical guide, and recipes for you to make in your very own kitchen. It promises to broaden Australians' culinary horizons in every way.

"A comprehensive and entertaining historical and botanical review, providing an enjoyable and cognitive read.”—Nature The foods we eat have a deep and often surprising past. From almonds and apples to tea and rice, many foods that we consume today have histories that can be traced out of prehistoric Central Asia along the tracks of the Silk Road to kitchens in Europe, America, China, and elsewhere in East Asia. The exchange of goods, ideas, cultural practices, and genes along these ancient routes extends back five thousand years, and organized trade along the Silk Road dates to at least Han Dynasty China in the second century BC. Balancing a broad array of archaeological, botanical, and historical evidence, Fruit from the Sands presents the fascinating story of the origins and spread of agriculture across Inner Asia and into Europe and East Asia. Through the preserved remains of plants found in archaeological sites, Robert N. Spengler III identifies the regions where our most familiar crops were domesticated and follows their routes as people carried them around the world. With vivid examples, Fruit from the Sands explores how the foods we eat have shaped the course of human history and transformed cuisines all over the globe.

Annotation Humans have eaten earth, on purpose, for more than 2,300 years. They also crave starch, ice, chalk and other unorthodox foods - but why? This book creates a portrait of pica, or non-food cravings, from humans' earliest ingestions to current trends and practices.

Some might be put off by its texture, aroma, or murky origins, but the fact of the matter is seaweed is one of the oldest human foods on earth. And prepared the right way, it can be absolutely delicious. Long a staple in Asian cuisines, seaweed has emerged on the global market as one of our new superfoods, a natural product that is highly sustainable and extraordinarily nutritious. Illuminating seaweed’s many benefits through a fascinating history of its culinary past, Kaori O’Connor tells a unique story that stretches along coastlines the world over. O’Connor introduces readers to some of the 10,000 kinds of seaweed that grow on our planet, demonstrating how seaweed is both one of the world’s last great renewable resources and a culinary treasure ready for discovery. Many of us think of seaweed as a forage food for the poor, but various kinds were often highly prized in ancient times as a delicacy reserved for kings and princes. And they ought to be prized: there are seaweeds that are twice as nutritious as kale and taste just like bacon—superfood, indeed. Offering recipes that range from the traditional to the contemporary—taking us from Asia to Europe to the Americas—O’Connor shows that sushi is just the beginning of the possibilities for this unique plant.

Spanning 65,000 years, this book provides a history of food in Australia from its beginnings, with the arrival of the first peoples and their stewardship of the land, to a present where the production and consumption of food is fraught with anxieties and competing priorities. It describes how food production in Australia is subject to the constraints of climate, water, and soil, leading to centuries of unsustainable agricultural practices post-colonization. Australian food history is also the story of its xenophobia and the immigration policies pursued, which continue to undermine the image of Australia as a model multicultural society. This history of Australian food ends on a positive note, however, as Indigenous peoples take increasing control of how their food is interpreted and marketed.

In the creation of Earth's Elders, Jerry Friedman met, interviewed and photographed some of the world's oldest elders – 110 years old or older (supercentenarians, as researchers call them). Jerry Friedman, photographer, author and founder of Earth's Elders, spent four years on a landmark project to introduce the world to the sixty oldest people on earth. Using his lens to capture a community that has never before been documented, the award-winning photographer has shed new light on the "invisible" world of people 110 years and older. With each visit on his globetrotting journey to capture the lives of these "super centenarians," Friedman gained a deeper understanding of what the elderly in every culture have to offer. Inspired by the opportunity to improve the quality of life of the elderly, to teach children to recognize the wisdom and value of the elderly as essential parts of our society, and to improve the health of our communities through intergenerational tolerance and communication, Friedman created Earth’s Elders.