The Food Chronology: A Food Lover's Compendium of Events and Anecdotes, from Prehistory to the Present

by James Trager

Provides a history of the evolution of food and food availability from prehistory to the present day, and covers agriculture, nutrition, retailing, and the culinary arts

Genres: Food, History, Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Reference, Food History

800 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[LAB · Rating 4 out of 5]

If the truth be told, I haven't really read The Food Chronology by James Trager (1995, Henry Holt) from cover to cover. For me this is a reference book and I search out information as I want it. But over the years since it's been on my shelf I have gone through a fair part of its 722 pages (plus a great index!). As the title implies it is a year-by-year chronology of food, including political and legal events that affected food, technological innovations in food processing, packaging and transport, impacts of religious practices on foods, restaurant faire, and lots more. It spans the years from 1 million BC to AD 1995 but really picks up the story in detail beginning about 3000 BC with foods mentioned in the epic Gilgamesh poem, a Sumerian text that reveals much about early life in Mesopotamia, and with the cultivation of potatoes by people living in the Andes Mountains of South America. This book is a lot of fun!

[Glenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Indicating you are finished with this book must be taken with care. It is full of details, facts, and figures. The author presents a great research tool as well as a tool if you are a lover of little known facts and details. Don't plan on picking it up and reading straight through. Plan on going through a little at a time. There also is a key to various topical areas that might be your guide for you.

[Christopher Gallaga · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best resources for finding out what we ate , when, how did that come about. It does not make any real deep dives, but is a succinct book of culinary facts. Sadly some of the knowledge inside as been refined since its publishing, and with Trager's death it is unlikely to be updated, which would be fantastic.

[TaraShea Nesbit · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was through this book I discovered Samuel Pepys, that debaucherous diarist of the 17th century who was often found with his hand in a new servant's cunny. One thing I love about the food chronology is how the history of foodways is gathered from such unlikely sources as diaries--I think it was Pepys' diary that was used as the source for marking when forks were likely to have been introduced in polite English society.