The Oxford companion to food

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Title:

The Oxford companion to food

Author:

Davidson, Alan, 1924-2003.

ISBN:

9780192806819

Edition:

2nd ed.

Publication Information:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2006.

Physical Description:

xxviii, 907 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 29 cm.

General Note:

Previous ed.: 1999.

Contents:

Alan Davidson: a tribute -- Preface to the second edition -- Acknowledgments for the second edition -- Introduction -- Contributors -- Subject index -- Notes on using this book -- Oxford companion to food A-Z -- Maps -- Bibliography -- Index -- Picture acknowledgments.

Subject Term:

Food -- Encyclopedias.

Cooking -- Encyclopedias.

Food habits -- Encyclopedias.

Added Author:

Jaine, Tom

Summary:

From the Publisher: Twenty years in the making, the first edition of Alan Davidson's magnum opus appeared in 1999 to worldwide acclaim. Its combination of serious food history, culinary expertise, and entertaining serendipity was recognized as utterly unique. Including both an exhaustive catalogue of the foods that nourish humankind-fruit from tropical forests, mosses scraped from adamantine granite in Siberian wastes, or ears, eyeballs and testicles from a menagerie of animals-and a richly allusive commentary on the culture of food, whether expressed in literature and cookbooks, or as dishes peculiar to a country or community, the Oxford Companion to Food immediately found distinction. The study of food and food history was a new discipline at the time, but one that has developed exponentially in the years since. There are now university departments, international societies, and academic journals, in addition to a wide range of popular literature exploring the meaning of food in the daily lives of people around the world. Alan Davidson famously wrote eighty percent of the first edition, which was praised for its wit as well as its wisdom. Tom Jaine, the editor of the second edition, worked closely with Jane Davidson and Helen Saberi to ensure that new contributions continue in the same style. The result is an expanded volume that remains faithful to Davidson's peerless work. The text has been updated where necessary to keep pace with a rapidly changing subject, and Jaine assiduously alerts readers to new avenues in food studies. Agriculture; archaeology; food in art, film, literature, and music; globalization; neuroanatomy; and the Silk Road are covered for the first time, and absorbing new articles on confetti; cutlery; doggy bags; elephant; myrrh; and potluck have also found their way into the Companion.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	R 641.3003 DAV	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

The Oxford Companion to Food by Alan Davidson, first published in 1999, became, almost overnight, an immense success, winning prizes and accolades around the world. Its combination of serious food history, culinary expertise, and entertaining serendipity, with each page offering an infinity of perspectives, was recognized as unique. The study of food and food history is a new discipline, but one that has developed exponentially in the last twenty years. There are now university departments, international societies, learned journals, and a wide-ranging literature exploring the meaning of food in the daily lives of people around the world, and seeking to introduce food and the process of nourishment into our understanding of almost every compartment of human life, whether politics, high culture, street life, agriculture, or life and death issues such as conflict and war. The great quality of this Companion is the way it includes both an exhaustive catalogue of the foods that nourish humankind - whether they be fruit from tropical forests, mosses scraped from adamantine granite in Siberian wastes, or body parts such as eyeballs and testicles - and a richly allusive commentary on the culture of food, whether expressed in literature and cookery books, or as dishes peculiar to a country or community. The new edition has not sought to dim the brilliance of Davidson's prose. Rather, it has updated to keep ahead of a fast-moving area, and has taken the opportunity to alert readers to new avenues in food studies.

Author Notes

AUTHORAlan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic serivice - after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador - to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are North Atlantic Seafood and Mediterrranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture. EDITOR Tom Jaine is an independent writer and publisher, specializing in food and food history. He is the author of numerous books, including Cooking in the Country, Making Bread at Home, and Traditional Country House Cooking. He frequently writes for The Times, The Guardian, the Sunday Telegraph, the Evening Standard, and many magazines and journals. He was editor of The Good Food Guide from 1989 to 1994, has presented 'The Food Programme' on Radio 4, and has participated in discussions of food on radio and television. CONSULTANT EDITORJane Davidson underpinned the author, her husband, during the twenty years he devoted to the first edition of this book. She was also translated and edited Dumas on Food with him. She was a founding partner of Petits Propos Culinaire, the innovative journal on food history, writing many of the book reviews, and a director of Prospect Books Ltd. She is trustee of the Sophie Coe Memorial Trust, and patron of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery. RESEARCH DIRECTORHelen Saberi was Alan Davidson's personal assistant, and worked very closely with him on the first edition of the Companion, as contributor, researcher, fact-checker, and proofreader. She is the author of Noshe Djan: Afghan Food and Cookery, and co-author with Alan Davidson of Trifle.

Reviews (3)

Booklist Review

This update to the 2005 edition replicates the authoritative, comprehensive nature of the original editions while adding a wealth of new food-related information. More than 250 entries (out of 3,000) have been updated with new research, and 43 entries have been added, including Local food, Foraging, Leftovers, Obesity, and Henri Nestlé. There is a subject index at the beginning of the work and an extensive bibliography at the close. Over 200 line drawings are included. This dense, venerable resource remains highly recommended for food collections in libraries of all types and is a must-read for any foodie. Libraries with older editions should absolutely consider updating with this revision.--Vnuk, Rebecca Copyright 2015 Booklist

Choice Review

This third edition comes 15 years after the first was published (CH, May'00, 37-4812). Both it and the second edition (2006) were compiled after Davidson's death. Due to the extent that each of these subsequent editions have strived to remain true to the original, there have been few substantive changes. An obvious cosmetic change is color. The second edition was done in a green theme (highlighting, etc.), the latest edition in orange. There also appear to be many more cross-references. Besides making the work that much more accessible to readers, this obviates the cross-reference index in the previous two editions. The original book was incredibly comprehensive (as evidenced by its 892 pages and the 20 years it took to produce). Writer/publisher Jaine added 72 new entries to the second edition and 43 more to the third. Further, Jaine states that he updated 250 of the original entries. In a book of this size, however, that indicates the vast majority remain the same. This makes it a valuable purchase for libraries or individuals that do not own the previous versions, but not an essential one for other audiences. Overall, the differences seem relatively slight. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Libraries that do not own earlier editions; all levels. --Susan Hurst, Miami University

Library Journal Review

From particular things to eat to cuisine, techniques, and ingredients, this tome delivers everything food. Most ingredient entries are organized by common rather than scientific names. The bibliography is quite extensive, and well researched. The space is given to text and research, with only a few diagrams and drawings of possibly lesser-known ingredients, such as kohlrabi (cabbage). Entries covering items that include the biscuit and biscuit varieties demonstrate not only the depth but also the British bias of the text. While it is noted that there is a difference in biscuit styles between the United States and Great Britain, the emphasis of the articles is on the British biscuit. This is evidenced again with coverage of corn (a cereal grain) and maize as with other variants in the languages throughout the material. VERDICT Illustrating a level of reference detail not common in food and food-related works, this title will appeal to the foodie, home cook, food lover, chef, food researcher, and hungry person. While overall it is comprehensive and thorough, the British bias may detract from the appeal to an American audience.-Dawn Lowe-Wincentsen, Oregon Inst. of Technology, Portland (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A TributeAlan Davidson

Preface to the Second EditionTom Jaine

IntroductionTom Jaine

ContributorsAlan Davidson

Subject Index

Notes on Using this Book

The Oxford Companion to Food A-Z Maps of Food Migrations

Bibliography

Index

Acknowledgements

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (3)

Booklist Review

Choice Review

Library Journal Review

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