Twenty years in the making, the first edition of this bestselling reference work appeared in 1999 to worldwide acclaim. Combining serious and meticulously researched facts with entertaining and witty commentary, it has been deemed unique by chefs and reviewers around the globe. It contains both a comprehensive catalog of foodstuffs - crackers and cookies named for battles and divas; body parts from toe to cerebellum; breads from Asia to the Mediterranean - and a richly allusive account of the culture of food, whether expressed in literature and cook books, or as dishes special to a country or community. Retaining Alan Davidson's wisdom and wit, this new edition also covers the latest developments across the whole spectrum of this subject. Tom Jaine has taken the opportunity to update the text and alert readers to new perspectives in food studies. There is new coverage on attitudes towards food consumption, production and perception, such as food and genetics, food and sociology, and obesity. New entries include terms such as convenience foods, gastronomy, fusion food, leftovers, obesity, local food, and many more. There are also new entries on important personalities who are of special significance within the world of food, among them Clarence Birdseye, Henri Nestle, and Louis Pasteur. Now in its third edition the Companion maintains its place as the foremost food reference resource for study and home use.

Offering a panoramic view of the history and culture of food and drink in America with fascinating entries on everything from the smell of asparagus to the history of White Castle, and the origin of Bloody Marys to jambalaya, the Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink provides a concise, authoritative, and exuberant look at this modern American obsession. Ideal for the food scholar and food enthusiast alike, it is equally appetizing for anyone fascinated by Americana, capturing our culture and history through what we love most--food!Building on the highly praised and deliciously browseable two-volume compendium the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, this new work serves up everything you could ever want to know about American consumables and their impact on popular culture and the culinary world. Within its pages for example, we learn that Lifesavers candy owes its success to the canny marketing idea of placing the original flavor, mint, next to cash registers at bars. Patrons who bought them to mask the smell of alcohol on their breath before heading home soon found they were just as tasty sober and the company began producing other flavors.Edited by Andrew Smith, a writer and lecturer on culinary history, the Companion serves up more than just trivia however, including hundreds of entries on fast food, celebrity chefs, fish, sandwiches, regional and ethnic cuisine, food science, and historical food traditions. It also dispels a few commonly held myths. Veganism, isn't simply the practice of a few "hippies," but is in fact wide-spread among elite athletic circles. Many of the top competitors in the Ironman and Ultramarathon events go even further, avoiding all animal products by following a strictly vegan diet. Anyone hungering to know what our nation has been cooking and eating for the last three centuries should own the Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. DT Nearly 1,000 articles on American food and drink, from the curious to the commonplace DT Beautifully illustrated with hundreds of historical photographs and color images DT Includes informative lists of food websites, museums, organizations, and festivals

The great quality of this Companion is the way it includes both an exhaustive catalogue of foods -- whether they be biscuits named for battles, divas or revolutionaries, body parts from nose to tail, toe to cerebellum, or breads from the steppes of Asia or the well-built ovens of the Mediterranean -- 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. In the third edition the editor has taken the opportunity to update the text and alert readers to new perspectives in food studies. There is new coverage of approaches to food such as those offered by anthropology and sociology as well as the culture surrounding food exemplified by etiquette, gastronomy, and photography, and our shifting concerns surrounding food, including convenience food, obesity, and local food. In its new edition the Companion maintains its place as the foremost food reference resource for study and home use.--Publisher's website

A comprehensive food reference covers all aspects of the history and culture of Italian cuisine, including dishes, ingredients, cooking methods, implements, regional specialties, the appeal of Italian cuisine, and outside culinary influences.

Not a cookbook, but a encyclopedia collection of entries on all things sweet. The articles explore the ways in which our taste for sweetness have shaped-- and been shaped by-- history. In addition, you'll discover the origins of mud pie; who the Sara Lee company was named after; why Walker Smith, Jr. is better known as "Sugar Ray Robinson"; and how lyricists have immortalized sweets from "Blueberry Hill" to "Tutti Fruiti".

These award-wining, classic guides are the perfect for anyone who loves food and wine. "This is a must-have book for wine geeks...highly recommended for anyone with more than a passing interest in wine." --Wine Spectator, "Top 100" issue. "A food book for all time... The canon of great food literature just got one fat volume greater... A must-have for any serious food follower" --Gourmet

The Oxford Companion to Cheese answers a clear call for the kind of subject-defining reference work that The Oxford Companion to Wine achieved. It is the first truly comprehensive cheese book, containing 855 A-Z scholarly, yet accessible entries on the history, culture, and science of cheese making and cheese enjoyment, worldwide. An astonishing 325 authors contributed entries, residing in 35 countries. They included cheesemakers, cheesemongers, dairy scientists, anthropologists, food historians, journalists, archaeologists, and on, from backgrounds as diverse as the topics they write about. This landmark encyclopedia is the most wide-ranging, comprehensive, and reliable reference work on cheese available.

A sweet tooth is a powerful thing. Babies everywhere seem to smile when tasting sweetness for the first time, a trait inherited, perhaps, from our ancestors who foraged for sweet foods that were generally safer to eat than their bitter counterparts. But the "science of sweet" is only the beginning of a fascinating story, because it is not basic human need or simple biological impulse that prompts us to decorate elaborate wedding cakes, scoop ice cream into a cone, or drop sugar cubes into coffee. These are matters of culture and aesthetics, of history and society, and we might ask many other questions. Why do sweets feature so prominently in children's literature? When was sugar called a spice? And how did chocolate evolve from an ancient drink to a modern candy bar? The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets explores these questions and more through the collective knowledge of 265 expert contributors, from food historians to chemists, restaurateurs to cookbook writers, neuroscientists to pastry chefs. The Companion takes readers around the globe and throughout time, affording glimpses deep into the brain as well as stratospheric flights into the world of sugar-crafted fantasies. More than just a compendium of pastries, candies, ices, preserves, and confections, this reference work reveals how the human proclivity for sweet has brought richness to our language, our art, and, of course, our gastronomy. In nearly 600 entries, beginning with "à la mode" and ending with the Italian trifle known as "zuppa inglese," the Companion traces sugar's journey from a rare luxury to a ubiquitous commodity. In between, readers will learn about numerous sweeteners (as well-known as agave nectar and as obscure as castoreum, or beaver extract), the evolution of the dessert course, the production of chocolate, and the neurological, psychological, and cultural responses to sweetness. The Companion also delves into the darker side of sugar, from its ties to colonialism and slavery to its addictive qualities. Celebrating sugar while acknowledging its complex history, The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets is the definitive guide to one of humankind's greatest sources of pleasure. Like kids in a candy shop, fans of sugar (and aren't we all?) will enjoy perusing the wondrous variety to be found in this volume.