Much Depends on Dinner
The Extraordinary History and Mythology, Allure and Obsessions, Perils and Taboos of an Ordinary Meal
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Narrated by:
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Suzanne Toren
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By:
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Margaret Visser
About this listen
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.
©1999 Margaret Visser (P)2007 Recorded Books, LLCListeners also enjoyed...
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- By: Marta Zaraska
- Narrated by: Emily Durante
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the great science and health revelations of our time is the danger posed by meat-eating. Every day, it seems, we are warned about the harm producing and consuming meat can do to the environment and our bodies. Many of us have tried to limit how much meat we consume, and many of us have tried to give it up altogether. But it is not easy to resist the smoky, cured, barbecued, and fried delights that tempt us.
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A very interesting book on why we crave meat.
- By Amazon Customer on 05-23-16
By: Marta Zaraska
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Hippie Food
- How Back-to-the-Landers, Longhairs, and Revolutionaries Changed the Way We Eat
- By: Jonathan Kauffman
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Food writer Jonathan Kauffman journeys back more than half a century - to the 1960s and 1970s - to tell the story of how a coterie of unusual men and women embraced an alternative lifestyle that would ultimately change how modern Americans eat. Impeccably researched, Hippie Food chronicles how the longhairs, revolutionaries, and back-to-the-landers rejected the square establishment of President Richard Nixon's America and turned to a more idealistic and wholesome communal way of life and food.
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If you grew up eating health food you'll love it
- By Susie Wyshak on 05-09-18
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Unprocessed
- My City-Dwelling Year of Reclaiming Real Food
- By: Megan Kimble
- Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In January of 2012, Megan Kimble was a 26-year-old living in a small apartment without even a garden plot to her name. But she cared about where food came from, how it was made, and what it did to her body: so she decided to go an entire year without eating processed foods. Unprocessed is the narrative of Megan's extraordinary year, in which she milled wheat, extracted salt from the sea, milked a goat, slaughtered a sheep, and more - all while earning an income that fell well below the federal poverty line.
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Very insightful
- By Anonymous User on 01-10-21
By: Megan Kimble
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Super Sushi Ramen Express
- One Family's Journey Through the Belly of Japan
- By: Michael Booth
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Japan is arguably the preeminent food nation on earth, a Mecca for the world's greatest chefs, with more Michelin stars than any other country. The Japanese go to extraordinary lengths and expense to eat food that is marked both by its exquisite preparation and exotic content. Their creativity, dedication, and courage in the face of dishes such as cod sperm and octopus ice cream is only now beginning to be fully appreciated in the sushi and ramen-saturated West.
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Interesting material that's well-narrated
- By John S. on 11-09-16
By: Michael Booth
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Slime
- How Algae Created Us, Plague Us, and Just Might Save Us
- By: Ruth Kassinger
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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In Slime we'll meet the algae innovators working toward a sustainable future: from seaweed farmers in South Korea, to scientists using it to clean the dead zones in our waterways, to the entrepreneurs fighting to bring algae fuel and plastics to market. Ruth Kassinger takes listeners on an around-the-world, behind-the-scenes, and into-the-kitchen tour. Whether you thought algae was just the gunk in your fish tank or you eat seaweed with your oatmeal, Slime will delight and amaze with its stories of the good, the bad, and the up-and-coming.
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Fairly entertaining and informative...but
- By Timothy on 08-27-19
By: Ruth Kassinger
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A Square Meal
- A Culinary History of the Great Depression
- By: Jane Ziegelman, Andrew Coe
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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The decade-long Great Depression, a period of shifts in the country's political and social landscape, forever changed the way America eats. Before 1929, America's relationship with food was defined by abundance. But the collapse of the economy, in both urban and rural America, left a quarter of all Americans out of work and undernourished - shattering long-held assumptions about the limitlessness of the national larder.
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Not entirely accurate title
- By Robert on 06-07-17
By: Jane Ziegelman, and others
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The Brewer's Tale
- A History of the World According to Beer
- By: William Bostwick
- Narrated by: Christopher Sutton
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The Brewer's Tale is a beer-filled journey into the past: the story of brewers gone by and one brave writer's quest to bring them - and their ancient, forgotten beers - back to life, one taste at a time. This is the story of the world according to beer, a toast to flavors born of necessity and place - in Belgian monasteries, rundown farmhouses, and the basement nanobrewery next door. So pull up a barstool and raise a glass to 5,000 years of fermented magic.
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Good insights!
- By Michael on 03-08-16
By: William Bostwick
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Pandora's Lunchbox
- How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal
- By: Melanie Warner
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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If a piece of individually wrapped cheese retains its shape, color, and texture for years, what does it say about the food we eat and feed our children? Former New York Times reporter and mother Melanie Warner decided to explore that question when she observed the phenomenon of the indestructible cheese. She began an investigative journey that takes her to research labs, food science departments, and factories around the country. What she discovered provides a rare, eye-opening - and sometimes disturbing - account of what we're really eating.
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Interesting.
- By Dr. Jeff McCombs, DC on 10-01-13
By: Melanie Warner
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Eight Flavors
- The Untold Story of American Cuisine
- By: Sarah Lohman
- Narrated by: Sarah Lohman
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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The United States boasts a culturally and ethnically diverse population which makes for a continually changing culinary landscape. But a young historical gastronomist named Sarah Lohman discovered that American food is united by eight flavors: black pepper, vanilla, curry powder, chili powder, soy sauce, garlic, MSG, and Sriracha. In Eight Flavors, Lohman sets out to explore how these influential ingredients made their way to the American table.
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Great read... Terrible accents
- By S. Macklin on 12-14-18
By: Sarah Lohman
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Consider the Fork
- A History of How We Cook and Eat
- By: Bee Wilson
- Narrated by: Alison Larkin
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Since prehistory, humans have braved the business ends of knives, scrapers, and mashers, all in the name of creating something delicious - or at least edible. In Consider the Fork, award-winning food writer and historian Bee Wilson traces the ancient lineage of our modern culinary tools, revealing the startling history of objects we often take for granted. Charting the evolution of technologies from the knife and fork to the gas range and the sous-vide cooker, Wilson offers unprecedented insights.
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For the foodie/science geek/history buff in you
- By Nothing really matters on 08-30-14
By: Bee Wilson
What listeners say about Much Depends on Dinner
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Leon Miller
- 10-17-15
Excellent, fascinating.
What did you love best about Much Depends on Dinner?
Wonderful. Margaret Visser posits a dinner (corn, butter, rice, chicken, ice cream, salad with olive oil and lemon) and then provides a sweeping historical and anthropological view of each component. She not only provides a fascinating, even enthralling, history, but also explores the mythological significance of each food and its role in politics and even war.
What did you like best about this story?
It is so fact-rich that with another author, it might sink under its own weight, but Visser’s charming, open style pulls you along. Ice cream is not just ice cream; it’s a history of thermodynamics. Rice is not just rice, it’s the story of political organization. Corn is not just corn; it’s the rise of industrial food.
What does Suzanne Toren bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Toren was the perfect narrator for this. She took what might have been a fact-heavy book and turned it into a fascinating story, pulling you along from fact to fact as if each tidbit was a revelation. She was wonderful.
Any additional comments?
Published in 1985, it’s slightly dated and should be read in conjunction with Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” which takes the history and anthropology and adds a moral core. Absolutely wonderful and highly recommended.
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- Deborah
- 01-09-20
Title doesn't say it.
In 1988 I bought the hard cover version of this book for myself as a birthday gift (original dust cover -- 1987 first edition). I never read it but put it instead on my shelf along other food essay type books which I knew I would want to read some day. But whenever I picked up this book the denseness and tiny print put me off. I am spoiled and must listen to all prose or I just plain fall asleep.
So when I picked it up last week and wished I could finally dive into it, since many books from that time period are just not available as audiobooks, I was downhearted. I am quite addicted to audiobooks and listen constantly as I do my chores and projects, on my iPhone, bluetooth speakers and car bluetooth adaptor. I have been an audible member for many years and have hundreds of books in my Audible library and dozens in my wish list. It takes me a long long time to decide on using a precious credit. But when I saw this book on Audible, in three breaths I bought it.
It was not what I expected but better. The mythology and history go back thousands of years right up to the eighties. I was totally engaged after just a half hour. The first chapter: Corn -- put me in mind of Michael Pollan -- ancient corn but then right up through thousands of years of culture and history. I was worried because since the book was published in 1987, the current catastrophe with corn would be lost. But as it was, enough had gone wrong by that time and Visser had it all there.
Corn, Salt, Butter, Chicken, Rice, Lettuce, Olive Oil, Lemon Juice, Ice Cream. Each chapter full of, like it says, "Extraordinary History and Mythology, Allure and Obsessions, Perils and Taboos"
Note: I have chickens and I was impressed with her details about the science and care of hens. I even bookmarked my hardcopy. But, sadly of course, it is all downhill for chickens and big business. And then too, I felt a little left out because my chickens are safe!
I give the book four stars only because of the big gap between 1987 and today which is hardly the author's fault. But it is just a reminder that the last 33 years are missing from this still extraordinary tome.
I have been listening to a lot of non-fiction lately, but the richness of this book tops all. Of course I do love to know about food. If you do too, you will love this book.
Also, the narrator is glorious. Her musical, lyrical voice hits just the right notes.
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- cristobal
- 10-31-17
One of my all time favorite books
I have been in love with this book since forever. It's really what started my interest in the history of food. I know some people might find the subject repetitive or boring, but I am not one of those people.
Regarding the narration, it's great.
This book isn't exactly a page-turner, but it hits every note I'm looking for.
And also, when I can't sleep, this is what I put on. It is warm and comforting, like being read to at night when I was a little kid. I own it in paperback, Kindle, and Audible.
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- Heather
- 03-20-23
Fascinating and detailed
Very interesting. A lot of obscure details and history about common foods. If you love detail, and history and food — this is your book.
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- Megan
- 04-19-12
Really informative!
What made the experience of listening to Much Depends on Dinner the most enjoyable?
You want to learn everything there is to know about the food that we eat then pick this book
What did you like best about this story?
I really liked that it went through how it is made, to the social implications to the mythology behind the food that we eat.
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- T. Keefe
- 10-21-11
UGH
I like Margaret Vissers' books as a rule, but this entire package is just sad. The narrator mispronounces a lot of English food terms, although she has passable French.
The book;'s contents are simply too scholarly and the quality of the narration too poor to allow me to rate any higher. Read this book - yes, but in paper form please.
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