Near a Thousand Tables

A History of Food

Felipe Fernandez-Armesto

• Publisher: Free Press
• Year: 2002
• ISBN:
  9780743234153
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Culinary Arts

In Near a Thousand Tables, acclaimed food historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto tells the fascinating story of food as cultural as well as culinary history -- a window on the history of mankind.
In this "appetizingly provocative" (Los Angeles Times) book, he guides readers through the eight great revolutions in the world history of food: the origins of cooking, which set humankind on a course apart from other species; the ritualization of eating, which brought magic and meaning into people's relationship with what they ate; the inception of herding and the invention of agriculture, perhaps the two greatest revolutions of all; the rise of inequality, which led to the development of haute cuisine; the long-range trade in food which, practically alone, broke down cultural barriers; the ecological exchanges, which revolutionized the global distribution of plants and livestock; and, finally, the industrialization and globalization of mass-produced food.
From prehistoric snail "herding" to Roman banquets to Big Macs to genetically modified tomatoes, Near a Thousand Tables is a full-course meal of extraordinary narrative, brilliant insight, and fascinating explorations that will satisfy the hungriest of readers.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• ONE The Invention of Cooking
• TWO The Meaning of Eating
• THREE Breeding to Eat
• FOUR The Edible Earth
• FIVE Food and Rank
• SIX The Edible Horizon
• SEVEN Challenging Evolution
• EIGHT Feeding the Giants
• Notes
• Index
• ABOUT THE AUTHOR