A History of Food in 100 Recipes

by William Sitwell

Overview

A riveting narrative history of food as seen through 100 recipes, from ancient Egyptian bread to modernist cuisine.

We all love to eat, and most people have a favorite ingredient or dish. But how many of us know where our much-loved recipes come from, who invented them, and how they were originally cooked? In A History of Food in 100 Recipes, culinary expert and BBC television personality William Sitwell explores the fascinating history of cuisine from the first cookbook to the first cupcake, from the invention of the sandwich to the rise of food television.

A book you can read straight through and also use in the kitchen, A History of Food in 100 Recipes is a perfect gift for any food lover who has ever wondered about the origins of the methods and recipes we now take for granted.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316255707
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	06/18/2013
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	360
File size:	14 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

William Sitwell is the editor of Waitrose Kitchen magazine, can regularly be seen on TV programs such as BBC2's Food & Drink and MasterChef: The Professionals, and writes about food for a variety of newspapers and magazines.

Following an early career in newspapers, he came to prominence in the food world after 1999 when he joined the then titled Waitrose Food Illustrated, of which he became editor in 2002. He subsequently won a string of awards, including "Editor of the Year" in 2005, for the magazine's writing, stories, design and photography. He spends his spare time growing vegetables, cooking, and making cider at his home in Northamptonshire, England, where he lives with his wife, Laura, and their children, Alice and Albert. A History of Food in 100 Recipes is his first book.

Table of Contents

Introduction 7

A note on the recipes 10

1 Ancient Egyptian bread, 1958-1913 BC 11

2 Kanasu broth (Meat and vegetable stew), circa 1700 BC 15

3 Tiger nut sweets, circa 1400 BC 17

4 Fish baked in fig leaves, 350 BC 19

5 To salt ham, 160 BC 21

6 Roast goat, 30 BC 24

7 Another sauce for fowl, AD 10 26

8 Honeyed cheesecakes, circa AD 200 30

9 Congee, AD 636 33

10 Dried fish, circa AD 800 35

11 Manchet bread, circa 1070 38

12 Pasta, 1154 42

13 Rummaniyya (Meatballs in pomegranate sauce), 1250 44

14 Pear of pies, 1379 46

15 Erbolate (Baked eggs with herbs), 1390 49

16 Green porray, 1392 52

17 Party planning, 1420 55

18 Muscules in shelle (Mussels in white wine sauce), 1440 58

19 Lese fryes (Cheese tart), circa 1450 61

20 Ravioli for non-Lenten times, 1465 65

21 For to bake quinces, 1500 69

22 Hippocras jelly, 1530 72

23 Turkey tomales, circa 1540 74

24 Hot chocolate, 1568 77

25 To prepare a thick broth called zabaglione, 1570 81

26 Earth apples (Potatoes fried and simmered with bacon bits), 1581 85

27 Trifle, 1596 88

28 Prince-biskets (Prince biscuits), 1602 91

29 To butter crawfish, 1604 95

30 An Englishman discovers the fork, 1611 99

31 Spargus with white sauce, 1651 103

32 A good supper dish (Mutton baked in breadcrumbs), 1664 106

33 Peas soope, 1669 109

34 Roast fillet of beef, 1671 112

35 Fish experiment XIII, 1681 115

36 Tomato sauce in the Spanish style, 1692 118

37 Salad dressing, 1699 121

38 Ice cream, 1718 124

39 Puff past (Puff pastry), 1739 127

40 Little foie gras pastries with truffles, 1740 130

41 Capon de galera (Fisherman s chicken), 1747 134

42 To make chip marmalade, 1783 138

43 Sandwiches, 1787 141

44 A buttered apple pie, 1796 144

45 Soufflé, 1816 148

46 Spring fruit pudding, 1817 151

47 Pheasant Brillat-Savarin, 1825 155

48 Cupcake, 1828 159

49 Petite soufflés à la rose, 1833 163

50 Brussels sprouts, 1845 167

51 Kedgeree or kidgeree, an Indian breakfast dish, 1845 169

52 Welsh rarebit, 1852 173

53 Cauliflower & cheese, 1860 177

54 Roly-poly jam pudding, 1861 182

55 Eggs à la Benedick, 1894 187

56 Hollandaise sauce, 1895 190

57 Strawberry shortcake, 1896 192

58 Preparation of peas, 1902 195

59 Peach Melba, 1903 199

60 Scotch barley broth, 1907 202

61 Onion butter sauce, 1908 205

62 Croque monsieur, 1915 209

63 Chocolate cake, 1916 212

64 Spaghetti à la Campbell, 1916 216

65 Creamed mushrooms, 1919 219

66 Strawberry ice-cream soda 1927 222

67 Toad-in-the-hole, 1927 225

68 Quick oatmeal cookies, 1931 228

69 Drum roll of colonial fish, 1932 231

70 Omelette, 1937 235

71 Elderberry & apple jam, 1940 239

72 French creamed oysters, 1941 243

73 Rice Krispies Treats, 1941 246

74 Cinnamon and nutmeg sponge cake, 1945 249

75 Victoria sandwich cake, 1948 253

76 Cassoulet toulousain, 1950 256

77 Boeuf bourgignon (Beef stew in red wine, with bacon, onions and mushrooms), 1961 260

78 Watercress soup for one, 1963 266

79 A large cocktail crush for 40, 1965 269

80 Cheese fondue, 1970 272

81 Mediterranean lemon soup with Middle Eastern tacos, 1971 275

82 Plum tart, 1971 279

83 Lamb korma, 1973 284

84 Ginger cake, 1974 288

85 Salmon fish cakes, 1976 291

86 Sweet & sour pork, 1984 296

87 Giura (Slow-braised beef), 1986 299

88 Tagliatelle of oyster with caviar, 1987 302

89 Chicken & goat's cheese mousse with olives, 1987 307

90 Quails with couscous, 1990 311

91 Individual sausage, tomato & artichoke-heart pizzas, 1995 314

92 Pecan waffles with pecan & banana syrup, 1998 317

93 Salmon tartare with sweet red onion crème fraîche, 1999 320

94 Fairy cakes, 2000 326

95 Bacon, leek & potato gratin, 2001 330

96 Asian salad with ponzu ginger dressing & wasabi peas, 2006 333

97 Steamed brioche with rose-scented mozzarella, 2008 336

98 Steamed salmon with tomato basil couscous, 2009 341

99 Spaghetti alia carbonara, 2010 344

100 Meat fruit (or fois gras & chicken liver parfait), 2011 348

Select bibliography 352

Index 355

Text and picture credits 359

Acknowledgments 360

What People are Saying About This

Marco Pierre White

Sitwell is without doubt one of the great food writers of our day. Every serious cook should read this book at least once.

Editorial Reviews

Here food writer and BBC personality Sitwell manages to trace culinary history from ancient Egypt to Heston Blumenthal's 2011 "meat fruit" in 100 steps. First published in the UK last year (and thus somewhat British in focus), this volume presents a series of informative, often playful, and nearly always opinionated essays, each focusing on a particular recipe or dish chosen to illustrate an important shift or trend in food or cooking. Entries include a recipe for salad dressing from 1699, the Anglo-Indian dish kedgeree (1845), and Rice Krispies Treats (1941). Some recipes are detailed enough to cook from; others—particularly the older ones—are more basic sketches. But high-brow or low-brow, basic or gourmet, the 100 points of focus Stillwell brings before the reader are widely sourced from various cultural traditions and together constitute an enjoyably meandering and thought-provoking journey through the role of cooking in daily life. VERDICT More a good read than a recipe book (though both in a pinch), this title ought to interest foodies, especially Anglophiles.—Courtney Greene, Indiana Univ. Lib., Bloomington

Library Journal

In this U.S. version of British food writer Sitwell’s trek through culinary space and time, dishes like fish and chips and toad in the hole are still of major import, adding quirky charm to this entertaining and well-researched compendium. From recipes based on Egyptian tomb wall paintings and the Bible up to those of Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver, the author’s timeline covers such foodie milestones as the first written reference to pasta, the first pie, the advent of the fork, a 17th-century meditation on salad dressing, and the realization that the Earl of Sandwich was more a discoverer than an inventor. Along the way, meals and the presentation of recipes grow ever more sophisticated. There’s a palatable change in specificity between a 1660s recipe for pea soup calling for “about two quarts of peas... and a little slice of bacon” and a 1900s Scotch barley broth calling for one-and-a-quarter pounds of beef and five ounces of barley. In an intriguing chapter focusing on a butter crawfish recipe written circa 1604 by a Lady Elinore Fettiplace, Sitwell points out how, in her recipe collection, she “separates the sweet from the savory, moving away from the medieval habit of laying everything on the table at once. ” With such instances of cultural insight, Sitwell elevates this collection from curious cookbook to a serious study. Agent: Caroline Michel, PFD. (June)

Publishers Weekly

What a splendid book: it manages to be a recipe collection, a history of cooking and, in passing, a history of the world all at once.—Tom Standage, author of A History of the World in 6 Glasses and An Edible History of Humanity

Sitwell is without doubt one of the great food writers of our day. Every serious cook should read this book at least once.—Marco Pierre White

Almost every sentence of his scrupulously researched and breezily confident book oozes with a passion for eating...what it has over all its predecessors is structural as well as stylish: a pick-up-and-smile quality.—The Times

William Sitwell has pulled off something clever: a thoroughly researched and witty history that is both compelling and teeming with scholarly facts...you don't even need to be a raging foodie to enjoy this.—The Observer

An enjoyably meandering and thought-provoking journey through the role of cooking in everyday life...this title ought to interest foodies, especially Anglophiles — Library Journal

Sitwell elevates this collection from curious cookbook to a serious study — Publisher's Weekly

Sitwell deftly inserts interesting tidbits ranging from the changes wrought by such appliances as refrigerators and gas stoves to the impact of online technology...Good fun — Kirkus Reviews

"Quirky, entertaining, educational and downright gastronomic good fun...Sitwell's flawless presentation makes this a delightful treat full of interesting if little remembered facts. Anyone with an interest in food or history will enjoy this colorful, thoroughly researched tour through time, fads and groceries."——Sandy Amazeen, Monsters and Critics

"A generous tasting menu that evokes the people, places, influences, intrigues, and inventions that have guided the story of food through the millennia."
—— Elle Magazine

What food lovers will be reading at the beach; the format delivers culture in fascinating, digestible chunks.—The Washington Post

A captivating romp through time punctuated with recipes—SimplyRecipes.com

From the Publisher

"A generous tasting menu that evokes the people, places, influences, intrigues, and inventions that have guided the story of food through the millennia."

Elle Magazine

"Quirky, entertaining, educational and downright gastronomic good fun...Sitwell's flawless presentation makes this a delightful treat full of interesting if little remembered facts. Anyone with an interest in food or history will enjoy this colorful, thoroughly researched tour through time, fads and groceries."

Sandy Amazeen

A captivating romp through time punctuated with recipes

SimplyRecipes.com

What food lovers will be reading at the beach; the format delivers culture in fascinating, digestible chunks.

The Washington Post

William Sitwell has pulled off something clever: a thoroughly researched and witty history that is both compelling and teeming with scholarly facts...you don't even need to be a raging foodie to enjoy this.

The Observer

Almost every sentence of his scrupulously researched and breezily confident book oozes with a passion for eating...what it has over all its predecessors is structural as well as stylish: a pick-up-and-smile quality.

The Times

Sitwell is without doubt one of the great food writers of our day. Every serious cook should read this book at least once.

Marco Pierre White

What a splendid book: it manages to be a recipe collection, a history of cooking and, in passing, a history of the world all at once.

Tom Standage

British food writer/editor Sitwell explores shifting tastes and styles in cooking through individual dishes. The author begins in the second millennia B.C. with a bread recipe, including an ancient Egyptian wall painting to illustrate the methods involved. The early recipes are quite vague; Sitwell notes that well into the 19th century, with fine cuisine limited to aristocratic mansions, published cookbooks were generally expositions of food philosophy by male chefs who "wouldn't want [their] rivals to get hold of [their] kitchen secrets." Cooking times began to appear during the Renaissance, and it was the influential Victorian manual for anxious wives Beeton's Book of Household Management that popularized the practice of listing the ingredients separately from instructions. Mrs. Beeton's roly-poly jam pudding (1861) joins a cavalcade of quintessentially British items, including "peas soope" (1669), but Sitwell gives ample space to such revered Frenchmen as Brillat-Savarin (stuffed roast pheasant, 1825) and Escoffier (peach Melba, 1903). No-nonsense Americans like Fannie Farmer (strawberry shortcake, 1896) and The Joy of Cooking's Irma Rombauer (quick oatmeal cookies, 1931) also get their due, though Sitwell is dubious about modern shortcuts like microwaves and bagged salads. Virtually all the big names of the late-20th-century food revolution are here, from Alice Waters (plum tart, 1971) to Ferran Adrià (an extremely elaborate brioche with rose-scented mozzarella, 2008), as well as such mass-market stalwarts of the Food Network as Emeril Lagasse (pecan waffles, 1998) and Nigella Lawson (fairy cakes, 2000). Sitwell deftly inserts interesting tidbits ranging from the changes wrought by such appliances as refrigerators and gas stoves to the impact of online technology. Indeed, the recipes are basically an excuse for the history, which is fine when the history is this engaging. Good fun, though best taken in small bites; the chatty tone can be cloying in large amounts.

Kirkus Reviews