Since Eve Ate Apples Much Depends on Dinner: The Extraordinary History and Mythology, Allure and Obsessions, Perils and Taboos of an Ordinary MeaA “funny and fascinating” cultural history about one of our favorite pastimes: eating (The Village Voice). This is a delightful and intelligent look at the food we eat, with a cornucopia of incredible details about the ways we do it. Presented like a meal, each chapter of Since Eve Ate Apples Much Depends on Dinner represents a different course or garnish, which Margaret Visser handpicks from the most ordinary American dinner: among them corn on the cob with butter and salt, roast chicken with rice, salad dressed in lemon juice and olive oil, and ice cream. Visser tells the story behind each of these foods and in the course of her inquiries reveals some unexpected treats: the history of Corn Flakes; the secret behind the more dissatisfactory California olives (they’re picked green, chemically blackened, and sterilized); and the fact that, in Africa, citrus fruits are eaten whole, rind and all. For food lovers of all kinds, unexpectedly entertaining book is a treasure of information from the author of the New York Times Notable Book The Rituals of Dinner. “Rich in surprising facts, unexpected connections, and a well-documented outrage at what modern technology and agribusiness have done to purity and quality . . . A remarkable amount of information [presented] seamlessly and entertainingly.” —Library Journal |
From inside the book
Page 17
... American ) tradition with roasts is still to bring in the whole bird or ... North Americans in particular tend to classify " left - overs " with garbage ... America : the desire to be clean and clear . It is a relatively modern taste ...
... American ) tradition with roasts is still to bring in the whole bird or ... North Americans in particular tend to classify " left - overs " with garbage ... America : the desire to be clean and clear . It is a relatively modern taste ...
Page 24
... North Americans eat only one - tenth of the corn their countries produce ... America- and even very possibly if you do not- the house you live in and the ... North Americans . They turned their problem - solving attention to the most ...
... North Americans eat only one - tenth of the corn their countries produce ... America- and even very possibly if you do not- the house you live in and the ... North Americans . They turned their problem - solving attention to the most ...
Page 25
... American temperament would have created its lifestyle out of something else if corn had not existed : out of rice perhaps ... North America contain within themselves one of the acutest dangers we face : a peril diabolically wedded to our ...
... American temperament would have created its lifestyle out of something else if corn had not existed : out of rice perhaps ... North America contain within themselves one of the acutest dangers we face : a peril diabolically wedded to our ...
Page 27
... America , where it is still prized for the ease with which it may be ground by hand . The corn - grinding metate ... North American Indian bands kept stocks of kernels under earth - mounds for the winters and times of war , and these fed ...
... America , where it is still prized for the ease with which it may be ground by hand . The corn - grinding metate ... North American Indian bands kept stocks of kernels under earth - mounds for the winters and times of war , and these fed ...
Page 31
... North America before the Europeans came ; all land - clearance and mound - making was done by hand , with the help of axes and sticks , and with hoes whose blades and points were made of wood , sea - shells , antlers , and the shoulder ...
... North America before the Europeans came ; all land - clearance and mound - making was done by hand , with the help of axes and sticks , and with hoes whose blades and points were made of wood , sea - shells , antlers , and the shoulder ...
Common terms and phrases
acid Africa American ancient animals anointed become began birds brine butter called cent centimetres century chemical chicken cholesterol churn citrus fruit cobs cock cockfighting cold colour cooking corn corn flakes countries crops cultivated culture diet dinner drink earth eaten eggs especially Europe European factory farming farmers farming feed fertilizers fish flavour fowl French gourmet grain Greek green Green Revolution grow grown Häagen-Dazs harvest heat huge human hybrid ice cream ice-cream Indians industry irradiation Italian jungle fowl keep kernels kilograms lemon juice lettuce live machine maize margarine meal means meat Mediterranean method milk modern North America olive oil olive tree onions orange paddies plant poultry Press produce rancid rice rich Romans salad salt saturated fats scientists scurvy seed skin soil sold starch sugar sweet symbol taste technological thought thousand traditional vegetables vitamin word yellow