Food truly serves as a living window into culture, history and societal values. It’s fascinating how food culture can reflect everything from historical trends to social stratification. Food culture includes the way food is prepared, presented, eaten and shared. Food often reflects current trends in society, such as the plethora of cookbooks related to current books, movies and television shows. (Anyone ever try a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster from “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams?) Traditional recipes are often passed down for generations and reflect values and beliefs. In the Philippines, Yumburgers from Jollibee restaurants represent a taste of home and cultural pride. A region’s diet often represents the ingredients available in a particular location, such as olives from the Mediterranean. Specific dishes can also tell stories about societal history. Consider the cultural and historical changes that took lobster from a poor family’s meal to its current status as haute cuisine.
Having recently driven through the Smoky Mountains, thoughts about the immigrants who settled in the area got me started on this article. Erica Abrams Locklear delves into how food perceptions can perpetuate stereotypes and social stigmas. “Appalachia on the Table” is not a recipe book, but an important cultural study, shedding light on how certain foods associated with specific regions can influence societal views and treatment of people from those areas. Locklear writes, “Food deemed inferior implies inferior people.”
“Midwestern Food” by Paul Fehribach is more than just a cookbook — the recipes are great, but stay for the Midwest history that comes alive in the author’s discussions of various ethnic groups, including Indigenous peoples and European immigrants, whose contributions and struggles tell the backstory of local foodways and cuisine. The author’s anecdotes, storytelling and solid research provide entertaining insights into our region’s food cultures.
Named as one of the best food books of the year in 2019 by the New Yorker, the Smithsonian and the Boston Globe, to name a few, “You and I Eat the Same” by René Redzepi is a collection of essays about global food practices, how they bridge cultural divides and how they intersect and bring us together. The first essay, for instance, makes the point that most cultures traditionally wrap meat in some form of dough, including everything from flatbread to tortillas, frybread to tandoori roti, and even dumplings. Another essay focuses on how the crafting of milk and cheese brought together a Mennonite and Mexican community, fostering understanding and unity. Each essay shows the commonalities between regions and countries through food.
There are several books that show how the pursuit of salt among other foods was one of the goals that directed the spread of British colonization. These include “Salt: A World History” by Mark Kurlansky, “The Taste of Empire: How Britain’s Quest for Food Shaped the Modern World” by E.M. Collingham and “Taste: The Story of Britain Through Its Cooking” by Kate Colquhoun. Salt’s role in shaping human history is a testament to how seemingly basic resources can have far-reaching consequences. During the era of British colonization, the quest for salt and other resources often drove imperial ambitions. Salt became so valuable that it served as currency, established trade routes and cities, provoked and financed wars and inspired revolutions.
“Ten Tomatoes That Changed the World: A History” offers historical photos, illustrations and stories of the intriguing journey of the tomato from obscurity to global prominence, from American ketchup to Indian tikka masala. Author William Alexander emphasizes that it wasn’t always an easy road for the humble fruit. It’s hard to imagine that Italy ignored this fruit for 300 years. Legend has it that American Col. Robert Johnson ate an entire bucket in the late 19th century to prove they weren’t poisonous. Yet, by the 2000s schools were designating ketchup as a vegetable.
Lastly, we have to mention Anthony Bourdain’s classic, “No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach.” Bourdain takes us along with him on his journey learning about culture, history and people through food adventures. Bourdain includes photos, vignettes and food culture from his travels. If you’re a “foodie” and like history, many of these books should interest you as well as the ones on this list.
