A rich oral tradition, passed down through generations, the peasant kitchen offers healthy, real food - the antithesis of fast-food catering - and is as relevant now as it was centuries ago.In this remarkable book, Elisabeth Luard sets out to record the principles of European cookery and to rediscover what has been lost in over-refinement. The recipes come from twenty-five countries, ranging from Ireland in the west to Romania in the east, Iceland in the north to Turkey in the south. It is an enormous compendium which covers Vegetables dishes, Potato dishes, Beans, Lentils, Polenta and Cornmeal, Rice, Pasta and Noodles, Eggs, Milk and Cheeses, Fish, Poultry, Small Game, Pork, Shepherd's Meats, Beef, Breads and Yeast Pastries, Sweet Dishes, Herbs, Mushrooms and Fungi, Oils, and Preserves. Written with the scrupulous attention to detail and authenticity that is the hallmark of Elisabeth Luard's cookery writing, the recipes are peppered with hundreds of fascinating anecdotes and little known facts about local history and folklore.

    Includes a bonus section of updated quick, easy, economical, nutritious recipes and tips for today.

    Why? "Because," Ms. Haber said, "it expresses, through food, joy…you have the connection of food being celebratory in truly meaningful ways. Just wonderful stuff."

    Professor Carpenter documents the arguments that led to the numerous theories about the disease and eventually to the isolation and synthesis of vitamin C (ascorbic acid), and illustrates how the changing ideas about scurvy reflected the scientific and medical beliefs of different periods in history. The author also examines the modern claims for the use of very high levels of vitamin C to bring about a state of super-health, and he analyses the most important evidence for and against this practice. This fascinating story in the history of science and medicine will be of interest to the historian, scientist and the general reader.

    C. Anne Wilson, Britain's foremost historian of food, traces the history of this most British of preserves from its Roman and medieval antecedents, through its adoption in Tudor England, its development in Stuart and Georgian Britain, and its fortunes up to the present day. She tells how the Portuguese learned from the Moors to eat quince marmalade, and how its characteristic Arab flavorings enhanced its appeal to the Europeans. Marmalade's varied roles--as a gift, as a sweetmeat, as a medicine, and as an aphrodisiac-are all discussed in The Book of Marmalade. The book concludes with dozens of recipes, new and traditional, in which marmalade is the star ingredient.

    Cooks can make anything from soup and beverages to entrees, desserts, and sauces. Conversions using modern ingredients and measurements will yield good food whether prepared in the kitchen or, for real flair, in the fireplace.

    'Hilary Spurling has done brilliantly ...Being both a scholar and a cook seems to be a rare combination than one might have expected' - Jane Grigson. 'Few cookery books are as important or as fascinating as this ...(Hilary Spurling's) scholarly and practical skills combined make the book much more than an antiquarian curiosity. It is a cookery book to use' - Victoria Glendinning, "The Times".'Hilary Spurling's research into Lady Fettiplace's family and background is stunning. She and her household do really come to life ...Hilary Spurling's pinpointing of her precise social standing and that of her intimates and acquaintances, of the kind of lives they led, consequently the kind of food they ate, the way it was prepared, preserved and so on, are all subjects of the greatest interest' - Elizabeth David.

    Eric B. Ross has taught at Mount Holyoke and the University of Michigan.

    Presented as a meal, each chapter represents a different course or garnish. Borrowing from Byron's classic poem "Don Juan" for her title ("Since Eve ate apples, much depends on dinner"), writer Margaret Visser looks to the most ordinary American dinner for her subject - corn on the cob with butter and salt, roast chicken with rice, salad dressed in lemon juice and olive oil, and ice cream - submerging herself in the story behind each food. In this indulgent and perceptive guide we hear the history of Corn Flakes, why canned California olives are so unsatisfactory (they're picked green, chemically blackened, then sterilized), and the fact that in Africa, citrus fruit is eaten rind and all. For food lovers of all kinds, this unexpectedly funny and serious book is a treasure of information, shedding light on one of our most favorite pastimes.