Showing titles in Gastronomy

The UK’s most influential food and drink journalist shoots a few sacred cows of food culture. The doctrine of local food is dead. Farmers’ markets are merely a lifestyle choice for the affluent middle classes. And ‘organic’ has become little more than a marketing label that is way past...

Buon appetito! Everyone loves Italian food. But how did the Italians come to eat so well? The answer lies amid the vibrant beauty of Italy's historic cities. For a thousand years, they have been magnets for everything that makes for great eating: ingredients, talent, money, and power. Italian food is city food. Delizia! is much more than a history of Italian food. It is a history of Italy told through the flavors and character of its cities.

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of The Ten (Food) Commandments, written and read by Jay Rayner. Britain's culinary Moses brings us the new foodie rules to live by, celebrating what and how we eat The Ten Commandments may have had a lot going for them, but they...

Fortnum & Mason Food Book of the Year 2016 We are not born knowing what to eat. We all have to learn it as children sitting expectantly at a table. For our diets to change, we need to relearn the food experiences that first shaped us. Everyone starts drinking milk. After that it’s all up for...

How we live is shaped by how we eat. You can see this in the vastly different approaches to growing, preparing and eating food around the world, such as the hunter-gatherer Hadza in Tanzania whose sustainable lifestyle is under threat in a crowded planet, or Western societies whose food is farmed or bred in vast intensive enterprises. And most of us now rely on a complex global food web of production, distribution, consumption and disposal, which is now contending with unprecedented challenges. The need for a better understanding of how we feed ourselves has never been more urgent. 

Written in a style similar to that of Nigel Slater’s multi-award-winning food memoir ‘Toast’, this is a celebration of the glory, humour, eccentricities and embarrassments that are The British at Table. The British have a relationship with their food that is unlike that of any other...

In a tale replete with scandal and opulence, Luke Barr, author of the New York Times bestselling Provence, 1970, transports readers to turn-of-the-century London and Paris to discover how celebrated hotelier César Ritz and famed chef Auguste Escoffier joined forces at the Savoy Hotel to spawn...

‘An absolute gem’ Sunday Times ‘A mouthwatering history’ The Guardian In this delicious history of Britain’s food traditions, Diane Purkiss invites readers on a unique journey through the centuries, exploring the development of recipes and rituals for mealtimes such as breakfast, lunch...

Brought to you by Penguin. ‘I like to talk about wine the way normal humans talk about things they love – it’s not about showing off how many fancy wine terms I know. The point is to share something I love with someone else in a way that makes them want to love it too.’ Thirsty is the...

In The Meaning of Beer, award-winning beer writer Jonny Garrett tells the stories of incredible human moments and inventions, taking listeners to some of the best-known beer destinations in the world–Munich and Oktoberfest, Carlsberg Brewery's historic laboratory, St Louis and the home of Budweiser–as well as those lesser-known, from a 5,000 year old brewery in the Egyptian desert to Arctic Svalbard, home to the world's most northerly pub.

The author of Cod and The Basque History of the World takes an extraordinary look at an ordinary substance — salt, the only rock humans eat — and how it has shaped civilization from the very beginning. Mark Kurlansky has produced a kaleidoscope of history, a multi-layered masterpiece that blends economic, scientific, political, religious, and culinary records into a rich and memorable tale.

Steven Spurrier is one of the wine trade’s most important figures. Over the years, he took the role of wine merchant, buyer, wine educator, and lecturer; he wrote books, wine courses, and over 300 columns for Decanter magazine. He set up the breakthrough "Judgement of Paris" in 1976—a tasting in which outsider wines from California were pitched blind against Bordeaux’ finest, and won—which still sends reverberations through the wine trade today.

In this fascinating social history of food in Britain, Pen Vogler examines the origins of our eating habits and reveals how they are loaded with centuries of class prejudice. Covering such topics as fish and chips, roast beef, avocados, tripe, fish knives and the surprising origins of breakfast, Scoff reveals how in Britain we have become experts at using eating habits to make judgements about social background.

Winner of the André Simon Food Book Award Shortlisted for the Fortnum & Mason Food Book Award ‘Extraordinary’ TELEGRAPH ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Delightful' GUARDIAN 'Bee Wilson is one of my favourite writers and this may be her best book' CHRIS VAN TULLEKEN This strikingly original account from...

Brought to you by Penguin. For centuries, Mount Etna has sent lava to engulf the towns and villages, terraced fields, orchards, vineyards, and citrus groves that nestle across its slopes. But still it remains home to a quarter of Sicily’s population. Why? Because Etna has always rewarded her...

A book of the year for the Times, the Sunday Times, the Independent, the Guardian and the Daily Mail 'Charming . . . heartbreaking, sometimes both funny and unsettling, and always - from start to end - very, very good' RODDY DOYLE 'Magical . . . as scrumptious as the home-made mayonnaise...

Throughout human history, certain drinks have done much more than just quench thirst. As Tom Standage relates with authority and charm, six of them have had a surprisingly pervasive influence on the course of history, becoming the defining drink during a pivotal historical period. A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the 21st century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola.

This is a revised and updated edition of an award-winning book, recognized as the authoritative work on the subject of British food. It is a breathtaking attempt to trace the changes to and influences on food in Britain from the Black Death through the Enclosures, the Reformation, the Industrial Revolution, and the rise of Capitalism to the present day.

Strawberry daiquiris. Skinny martinis. Vodka sodas with lime. These are the cocktails that come in sleek-stemmed glasses, bright colors and fruity flavors—these are the girly drinks. From the earliest days of civilization, alcohol has been at the center of social rituals and cultures worldwide. But when exactly did drinking become a gendered act? With whip-smart insight and boundless curiosity, Girly Drinks unveils an entire untold history of the female distillers, drinkers, and brewers who have played a vital role in the creation and consumption of alcohol

In this brilliant new book, one of the world’s leading restaurateurs shares wit and wisdom from a distinguished 40-year career and offers deep insight into some of life’s most intriguing issues. 'Wildly, warmly and wonderfully readable and revealing' Stephen Fry 'A true masterpiece that...