No Foreign Food or Serve It Forth

No Foreign Food: The American Diet in Time and Place (Geographies of the Imagination Series)

Author: Richard Pillsbury

No Foreign Food explores the evolution and transformation of the American diet from colonial times to the present. How and why did our bland colonial diet evolve into today's restless mélange of exotic foods? Why are Hoppin' Jon, lutefisk, and scrapple, once so important, seldom eaten today? How has the restaurant shaped our daily menus? These and hundreds of other questions are addressed in this examination of the changing American diet.Appropriately, Richard Pillsbury reviews the colonial American diet and its evolution from its Old World origins to the impact of the Industrial Revolution on food. He emphasizes the roles of transportation development and technological change, the rise of great food companies, the changing role of the food distribution system, the impact of changing immigration patterns, and the ways that cookbooks reflect and shape our foodways.The book concludes with an examination of America's contemporary cuisine. Noting current trends at home and in restaurants, Pillsbury reflects on the changing character of the new American diet, the growing nationalization and declining regionalization of what and how we eat, and a future where there is no foreign food.

Library Journal

Pillsbury (Georgia State Univ.; "From Boarding House to Bistro", Routledge, 1990) gives us an entertaining and informative look at what our food choices say about us as a society. He examines many aspects of the food industry, including restaurants, supermarkets, cookbook publishing, agriculture, and food processing. Social issues such as immigration and changes in the structure of American families are also considered. In looking at such a broad range of factors, Pillsbury provides a concise summation of many trends that affect America's food choices and offers a history of the development of various foods and food technologies. The great weakness of his work, however, is that many of his assertions are not well supported with verifiable facts and that numerous tables of consumption figures are presented without sources. Recommended for specialized food collections. Mary Martin, CAPCON Lib. Network, Washington, DC

Booknews

Provides a fascinating picture of the evolution and transformation of the American diet from colonial times to the present, focusing on regional differences, consumption changes brought about by technology, processed foods and mass markets, changing cookbooks, immigration and the American diet, the influence of restaurants on diet, and contemporary eating habits. Paper edition (unseen), $19.95. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Table of Contents:

	Photo Credits
	List of Illustrations
	Concept and Content: An Introduction	1
1	Concept: On What We Eat and What We Don't	7
2	Content: A Traditional American Diet	22
3	Stocking the Pantry: Technology and the Food Supply	52
4	Too Busy to Cook: The Coming of Prepared Foods	81
5	Marking to the Masses	99
6	Cooking by the Book	118
7	Imported Tastes: Immigration and the American Diet	136
8	Eating on the Town: Restaurants and the Diet	164
9	A Contemporary American Diet	186
10	Cuisine Regions: Concept and Content	209
11	Continuity and Transformation: Last Thoughts	234
	Select Bibliography	243
	Index	253

Read also John Barleycorn or Old Warsaw Cookbook

Serve It Forth: Cooking with Anne McCaffrey

Author: Anne McCaffrey

This unique cookbook is a collection of hundreds of recipes for dishes ranging from simple, easy-to-prepare meals to mouthwatering gourmet creations, all provided by famous science fiction and fantasy authors. Each recipe also features an entertaining anecdote or helpful hints from the author/cook. Internet tie in.

VOYA

This not-for-adults-only "spell book" of cookery serves up temptations based on work of more than eighty science fiction and fantasy authors, each with their own seductive title or attention-holding story of how the dish came to be. The practicality of the recipes (mostly inexpensive, nothing too complicated, with ingredients usually available), plus an enticing assortment of creative approaches to preparation will make the book a popular staple in adult collections. Examples: Fresh pineapple in a plastic bag with lime juice, dusted with cayenne...for the road (from a William Gibson book). Berry Crispness Cookies with dried cranberries and no flour (Poul Anderson). Some of the droll titles and instructions are value added. For diet tuna salad: "first shoot a tuna." Advice on using habaсero peppers: "if you've got big brass balls or a deathwish." About a one part plain peanut butter, two parts cream cheese and onion sandwich: "anyone who is dumb enough to try one is probably the kind of person who would like it." Whether it belongs in the YA collection depends on the teens that use the library and the community. Apprentice cooks, male and female, beginning to prepare simple meals, will find much to tweak the attention. For a main dish, they may want to try "Worm Pie" or "Starship Trooper Chili." "Night of the Living Meatloaf" could be served with "Alien Eyeballs," which are pickled grapes. Finish with Joan Vinge's "Death by Chocolate." A few recipes use alcohol or are said to be good with sherry or beer. Dean Ing has a recipe for a martini. While anyone smart enough to read science fiction will probably have no problem making the appropriate choices for food preparation, local sensitivity may warrant borrowing from adult. The only flaw is a lack of index which would group all kinds of chili together, divide main dishes from desserts, and provide a finding tool. The solution is to read with post-it notes ready. VOYA Codes: 4Q 2P S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses, For the YA with a special interest in the subject, Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).