The Oxford Companion to Food

Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 1999. First Edition / second printing. Hardcover. Near Fine book in a Near Fine jacket. Unmarked. Spine straight and tight. Jacket clean and bright. Light edgewear, no tears. Not from a library. No remainder mark. Not clipped. 912 pages. 10.9 x 2 x 9.1 inches. 6.8 pounds. Heavy item: extra charges for expedited or international shipping.

The magnum opus on the history and use of food. 2650 delightfully written A-Z entries--including 39 feature articles on staple foods, with additional articles by specialists from around the globe. The coverage is spectacular, with the most wide-ranging treatment ever of foods and food products and how to use them. The Companion covers everything--plant products, meats, birds and eggs, dairy products, nuts, fish and all seafoods, plant foods, cereals, and exotic foods. Davidson examines famous dishes from around the world--from cassoulet, croque-monsieur, and couscous, to spam, sherbet, and sonofabitch stew. There are over 140 entries on national and regional cuisines (Cajun cooking, Pennsylvania Dutch). Even Antarctica is included in this unique panorama. Other subjects covered in depth include food preservation, culinary terms and techniques, food science and diet, cookbooks and their authors, and the role of food in culture and religion. The book is enhanced by some 180 exquisite illustrations of foods ranging from the comfortingly familiar to the bizarre and rare. In fact, the common and the exotic mingle throughout, with the everyday (apples, apricots) and the exotic (akee, ambarella, baobab) found side by side.
Here then is a true cornucopia, offering all the flavors, styles, and staples of the world, past and present, from classical Greek and Roman cookery to modern Australian and Hawaiian cuisines. Food historians, food scientists, food writers, chefs, restaurateurs, amateur cooks, and everyone with a serious interest in cooking--and eating--will feast on this authoritative reference on food.