This cookbook on the main ancient peoples studied today-the Romans, Mesopotamians, Egyptians, and Greeks—is a stupendous resource for middle and high school students and other interested cooks learning history. Besides the Romans and the Greeks, the ancients left behind few recipes, and so the author has meticulously researched what food knowledge is available from written sources, such as Petronius's The Satyricon, and archaeology to approximate the everyday and special cuisine of the ancients. This detective work and reconstruction result in a wealth of successful recipes that will bring cooks as close as possible to the foods that likely would have been eaten and prepared. This cookbook on the main ancient peoples studied today-the Romans, Mesopotamians, Egyptians, and Greeks—is a stupendous resource for middle and high school students and other interested cooks. Besides the Romans and the Greeks, the ancients left behind few recipes, and so the author has meticulously researched what food knowledge is available from written sources, such as Petronius's The Satyricon, and archaeology to approximate the everyday and special cuisine of the ancients. This detective work and reconstruction result in a wealth of successful recipes that will bring cooks as close as possible to the foods that likely would have been eaten and prepared. Each group is covered in a chapter that begins with a narrative overview of the environment and resources, cuisine and social class, and a note on sources. Bulleted lists on major foodstuffs, cuisine and preparation, and dining habits follow to quickly familiarize readers with the basics. The recipes are then organized by type of food. A multitude of period food trivia as well as sample menus for different meals, social classes, and occasions complement the 207 recipes.

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.

From the prehistoric era to the present, food culture has helped to define civilizations. This reference surveys food culture and cooking from antiquity to the modern era, providing background information along with menus and recipes. Food culture has been central to world civilizations since prehistory. While early societies were limited in terms of their resources and cooking technology, methods of food preparation have flourished throughout history, with food central to social gatherings, celebrations, religious functions, and other aspects of daily life. This book surveys the history of cooking from the ancient world through the modern era. The first volume looks at the history of cooking from antiquity through the Early Modern era, while the second focuses on the modern world. Each volume includes a chronology, historical introduction, and topical chapters on foodstuffs, food preparation, eating habits, and other subjects. Sections on particular civilizations follow, with each section offering a historical overview, recipes, menus, primary source documents, and suggestions for further reading. The work closes with a selected, general bibliography of resources suitable for student research.

How we define, prepare and consume food can detail a full range of social expression. Examining the subject through the dual lens of archaeology and art history, this book argues that cuisine as an art form deserves a higher reputation.

A Companion to Food in the Ancient World presents acomprehensive overview of the cultural aspects relating to theproduction, preparation, and consumption of food and drink inantiquity. • Provides an up-to-date overview of the study of food inthe ancient world • Addresses all aspects of food production, distribution,preparation, and consumption during antiquity • Features original scholarship from some of the mostinfluential North American and European specialists in Classicalhistory, ancient history, and archaeology • Covers a wide geographical range from Britain to ancientAsia, including Egypt and Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, regionssurrounding the Black Sea, and China • Considers the relationships of food in relation toancient diet, nutrition, philosophy, gender, class, religion, andmore

Rachel Laudan tells the remarkable story of the rise and fall of the world’s great cuisines—from the mastery of grain cooking some twenty thousand years ago, to the present—in this superbly researched book. Probing beneath the apparent confusion of dozens of cuisines to reveal the underlying simplicity of the culinary family tree, she shows how periodic seismic shifts in “culinary philosophy”—beliefs about health, the economy, politics, society and the gods—prompted the construction of new cuisines, a handful of which, chosen as the cuisines of empires, came to dominate the globe. Cuisine and Empire shows how merchants, missionaries, and the military took cuisines over mountains, oceans, deserts, and across political frontiers. Laudan’s innovative narrative treats cuisine, like language, clothing, or architecture, as something constructed by humans. By emphasizing how cooking turns farm products into food and by taking the globe rather than the nation as the stage, she challenges the agrarian, romantic, and nationalistic myths that underlie the contemporary food movement.