When did we first serve meals at regular hours? Why did we begin using individual plates and utensils to eat? When did "cuisine" become a concept and how did we come to judge food by its method of preparation, manner of consumption, and gastronomic merit? Food: A Culinary History explores culinary evolution and eating habits from prehistoric times to the present, offering surprising insights into our social and agricultural practices, religious beliefs, and most unreflected habits. The volume dispels myths such as the tale that Marco Polo brought pasta to Europe from China, that the original recipe for chocolate contained chili instead of sugar, and more. As it builds its history, the text also reveals the dietary rules of the ancient Hebrews, the contributions of Arabic cookery to European cuisine, the table etiquette of the Middle Ages, and the evolution of beverage styles in early America. It concludes with a discussion on the McDonaldization of food and growing popularity of foreign foods today.

The Food History Almanac covers 365 days of the year, with information and anecdotes relating to food history from around the world from medieval times to the present. The daily entries include such topics as celebrations; significant food-related moments in history from the fields of science and technology, exploration and discovery, travel, literature, hotel and restaurant history, and military history; menus from famous and infamous meals across a wide spectrum, from extravagant royal banquets to war rations and prison fare; birthdays of important people in the food field; and publication dates for important cookbooks and food texts and "first known" recipes. Food historian Janet Clarkson has drawn from her vast compendium of historical cookbooks, food texts, scholarly articles, journals, diaries, ships' logs, letters, official reports, and newspaper and magazine articles to bring food history alive. History buffs, foodies, students doing reports, and curious readers will find it a constant delight. An introduction, list of recipes, selected bibliography, and set index, plus a number of period illustrations are added value.

There is increasing public and academic interest in local and sustainable foods and food tourism. These interests have been reflected in such diverse elements as the growth of farmers markets, green restaurants, food miles, crabon and sustainability labelling, concerns over food supply and security, Slow Food, Fair Trade, and a desire to buy and 'eat locally'. Food related hospitality and tourism is integral to this process because of the way in which it simultaneously acts to globalise and localise food consumption and create new foodways and commodity chains. This book therefore aims to provide an integrated understanding of the contemporary interest in food and food tourism through the use of an international collection of illustrative case study chapters as well as the provision of a novel integrative framework for the book, a sustainable culinary system. This is the first volume to examine the concept of sustainable culinary systems, particularly with specific reference to tourism and hospitality. Divided into two parts, firstly the notion of the local is explored, reflecting the increased interest in the championing of local food production and consumption. Secondly treatment of sustainability in food and food tourism and hospitality in settings that reach beyond the local in a business and socio-economic sense is reviewed. The book therefore, reflects much of the contemporary public interest in the conscious or ethical consumption and production food, as well as revealing the inherent tensions between local and broader goals in both defining and achieving sustainable culinary systems and the environmental, social and economic implications of food production and consumption. This book provides the reader with an integrated approach to understanding the subject of how culinary systems may be made more sustainable and will be valuable reading to all those interested in sustainable food and food tourism.

Learn the culinary techniques taught to professionals with this comprehensive guide to cooking.Chef School takes you through all the culinary processes you need to be a great cook, teaching you everything from the fundamental to the flamboyant. Whether you want to brush up on your existing skills or learn entirely new techniques, the clear instructions and step-by-step photography ensure that you'll soon find preparing lobster as easy as skinning a tomato. With over 250 skills and techniques covered, you'll be able to transform your food from ordinary to restaurant-quality and become a masterchef!

When you're cooking, you're a chemist! Every time you follow or modify a recipe, you are experimenting with acids and bases, emulsions and suspensions, gels and foams. In your kitchen you denature proteins, crystallize compounds, react enzymes with substrates, and nurture desired microbial life while suppressing harmful bacteria and fungi. And unlike in a laboratory, you can eat your experiments to verify your hypotheses.  In Culinary Reactions, author Simon Quellen Field turns measuring cups, stovetop burners, and mixing bowls into graduated cylinders, Bunsen burners, and beakers. How does altering the ratio of flour, sugar, yeast, salt, butter, and water affect how high bread rises? Why is whipped cream made with nitrous oxide rather than the more common carbon dioxide? And why does Hollandaise sauce call for "clarified" butter? This easy-to-follow primer even includes recipes to demonstrate the concepts being discussed, including: Whipped Creamsicle Topping--a foam; Cherry Dream Cheese--a protein gle; Lemonade with Chameleon Eggs--an acid indicator; and more!

Larousse Gastronomique has been the foremost resource of culinary knowledge since its initial publication in 1938. Long revered for its encyclopedic entries on everything from cooking techniques, ingredients, and recipes to equipment, food histories, and culinary biographies, it is the one book every professional chef and avid home cook must have on his or her kitchen shelf. In fact, Julia Child once wrote, "If I were allowed only one reference book in my library, Larousse Gastronomique would be it, without question." The culinary landscape has changed dramatically in the last decade, prompting a complete revision of this classic work. Larousse Gastronomique has now been updated to add the latest advancements that have forever changed the way we cook, including modern technological methods, such as sous-vide cooking and molecular gastronomy. All-new color ingredient-identification photographs give this edition a fresh, elegant look. And for the first time, Larousse features more than 400 reportage photos–candid images of upscale restaurants from around the world–that give behind-the-scenes access into the kitchens where the finest food is created. Dozens of new biographies of people who have made significant contributions to the food world debut in this revision, including such luminaries as Ferran Adrià, Daniel Boulud, Alice Waters, Gaston Lenôtre, Thomas Keller, James Beard, and Julia Child. With entries arranged in encyclopedic fashion, Larousse Gastronomique is not only incredibly user-friendly, but it is also a fantastic read for anyone who loves food. Skip from Roasting to Robert (a classic French sauce), and then to Robiola (the Italian cheese); or go from Sake to Salad–with dozens of recipes–and on to Salamander, a type of oven used in professional kitchens for caramelizing (and named after the legendary fire-resistant animal). An index at the end of the book of all 3,800 recipes for cuisines from around the world makes it easy to find a myriad of preparations for any ingredient (eggs or chicken, for example) or type of dish (such as cakes or sauces). The unparalleled depth and breadth of information–from the traditional to the cutting-edge–make this newest edition of Larousse Gastronomique indispensable for every cook.

The Professional Chef is among the best-selling titles in Wiley's cooking program and represents the cornerstone book in our publishing partnership with the CIA. We have completely reorganized this book to reflect the way that people cook in the kitchen today, with the best of foods and flavors from around the world. The book reviews ingredients, equipment, and skills of the professional chef. It then explores the techniques for the full range of food items: vegetables, potatoes, grains, legumes, pasta, meats, fish and seafood, poultry, eggs, fruits, soups, sauces, quickbreads and cakes, yeast breads, and more. The new edition features information on global cuisines, an all-new chapter on Plated Desserts, and information on topics of growing importance such as sous vide cooking, seasonality, and sustainability. The new edition features a new user-friendly design and structure, guiding readers through the basic principles behind each technique at a glance, and then providing more in-depth information along with step-by-step photography. Complete with hundreds of recipes and four-color photographs throughout, this is the essential reference for any aspiring chef, culinary student, or cooking enthusiast. For the first time ever, The Professional Chef is also available as a revolutionary interactive iPad edition (978-1-118-12012-5).

As competition for customers is constantly increasing, contemporary restaurants must distinguish themselves by offering consistent, high-quality service. Service and hospitality can mean different things to different foodservice operations, and this book addresses the service needs of a wide range of dining establishments, from casual and outdoor dining to upscale restaurants and catering operations. Chapters cover everything from training and hiring staff, preparation for service, front-door hospitality to money handling, styles of modern table service, front-of-the-house safety and sanitation, serving diners with special needs, and service challenges-what to do when things go wrong. Remarkable Service is the most comprehensive guide to service and hospitality on the market, and this new edition includes the most up-to-date information available on serving customers in the contemporary restaurant world.