Food Is Culture or American Dietetic Association Cooking Healthy Across America

Food Is Culture

Author: Massimo Montanari

Elegantly written by a distinguished culinary historian, Food Is Culture explores the innovative premise that everything having to do with food—its capture, cultivation, preparation, and consumption—represents a cultural act. Even the "choices" made by primitive hunters and gatherers were determined by a culture of economics (availability) and medicine (digestibility and nutrition) that led to the development of specific social structures and traditions.

Massimo Montanari begins with the "invention" of cooking which allowed humans to transform natural, edible objects into cuisine. Cooking led to the creation of the kitchen, the adaptation of raw materials into utensils, and the birth of written and oral guidelines to formalize cooking techniques like roasting, broiling, and frying.

The transmission of recipes allowed food to acquire its own language and grow into a complex cultural product shaped by climate, geography, the pursuit of pleasure, and later, the desire for health. In his history, Montanari touches on the spice trade, the first agrarian societies, Renaissance dishes that synthesized different tastes, and the analytical attitude of the Enlightenment, which insisted on the separation of flavors. Brilliantly researched and analyzed, he shows how food, once a practical necessity, evolved into an indicator of social standing and religious and political identity.

Whether he is musing on the origins of the fork, the symbolic power of meat, cultural attitudes toward hot and cold foods, the connection between cuisine and class, the symbolic significance of certain foods, or the economical consequences of religious holidays, Montanari's concise yetintellectually rich reflections add another dimension to the history of human civilization. Entertaining and surprising, Food Is Culture is a fascinating look at how food is the ultimate embodiment of our continuing attempts to tame, transform, and reinterpret nature.

Rosemarie Lewis Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information - Library Journal

Montanari is professor of medieval history and the history of food at the University of Bologna, Italy, and a well-respected scholar, having studied food for nearly 30 years. Best known in the United States for his award-winning Food: A Culinary History, Montanari here has provided students of anthropology with a wonderful text to approach the study of food and its transformative power over people and culture. He strives to be as inclusive as possible, and though there is a slight bias toward European history, he touches on important events in many cultures, including the way each region had its key cultivar: wheat in western Europe, rice in Asia, corn in the Americas, and sorghum in Africa. From the way cookbooks reflect the oral cooking traditions of the past to the way the mind influences taste, each short chapter analyzes a different facet of how food and culture evolved together. In the end, the author proffers a metaphor: food is a root, from which the history and spread of culture is visible as a flourishing plant. Recommended for larger academic libraries.

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American Dietetic Association Cooking Healthy Across America

Author: The American Dietetic Association

"A taste of culinary history that celebrates the delicious melting pot of American cooking while leaving the guilt behind."

–Jill Cordes

host of The Best Of on the Food Network

"This book shows how easy it is to prepare and enjoy the wonderful variety of ingredients and recipes that make American cuisine unique, flavorful, and healthful."

–Roberta L. Duyff, MS, RD, FADA, CFCS

author of American Dietetic Association Complete Food and Nutrition Guide

"A wonderful edible survey of American regional classics that blends authenticity with good nutrition. This is an important book."

–Graham Kerr

author of Charting a Course to Wellness and My Personal Path to Wellness

Set the table for good nutrition–and savor the regional flavors of delicious American food

American Dietetic Association Cooking Healthy across America presents over 300 healthful, mouthwatering recipes that draw on the flavors and traditions of various cuisines around the country. You’ll find stories from the kitchens of ADA’s culinary professionals–their special family recipes, cooking secrets, and innovative food prep tips and insights–showing you just how easy it is to prepare healthy versions of these American favorites:

Philly Cheesesteak • Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce •Maryland Crab Cakes • Tropical Breeze Smoothie • Gazpacho • West Texas Chipotle Chicken Salad • Smoky Holler Fried Chicken •Southwest Black Bean Dip • Baked Halibut Bristol Bay • Lemon Ice Box Pie • Cajun Jambalaya • Stovetop GlazedHam • Vineyard Stuffed Quahogs • Mom’s Baked Beans • Triple Chocolate Cake • And much more

Table of Contents:

	Preface	v
	Acknowledgments	vii
	Introduction	1
Part 1	Cooking Healthy Every Day	5
1	New England: Simple, Sturdy Foods	7
2	Mid-Atlantic States: Maryland Crab Feasts to Philly Cheesesteaks	63
3	Southern Cuisine: Smooth Soul Food to Hot 'n' Spicy Cajun Creations	105
4	The Floribbean: Big, Bold Tropical Flair	175
5	The Midwest: America's Breadbasket and Cultural Crossroads	209
6	Tex-Mex: Fusing Mexican-Texan and Mexican Cultures	321
7	Southwestern Cuisine: Meso-American Roots Fuse with Trendy Cuisine	347
8	From the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Northwest	367
9	Fusion Defined: The Cuisines of California and Hawaii	421
Part 2	Eating Healthy for Life	477
10	Nutrition Basics: The Reasons for Our Luscious Food	479
11	Portion Savvy: Less Is More!	511
12	Creating the Kitchen Dedicated to Flavor and Good Health	517
13	Everyday Solutions for Enjoying More Vegetables and Fruits	529
14	Whole Grains: Catching the Golden Wave of Flavor and Nutrition	565
15	Luscious Legumes: Beans, Peas, and Lentils	579
16	Fish: A Guide to Buying, Storing, and Cooking	591
17	The Ultimate Meat and Poultry Buying and Usage Guide	601
18	Milk and Other Dairy: Building Strong Bones and More	611
19	Help in the Kitchen: Substitutions and Equivalents	619
	Recipe Index	628
	Index	637