num_pages: 452
description: C. Anne Wilson Traces culinary practices and preferences from our earliest prehistoric forbears down to the generation of the Industrial Revolution and offers an extraordinary taste of the times. She provides a tabletop perspective on class structure religion politics and social custom generously seasoned with such culinary and cultural tidbits as the importance of salt in English history and the role of romance in England's first taste of the wines of southernmost France. Readers will become acquainted with the sources of many of our current tastes and conventions. Discover macrows the prototype of macaroni and that whales porpoises and sturgeon were all royal fish. Meringue to the Elizabethans was a dishful of snow and rather difficult to whip up before the advent of the fork in the late 17th century. Before the Reformation all buns were hot cross in order to ward off evil spirits that might prevent the bread rising. Adventurous readers who wish to dine as their ancestors did may do so; Ms. Wilson includes many authentic recipessuch as 17th century rice puddingwhich add flavor of a unique kind. This cornucopia of custom and cuisine provides plenty of food for thought for everyone and what could be of more interest if we are indeed what we eat?
language: English
title: Food And Drink In Britain: From the Stone Age to the 19th Century
publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers