What We Eat: A Global History of Food

Historians Singaravélou (Tianjin Cosmopolis) and Venayre present 88 brief and illuminating pieces that explore the evolution of foods ranging from baguettes to yak butter. For example, historian Pauline Peretz discusses how bagels gained popularity in Jewish communities in 17th-century Poland, crossed the Atlantic with immigrants in the 1890s, and—fueled by the 1970s’ increased “acceptance of culinary diversity”—eventually found their way into grocery store aisles. Elsewhere, historian Pierre Journoud explores how pho, a Vietnamese soup, traveled around the globe after the country fell under Communist rule and wartime refugees scattered to the U.S. and other parts of the world. The most intriguing entries investigate how food’s cultural associations can shift in unexpected and radical ways. For instance, historian and biographer Miranda Spieler traces how barbecue evolved in North America from Indigenous practice to centerpiece of colonial gatherings to “symbol of male middle-­class sociability.” Using food as a lens through which to draw out the economic, cultural, and social changes wrought by globalization, contributors highlight both what’s lost when foods are stripped of their cultural specificity and how cultural exchange can produce creative and beneficial results. Readers will want to dig in. (July)