Fashionable Food: Seven Decades of Food Fads
In recent years, the subject of food has been one primarily of seriousness verging on reverence. While that may be wholly justified, it's refreshing to have a good laugh (at ourselves) every now and then. Lovegren, an avid collector and reader of old cookbooks, brings us a history of America's eating fads from the 1920s through the 1980s. Unlike Harvey Levenstein's Revolution at the Table (LJ 2/1/88), which addressed U.S. gastronomy in relatively academic form, Lovegren's book is fanciful as she devotes herself to "some uniquely American culinary triumphs... and some uniquely American culinary disasters as well." Lovegren covers the effects on our tastes and eating habits of convenience products (e.g., kitchen appliances and canned foods) and of cultural events like Prohibition and the Depression. The book has many period-piece illustrations and well over 100 recipes, ranging from Blackened Redfish to "The Worst Salad of the Twenties" (Banana and Popcorn Salad). Useful as an idea source for theme parties and historical research on foods and their eras, this is recommended for popular culinary collections.?Wendy Miller, Lexington P.L., Ky.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.