Borrow it
Coverart for item
The Resource American cuisine : and how it got this way, Paul Freedman

American cuisine : and how it got this way, Paul Freedman

Creator
Author
Summary
"With an ambitious sweep over two hundred years, Paul Freedman's lavishly illustrated history shows that there actually is an American cuisine. For centuries, skeptical foreigners-and even millions of Americans-have believed there was no such thing as American cuisine. In recent decades, hamburgers, hot dogs, and pizza have been thought to define the nation's palate. Not so, says food historian Paul Freedman, who demonstrates that there is an exuberant and diverse, if not always coherent, American cuisine that reflects the history of the nation itself. Combining historical rigor and culinary passion, Freedman underscores three recurrent themes-regionality, standardization, and variety-that shape a completely novel history of the United States. From the colonial period until after the Civil War, there was a patchwork of regional cooking styles that produced local standouts, such as gumbo from southern Louisiana, or clam chowder from New England. Later, this kind of regional identity was manipulated for historical effect, as in Southern cookbooks that mythologized gracious "plantation hospitality," rendering invisible the African Americans who originated much of the region's food. As the industrial revolution produced rapid changes in every sphere of life, the American palate dramatically shifted from local to processed. A new urban class clamored for convenient, modern meals and the freshness of regional cuisine disappeared, replaced by packaged and standardized products-such as canned peas, baloney, sliced white bread, and jarred baby food. By the early twentieth century, the era of homogenized American food was in full swing. Bolstered by nutrition "experts," marketing consultants, and advertising executives, food companies convinced consumers that industrial food tasted fine and, more importantly, was convenient and nutritious. No group was more susceptible to the blandishments of advertisers than women, who were made feel that their husbands might stray if not satisfied with the meals provided at home. On the other hand, men wanted women to be svelte, sporty companions, not kitchen drudges. The solution companies offered was time-saving recipes using modern processed helpers. Men supposedly liked hearty food, while women were portrayed as fond of fussy, "dainty," colorful, but tasteless dishes-tuna salad sandwiches, multicolored Jell-O, or artificial crab toppings. The 1970s saw the zenith of processed-food hegemony, but also the beginning of a food revolution in California. What became known as New American cuisine rejected the blandness of standardized food in favor of the actual taste and pleasure that seasonal, locally grown products provided. The result was a farm-to-table trend that continues to dominate. "A book to be savored" (Stephen Aron), American Cuisine is also a repository of anecdotes that will delight food lovers: how dry cereal was created by William Kellogg for people with digestive and low-energy problems; that chicken Parmesan, the beloved Italian favorite, is actually an American invention; and that Florida Key lime pie goes back only to the 1940s and was based on a recipe developed by Borden's condensed milk. More emphatically, Freedman shows that American cuisine would be nowhere without the constant influx of immigrants, who have popularized everything from tacos to sushi rolls"--
Language
eng
Work
Instance
Label
American cuisine : and how it got this way
Title
American cuisine
Title remainder
and how it got this way
Statement of responsibility
Paul Freedman
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"With an ambitious sweep over two hundred years, Paul Freedman's lavishly illustrated history shows that there actually is an American cuisine. For centuries, skeptical foreigners-and even millions of Americans-have believed there was no such thing as American cuisine. In recent decades, hamburgers, hot dogs, and pizza have been thought to define the nation's palate. Not so, says food historian Paul Freedman, who demonstrates that there is an exuberant and diverse, if not always coherent, American cuisine that reflects the history of the nation itself. Combining historical rigor and culinary passion, Freedman underscores three recurrent themes-regionality, standardization, and variety-that shape a completely novel history of the United States. From the colonial period until after the Civil War, there was a patchwork of regional cooking styles that produced local standouts, such as gumbo from southern Louisiana, or clam chowder from New England. Later, this kind of regional identity was manipulated for historical effect, as in Southern cookbooks that mythologized gracious "plantation hospitality," rendering invisible the African Americans who originated much of the region's food. As the industrial revolution produced rapid changes in every sphere of life, the American palate dramatically shifted from local to processed. A new urban class clamored for convenient, modern meals and the freshness of regional cuisine disappeared, replaced by packaged and standardized products-such as canned peas, baloney, sliced white bread, and jarred baby food. By the early twentieth century, the era of homogenized American food was in full swing. Bolstered by nutrition "experts," marketing consultants, and advertising executives, food companies convinced consumers that industrial food tasted fine and, more importantly, was convenient and nutritious. No group was more susceptible to the blandishments of advertisers than women, who were made feel that their husbands might stray if not satisfied with the meals provided at home. On the other hand, men wanted women to be svelte, sporty companions, not kitchen drudges. The solution companies offered was time-saving recipes using modern processed helpers. Men supposedly liked hearty food, while women were portrayed as fond of fussy, "dainty," colorful, but tasteless dishes-tuna salad sandwiches, multicolored Jell-O, or artificial crab toppings. The 1970s saw the zenith of processed-food hegemony, but also the beginning of a food revolution in California. What became known as New American cuisine rejected the blandness of standardized food in favor of the actual taste and pleasure that seasonal, locally grown products provided. The result was a farm-to-table trend that continues to dominate. "A book to be savored" (Stephen Aron), American Cuisine is also a repository of anecdotes that will delight food lovers: how dry cereal was created by William Kellogg for people with digestive and low-energy problems; that chicken Parmesan, the beloved Italian favorite, is actually an American invention; and that Florida Key lime pie goes back only to the 1940s and was based on a recipe developed by Borden's condensed milk. More emphatically, Freedman shows that American cuisine would be nowhere without the constant influx of immigrants, who have popularized everything from tacos to sushi rolls"--
Assigning source
Provided by publisher
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1949-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Freedman, Paul
Dewey number
641.5973
Illustrations
illustrations
Index
index present
LC call number
TX715
LC item number
.F8626 2019
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Cooking, American
  • Cooking, American
Label
American cuisine : and how it got this way, Paul Freedman
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 415-429) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
  • text
  • still image
Content type code
  • txt
  • sti
Content type MARC source
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
Dimensions
25 cm
Edition
First edition.
Extent
xxvi, 451 pages
Isbn
9781631494628
Lccn
2019029642
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations (chiefly color)
System control number
  • on1084415932
  • (OCoLC)1084415932
  • 1010626
Label
American cuisine : and how it got this way, Paul Freedman
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 415-429) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
  • text
  • still image
Content type code
  • txt
  • sti
Content type MARC source
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
Dimensions
25 cm
Edition
First edition.
Extent
xxvi, 451 pages
Isbn
9781631494628
Lccn
2019029642
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations (chiefly color)
System control number
  • on1084415932
  • (OCoLC)1084415932
  • 1010626

Subject

Genre

Library Locations

    • Des Moines Public Library Franklin AvenueBorrow it
      5000 Franklin Avenue, Des Moines, IA, 50310, US
      41.61090195 -93.68839790996259
    • Des Moines Public Library South SideBorrow it
      1111 Porter Avenue, Des Moines, IA, 50315, US
      41.535067749999996 -93.62965957439553

Library Links

Structured data from the Bibframe namespace is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Des Moines Public Library. Additional terms may apply to data associated with third party namespaces.
Processing Feedback ...