Category: Food

September 19, 2023

Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins *** (of 4)

An ambitious book that centers the Owen’s Valley in California, the valley’s desertification following rerouting all of the valley’s water to Los Angeles, and the placement of the Japanese internment camp, Manzanar, in the midst of the dusty, isolated desert. A lone holdout rancher, Rocky Rhodes, refuses to cooperate with the water boys from LA. […]

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July 3, 2023

Taste: My Life Through Food *** (of 4)

Beginning with his childhood in the 1960s suburbs of New York City and continuing through the pandemic, Tucci traces his own growth as an eater,...

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April 21, 2023

The Devil’s Element by Dan Egan *** (of 4)

Kudos to Egan for calling out the devil’s bargain humanity has made with a single element: phosphorus. On one side of the equation, phosphorus is...

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March 23, 2022

The Secret Life of Groceries by Benjamin Lorr **** (of 4)

At some level all of us who shop for food know that canned tomatoes don’t really grow in cans and that frozen shrimp don’t really...

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September 7, 2017

The Cooking Gene by Michael Twitty ** (of 4)

It is a great idea for research that is long overdue. Michael Twitty explores the role of enslaved Africans in shaping American foodways. Think about...

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August 30, 2016

Kosher USA by Roger Horowitz *** (of 4)

How does a food receive kosher approval? For some items, like the prohibition of pork, the Torah is comparatively clear. But what about a more...

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January 29, 2016

The Town that Food Saved by Ben Hewitt ** (of 4)

Hardwick was a down and out village in rural Vermont. Unemployment was high, farmers were struggling, and main street was worn out. As if almost...

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January 25, 2015

52 Loaves by William Alexander *** (of 4)

52 Loaves is one of those memoirs where a guy sets out to do something a little ridiculous, bumbles along, has silly adventures, and learns...

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August 13, 2012

1493 by Charles Mann *** (of 4)

Prior to Columbus’s blundering into the Caribbean, there was negligible interchange of plants, animals, or humans between continents. Shortly thereafter the onset of large-scale globalization...

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July 26, 2010

97 Orchard by Jane Ziegelman ** (of 4)

It’s an interesting thesis. Jane Ziegelman, a food historian working at the Tenement Museum traces the food history of five immigrant families that settled on...

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