Check It Out

A History of Food in 100 Recipes
by William Sitwell.
Little, Brown, 2013
Call Number: New Books TX 645 .S47 2013
Books in the stacks may be checked out for four weeks with your SWC photo ID card.

Review by Rebecca Seal, published in The Observer on April 21st, 2012:

"In less steady hands, this book might have been a disaster. It's a bold move to try to explain the entire evolution of food via 100 dishes, and the result could easily have been dull and academic or overambitious and patchy. 

But William Sitwell has pulled off something clever: a thoroughly researched and witty history that is both compelling and teeming with scholarly facts. Each short chapter begins with a recipe, but don't mistake this for a cookery book. 

These are not recipes you will want – or even be able – to make. They include ancient Egyptian bread, Aztec hot chocolate and Roman sauces for flamingo, right up to Heston Blumenthal's Tudor-inspired "meat fruit" dish. Sitwell – who is editor of Waitrose Food Illustrated – then fills in the fascinating back story for each one. Because it's as much a socio-cultural history as a culinary one, you don't even need to be a raging foodie to enjoy this."