What was Italian food like before the tomato?
When coffee houses started popping up in Europe what establishments lost business as a result?
Did Marco Polo really bring noodles to Europe from China?
Where can I find the answer to all these questions and more?
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posted by any portmanteau in a storm
on Mar 6, 2013 -
29 answers
Was there ever a period in time before widespread acceptance of germ theory, or, is there a current culture where raw or undercooked chicken is an accepted part of cuisine?
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posted by codacorolla
on Jan 10, 2013 -
19 answers
How and why did Europeans eat so many oysters during the dark and middle ages?
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posted by cmoj
on Nov 2, 2012 -
13 answers
I always hear that the traditionally heavy US diet ( or any " traditional" cuisine, really ) was developed for people working long hard hours of manual labor, farm work, etc., so what did the people who had sedentary, less active jobs eat? What were the historical diets of people who didn't haul lumber through the woods or dig ditches, but recorded numbers or did accounting or translated documents?
posted by The Whelk
on Jun 22, 2012 -
37 answers
What are the best blogs, online periodicals, or discussion groups that address the history and consumption of food in an intelligent and critical way? (In other words, not just a place to swap recipes.) I would love to know where people find the most engaging ideas about food.
posted by tnygard
on Mar 17, 2012 -
6 answers
Do you know any examples of evocative food writing that is focused on how specific foods awaken the writer's memory or otherwise serve to connect time and history with what we eat? Think Proust's famous
madeleine, or Nigel Slater's Toast: the Story of a Boy's Hunger. I am especially interested in accounts from non-white, non-American or non-European, and female authors.
posted by liketitanic
on Aug 11, 2011 -
25 answers
Help me find this half-remembered anecdote from what I think was a collection of famous chefs or food writers discussing their ideal meals?
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posted by grar
on Oct 7, 2010 -
5 answers
I'm looking for a recommendation for dealing with the relationship between food and culture/society/history
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posted by KilgoreTrout
on May 18, 2009 -
8 answers
I want to a read a book about the domestication, Western discovery, spread and eventual assimilation of New World foods. I'm interested in how these crops were transported to and received by different cultures, and how certain New World foods became synonymous with particular Old World cuisines.
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posted by nev
on Jul 4, 2008 -
13 answers
Have you ever taken a culinary walking tour? Might you be willing to share highlights and details? I'm planning to develop some tasting tours for my city and would appreciate hearing about your own food tour experiences.
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posted by Miko
on Apr 2, 2007 -
5 answers
Help us party like it's 1974! A friend is throwing a 1974 party (she was born in that year) and my partner and I would like to bring a gift to the party relevant to that year. We've already drawn up an extensive list of '74 references (see inside) but are really missing out on ideas for food and drink.
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posted by unclemonty
on Mar 15, 2006 -
39 answers
