During the Depression, the Federal Writers' Project (FWP) dispatched scribes to sample the fare at group eating events like church dinners, political barbecues, and clambakes. Its America Eats project sought nothing less than to sample, and report upon, the tremendous range of foods eaten across the United States. Camille Begin shapes a cultural and sensory history of New Deal-era eating from the FWP archives. From "ravioli, the diminutive derbies of pastries, the crowns stuffed with a well-seasoned paste" to barbeque seasoning that integrated "salt, black pepper, dried red chili powder, garlic, oregano, cumin seed, and cayenne pepper" while "tomatoes, green chili peppers, onions, and olive oil made up the sauce", Begin describes in mouth-watering detail how Americans tasted their food. They did so in ways that varied, and varied widely, depending on race, ethnicity, class, and region. Begin explores how likes and dislikes, cravings and disgust operated within local sensory economies that she culls from the FWP’s vivid descriptions, visual cues, culinary expectations, recipes and accounts of restaurant meals. She illustrates how nostalgia, prescriptive gender ideals, and racial stereotypes shaped how the FWP was able to frame regional food cultures as "American."

Whether sinking your teeth into crispy Southern Fried Chicken, enjoying a Philly Cheese Steak or sampling a slice of Ozark Mountain Berry Pie, you simply can’t beat the comfort of iconic American foods. Now, it’s easier than ever to sample the flavors of the country with Taste of Home Recipes Across America. This keepsake collection offers 655 recipes that deliver regional flair from all 50 states. Grill up a fiery Southwestern barbecue, stir together a little Texas Caviar, host a New England clam bake or share a Chicago deep dish pizza! You’ll find everything from no-fuss snacks and quick supper ideas to weekend menu items and impressive desserts...each of which left a delicious mark on its part of the country! Divided into five regions (Northeast, South, Midwest, Southwest and West), Recipes Across America offers all the mouthwatering specialties enjoyed by locals, including unforgettable dishes featuring regional produce. You’ll even discover ethnic favorites passed-down through generations of cultures who established roots in various cities throughout the nation. As a bonus, you’ll enjoy fun food facts and folklore sprinkled throughout the pages. (For example, did you know that Chef George Crum of Saratoga, NY is rumored to have created the potato chip after a customer complained about the chef’s fried potatoes?) There are even colorful photos and notes regarding regional landmarks, infamous restaurants and more. With so many recipes, photos and kitchen tidbits, Taste of Home Recipes Across America makes it a snap to take your senses on a culinary vacation you’ll cherish for years to come. Recipes NORTHEAST: New England Boiled Dinner, Pennsylvania Dutch Pork Chops, Maple Syrup Corn Bread, Vermont Baked Beans, Brooklyn Blackout Cake, Joe Froggers SOUTH: Barbecued Sticky Ribs, Bourbon Baked Ham, Low Country Boil, Andouille-Shrimp Cream Soup, Pimiento Cheese Spread, Hummingbird Cake, Southern Sweet Potato Pie, Benne Wafers MIDWEST: Chicago Deep-Dish Pizza, Rolled Swedish Pancakes, Howard’s Sauerbraten, Beer Margaritas, Kansas Whole Wheat Bread, State Fair Cream Puffs, Lemon Kolaches SOUTHWEST: Sizzling Tex-Mex Fajitas, Chicken Tamales, Award-Winning Chuck Wagon Chili, Armadillo Eggs, Daiquiris, Texas Caviar, Chunky Fresh Mango Cake, Mexican Ice Cream WEST: Pacific Rim Salmon, Pork with Artichokes and Capers, Plum Chicken Wraps, Baked Potato Cheddar Soup, California Sushi Rolls, Champagne Cocktail, Habanero Apricot Jam, Sourdough French Bread, Hawaiian Cake, Wyoming Cowboy Cookies With this collection the country is yours from coast to coast. You can plan a Southern summertime barbecue, feed hungry hands with Tex-Mex, enjoy the silky smoothness of maple syrup pie, have a German feast for Okoberfest, juicy fruits from the Pacific Northwest or a Classic Cobb Salad. Enjoy! For 20 years, Taste of Home has been the world’s most popular cooking publication. Through the pages of the flagship magazine, popular cookbooks and online community, Taste of Home offers a friendly exchange of family-favorite recipes, cooking tips and personal stories from genuine home cooks. Because professional food staff tests and evaluates every recipe in the Taste of Home Test Kitchen, readers are guaranteed success every time.

This original collection abandons culinary nostalgia and the cataloguing of regional cuisines to examine the role of food and food marketing in constructing culture, consumer behavior, and national identity.

Since the founding of the United States, culinary texts and practices have played a crucial role in the making of cultural identities and social hierarchies. A Taste of Power examines culinary writing and practices as forces for the production of social order and, at the same time, points of cultural resistance. Culinary writing has helped shape dominant ideas of nationalism, gender, and sexuality, suggesting that eating right is a gateway to becoming an American, a good citizen, an ideal man, or a perfect wife and mother. In this brilliant interdisciplinary work, Katharina Vester examines how cookbooks became a way for women to participate in nation-building before they had access to the vote or public office, for Americans to distinguish themselves from Europeans, for middle-class authors to assert their class privileges, for men to claim superiority over women in the kitchen, and for lesbian authors to insert themselves into the heteronormative economy of culinary culture. A Taste of Power engages in close reading of a wide variety of sources and genres to uncover the intersections of food, politics, and privilege in American culture.

Kosher? That means the rabbi blessed it, right? Not exactly. In this captivating account of a Bible-based practice that has grown into a multibillions-dollar industry, journalist Sue Fishkoff travels throughout America and to Shanghai, China, to find out who eats kosher food, who produces it, who is responsible for its certification, and how this fascinating world continues to evolve. She explains why 86 percent of the 11.2 million Americans who regularly buy kosher food are not observant Jews—they are Muslims, Seventh-day Adventists, vegetarians, people with food allergies, and consumers who pay top dollar for food they believe “answers to a higher authority.” Fishkoff interviews food manufacturers, rabbinic supervisors, and ritual slaughterers; meets with eco-kosher adherents who go beyond traditional requirements to produce organic chicken and pasture-raised beef; sips boutique kosher wine in Napa Valley; talks to shoppers at an upscale kosher supermarket in Brooklyn; and marches with unemployed workers at the nation’s largest kosher meatpacking plant. She talks to Reform Jews who are rediscovering the spiritual benefits of kashrut, and to Conservative and Orthodox Jews who are demanding that kosher food production adhere to ethical and environmental values. And she chronicles the corruption, price-fixing, and strong arm tactics of early-twentieth-century kosher meat production, against which contemporary kashrut standards pale by comparison. A revelatory look at the current state of kosher in America, this book will appeal to anyone interested in food, religion, Jewish identity, or big business.

An exploration of the fast food industry in the United States, from its roots to its long-term consequences.