Consuming Passions: A History of English Food and Appetite

by Philippa Pullar

What have the ancient Romans with their orgies, the primitive Christians with their fasts and their guilt to do with the English traditions of food? Why are oysters and celery believed to be aphrodisiacs? How is eating connected to sexual desire? In this history of the English appetite, Philippa Pullar answers these questions in an amusing manner. She draws such apparently unconnected subjects as phallic worship, cannibalism, agriculture, wet-nursing, prostitution, witchcraft, magic and aphrodisiacs into a fascinating synthesis. Starting with the Romans, she charts the development of the art of cooking, drawing surprising parallels between eating habits, religion and sexual mores. She guides us through the kitchens and dining rooms of such noted gourmets as Heliogabalus, Vittelius, Dr. Johnson and Sydney Smith, into the pubs of Pepys and Lord Rochester and into the bedrooms with Frank Harris. Finally she illustrates her theme by providing recipes for long-forgotten dishes.

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, History, Food and Drink, Cooking

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 7, 1971

Reviews

[Zanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pullar traces the origins of English food to the time of Roman rule, swooping through the weird middle ages to modern times. I was astonished by this book and most of its material was almost completely new to me. I had no idea of the importance of the French influence on our cuisine, and it was fun to learn about the unlikely-sounding combinations - such as fish and figs - that people enjoyed in the past.

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should have trusted the reviews (and the low-for-Goodreads rating).

It started well in that she has a lively authorial voice, and I thought I was in for a treat, but she's like that dinner guest who just won't shut up and turns every topic into a chance for her to regale you with the delights of her last vacation.

The first chapter is an offputting description of Roman sexual habits (among other things) which I imagine are largely inaccurate (as if reporting on The Enquirer's take on Donald Trump's lifestyle would give a good account of how most North Americans live today).

It's not what I was hoping for (which is almost always something like M.F.K. Fisher writes a food history book, which sadly didn't happen), and so off-topic (Belgian slaves are tall but assymetrical?) that I've set it aside and moved on to greener reading pastures.

(5* = amazing, terrific book, one of my all-time favourites, 4* = very good book, 3* = good book, but nothing to particularly rave about, 2* = disappointing book, and 1* = awful, just awful. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)

[Danielle Wagstaff · Rating 2 out of 5]

The information in this book is SO interesting, so it's a shame it's so poorly written. Filled with anecdotal information that at time seems completely irrelevant to the story, with only some semblance of a coherent structure. If this book was more methodical and clearly intertwined it would be less cumbersome to read and thus be a much more enjoyable recount of the history of food. Too bad it's not, and so what would otherwise be an enjoyable read is only saved by a fascinating wealth of information.

[Wealhtheow · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pullar tries to provide a history of English food. I was torn between delight at Pullar's purple prose and horror at her lack of historical rigor.

[Adam Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Far from being "A History of English Food and Appetite," this seemed to be more of a rambling, sprawling potage of historical anecdotes. At points amusing and/or interesting, but often tedious.

[False · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredibly well researched book, published in 1970, on the history of food throughout British history. The chapters are:

Roman Spring
Orgiastic Celebration and Holy Emaciation
Where Are the Joys of the Hall?
Medieval Summer
The British Oak of Cooking
Corporate Greed
A New Desire Enclosed
Tarmac Winter
The Stuff of Dreams

Within each category are covered: from poetry dinners to wanton junkerings, man eating men, new avenues of satisfaction, spices, strong words and beer for breakfast and houses of buxomness and peace. The misfortune of fortunate people, buttocks of beerf, stomachs, mass evacuations, the last of the sows' udders, entre deux guerres, fuel not food and death in the pot.

This is one of those books where if you enjoy following the history of food through cookbooks is a "must" read as part of your education.

[Stephen Brody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Far from scholarly, only partly what the title claims, rather scattily written with a lot of anecdotes gleaned from anyone at all over the past two thousand years and no doubt an accurate reflection of what was by all accounts the slightly mad-cap and impulsive personna of the author, this is still a highly entertaining and at times informative read from which might be understood that if humanity has made any progress it's at the expense of individual pleasure, wit and joie-de-vivre. From a dank and barbaric far-outpost of the Roman Empire, England became a beautiful land of green plenty and then a country of unprecedented petty snobbery, greed and envious misery, turning eventually into a mere factory. This of course is history simplified, but perhaps it's true not only as Brillat-Savarin said that we are what we eat, but also how we eat.

[Justin Cormack · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you dont get the rare first edition of this with the dust jacket with the allegedly supressed phallic bread on the back you will be missing out, and have to merely put up with a well written history of English food.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think others have described this book sufficiently, so suffice to say that for anyone interested in the history of food it's a must have.

[Spurnlad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oustanding history of food in Britain etc.

A classic.