Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This Dartmouth Medal-winning 3-volume set presents 600 articles on food and its place in human culture and society, covering everything from agronomy to zucchini. Students, academics and general researchers will find entries on everything from food preparation, distribution and storage to holidays and festivals, nutrition and health, and cultures and cuisines. The Encyclopedias multidisciplinary articles -- including: Comfort Food, Ethnicity and Food, Medieval Banquets and Nutrient Composition -- range from 250 to 10, 000 words each and are supplemented by 450 photographs and illustrations, sidebars, recipes, menus, timelines and a comprehensive index.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

The role of food in different cultures "throughout time and in all parts of the world" is explored in this exceptional new three-volume culinary reference, edited by a leading expert on the anthropology of food at the University of Pennsylvania. Contributors include food specialists, anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, economists, and critics, who provide 600 signed articles covering topics such as individual staple foods; the preparation, distribution, and storage of various foods; the role of food in different holidays and festivals; nutrition and food science; food symbolism and its use in various arts; national cuisines; and biographies of influential individuals in food history. Entries range in length from one page to 20 or more, and each includes a bibliography of additional sources. The set features 550 black-and-white photographs and illustrations, with separate eight-page inserts of color illustrations in each volume. There is some overlap between this encyclopedia and The Cambridge World History of Food. For example, both provide information on culinary subjects such as tomatoes and wheat and food in different countries such as Russia or China, but even when the same topic is covered, such as potatoes, the details and the information offered by these two sources can vary enough that most comprehensive collections will want both titles. Public libraries especially will find Encyclopedia of Food and Culture valuable since it does cover a broader range of culinary subjects and its alphabetic arrangement of entries is easier to use than the chapter structure of The Cambridge World History of Food. For information on narrower culinary topics like madia or ragout, libraries will still need The Oxford Companion to Food, and for actual recipes and practical cooking details no culinary reference work equals Larousse Gastronomique. For academic libraries, large public libraries, or any library with a demand for culinary information, this set is highly recommended.-John Charles, Scottsdale P.L., AZ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Another of Scribner's high quality topical encyclopedias, this source (according to the introduction) is "an authoritative survey of the history, production, preparation, science and culture of food from prehistory to the present day." It supplies 725 articles by more than 300 contributors, ranging from anthropologists, food critics, and folklorists to historians and archaeologists. The table of contents is organized alphabetically by 27 topics that include staple foods, food consumption, regions and culture, diet, religion, feasts and festivals, and biographies. Each includes subtopics such as apples, snacks, Cajun cooking, weddings, dietary guidelines, food in the Bible, and Clarence Birdseye. The "Systematic Outline of Contents" again lists the 27 topics. Article lengths range from brief descriptions of a topic to essays several pages long. Most entries have bibliographies, which may be as long as a page; most have see also references. There are 200 maps, 800 black-and-white photographs, and in each volume, an eight-page color photo spread. Throughout the volumes are sidebars, time lines, tables, menus, and recipes. One can find, e.g., the importance of cassava, a recipe for muggety pie, the relationship of food to prehistoric societies, a list of popular snacks with their origin, and how to eat the foul smelling durian. An extensive index may be more useful than the table of contents to locate particular foods or cultures. Well researched and well written. Summing Up: Essential. All collections. S. Marien American University

Booklist Review

The Journal of Social History0 recently published "Review Essay: Food and History" (fall 2002) by John C. Super. The author highlighted two significant resources in the study of food, The Cambridge World History of Food\b \b00 (2000) and The Oxford Companion to Food0 (1999). The Encyclopedia of Food and Culture0 should certainly be an addition to future essays. Edited by an anthropologist with assistance from a culinary historian, this new set complements the Oxford and Cambridge offerings. As the title implies, the encyclopedia discusses food in its relation to society. The 600 articles, arranged alphabetically, cover everything from the significance of Betty Crocker to bioactive food components. Chronological scope encompasses the Paleolithic origins of hunting and current trends such as comfort food and fusion cuisine. Length of the signed articles ranges from less than a page for most biographies (Birdseye, Clarence; Escoffier, Georges-Auguste0 ) to more than 10 pages for Dairy products 0 and Sensation and the senses.0 Some topics, among them Beer,0 France,0 and Fruit,0 are examined in series of subentries. See also0 references and current bibliographies are at the end of each entry, with some bibliographies containing Web sites. Interspersed throughout the text are boxes and sidebars on subjects such as genetically modified organisms, a controversial topic that is treated impartially. A box adjacent to the entry on Julia Child provides three quotations by Child. The best one is this advice: "No matter what happens in the kitchen, never apologize." The volumes also include tables with statistical information; for example, production, imports, and exports of butter by country. In addition to the set's 550 black-and-white photos and 50 maps, each volume has a section of color plates, an eclectic mix illustrating relationships between culture and food. A plate in volume 1 offers a detail of a Spanish still-life painting containing biscuits, a page from a Belgium biscuit catalog, and a photograph of a bread vendor in Central Asia. Interesting textual links between culture and food include a discussion of the problem of litter in the U.S. because of fast-food restaurants and the elevation of the chef, making "going to restaurants a combination of high theater and spectator sport." The contributors are listed in the appendix with affiliation and the articles they wrote. They include a number of U.S. academics but also Alan Davidson, the editor of The Oxford Companion to Food;0 the famous Paris bread baker, Lionel Poilane, who died last fall; Chef Fritz Blank of Deux Cheminees in Philadelphia; and cookbook author Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz. The appendix also has "Dietary Reference Intakes" and a "Systematic Outline of Contents," which is a good finding tool. The index is comprehensive, indexing minor names such as Marjorie Hendrick and the Watergate Inn, which are mentioned in the entry United States: Middle Atlantic. 0 Criticisms are few. A general bibliography would have been useful because sometimes books mentioned in articles are not cited in the accompanying bibliographies. The ice cream entry says nothing about the great variety of flavors that are now in existence. The cookbook article fails to mention the effect of Erma Rombauer's Joy of Cooking0 on women in the twentieth century. Although this is an expensive resource, it is well worth the money. Recommended for all academic and public libraries that have patrons interested in food and culture. -- RBB Copyright 2003 Booklist