The vibrant interest in food studies among both academics and amateurs has made food history an exciting field of investigation. Taking stock of three decades of groundbreaking multidisciplinary research, the book examines two broad questions: What has history contributed to the development of food studies? How have other disciplines - sociology, anthropology, literary criticism, science, art history - influenced writing on food history in terms of approach, methodology, controversies, and knowledge of past foodways?
Essays by twelve prominent scholars provide a compendium of global and multicultural answers to these questions. The contributors critically assess food history writing in the United States, Africa, Mexico and the Spanish Diaspora, India, the Ottoman Empire, the Far East - China, Japan and Korea - Europe, Jewish communities and the Middle East. Several historical eras are covered: the Ancient World, the Middle Ages, Early Modern Europe and the Modern day.
The book is a unique addition to the growing literature on food history. It is required reading for anyone seeking a detailed discussion of food history research in diverse times and places.
Introduction: Surveying World Food Historiography. Kyri W. Claflin & Peter Scholliers
Part One: The West
Food and Drink In The Ancient World. John Wilkins, University of Exeter (UK)
Food Histories Of The Middle Ages. Paul Freedman, Yale University (USA)
Food Among The Historians: Early Modern Europe . Kyri W. Claflin, Boston University (USA)
The Many Rooms In The House: Research On Past Foodways In Modern Europe. Peter Scholliers, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium)
Sustenance, Abundance, and The Place of Food In United States History. Amy Bentley, New York University (USA)
Five Hundred Years Of Fusion: A Historiography Of Food In The Iberian World. Jeffrey Pilcher, University of Minnesota (USA
Part Two: The Middle East
Food Studies In Ottoman-Turkish Historiography. Özge Samanci, Yeditepe University (Turkey)
"Bread From Heaven, Bread From The Earth": Recent Trends In Jewish Food History. Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus, Wheaton College (USA)
Food Culture In The Arab World: Long On History, Short On Historiography. Nawal Nasrallah, Independent scholar
Part Three: South & East Asia
New Directions Of Scholarship On Indian Food. Krishnendu Ray, New York University (USA)
The Shadow Of Shinoda Osamu: Food Research In East Asia. Katarzyna Cwiertka, Leiden University (Netherlands) and Yujen Chen, National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism (Taiwan)
Part Four: Africa
Writing On The African Pot: Recipes and Cooking As Historical Knowledge. James McCann, Boston University (USA)
Conclusion: Contours Of Global Food Historiography. Peter Scholliers and Kyri W. Claflin
Bibliography
Index
