
The Secret History of Food
Strange but True Stories About the Origins of Everything We Eat
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Narrated by:
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Roger Wayne
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By:
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Matt Siegel
About this listen
An irreverent, surprising, and entirely entertaining look at the little-known history surrounding the foods we know and love.
Is Italian olive oil really Italian, or are we dipping our bread in lamp oil? Why are we masochistically drawn to foods that can hurt us, like hot peppers? Far from being a classic American dish, is apple pie actually...English?
“As a species, we’re hardwired to obsess over food”, Matt Siegel explains as he sets out “to uncover the hidden side of everything we put in our mouths”. Siegel also probes subjects ranging from the myths - and realities - of food as aphrodisiac, to how one of the rarest and most exotic spices in all the world (vanilla) became a synonym for uninspired sexual proclivities, to the role of food in fairy and morality tales. He even makes a well-argued case for how ice cream helped defeat the Nazis.
The Secret History of Food is a rich and satisfying exploration of the historical, cultural, scientific, sexual, and, yes, culinary subcultures of this most essential realm. Siegel is an armchair Anthony Bourdain, armed not with a chef’s knife but with knowledge derived from medieval food-related manuscripts, ancient Chinese scrolls, and obscure culinary journals. Funny and fascinating, The Secret History of Food is essential listening for all foodies.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2021 Matt Siegel (P)2021 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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Performance
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Wurgaft and White use vivid storytelling to bring food practices to life, weaving stories of Panamanian coffee growers, medieval women beer makers, and Japanese knife forgers. From the Venetian spice trade to the Columbian Exchange, from Roman garum to Vietnamese nuoc cham, Ways of Eating provides an absorbing account of world food history and anthropology. Migration, politics, and the dynamics of group identity all shape what we eat, and we can learn to trace these social forces from the plate to the kitchen, the factory, and the field.
By: Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft, and others
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On Spice
- Advice, Wisdom, and History with a Grain of Saltiness
- By: Caitlin PenzeyMoog
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Every home cook has thoughts on the right and wrong ways to use spices. These beliefs are passed down in family recipes and pronounced by television chefs, but where do such ideas come from? Many are little better than superstition, and most serve only to reinforce a cook's sense of superiority or cover for their insecurities. It doesn't have to be this way. These notes On Spice come from three generations of a family in the spice trade, and dozens upon dozens of their collected spice guides and stories.
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Yummy!
- By amanda j green on 11-17-24
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Science and Cooking
- Physics Meets Food, from Homemade to Haute Cuisine
- By: Michael Brenner, Pia Sörensen, David Weitz
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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The spectacular culinary creations of modern cuisine are the stuff of countless articles and social media feeds. But to a scientist they are also perfect pedagogical explorations into the basic scientific principles of cooking. In Science and Cooking, Harvard professors Michael Brenner, Pia Sörensen, and David Weitz bring the classroom to your kitchen to teach the physics and chemistry underlying every recipe.
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A good book - with some winning points
- By Chris L. on 07-17-21
By: Michael Brenner, and others
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Animal, Vegetable, Junk
- A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal
- By: Mark Bittman
- Narrated by: Mark Bittman
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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The story of humankind is usually told as one of technological innovation and economic influence—of arrowheads and atomic bombs, settlers and stock markets. But behind it all, there is an even more fundamental driver: Food. In Animal, Vegetable, Junk, trusted food authority Mark Bittman offers a panoramic view of how the frenzy for food has driven human history to some of its most catastrophic moments.
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Mostly Junk
- By Daniel Ducat on 05-22-21
By: Mark Bittman
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Salt
- A World History
- By: Mark Kurlansky
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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The author of Cod and The Basque History of the World takes an extraordinary look at an ordinary substance — salt, the only rock humans eat — and how it has shaped civilization from the very beginning. Mark Kurlansky has produced a kaleidoscope of history, a multi-layered masterpiece that blends economic, scientific, political, religious, and culinary records into a rich and memorable tale.
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More than SALT
- By Karen on 03-12-03
By: Mark Kurlansky
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The Seed Detective
- Uncovering the Secret Histories of Remarkable Vegetables
- By: Adam Alexander, Tim Lang - foreword
- Narrated by: Calum Beaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Have you ever wondered how peas, kale, asparagus, beans, squash, and corn have ended up on our plates? Well, Adam Alexander has. In The Seed Detective, Adam shares his own stories of seed hunting, with the origin stories behind many of our everyday food heroes. Taking us on a journey that began when we left the life of the hunter-gatherer to become farmers, he tells tales of globalization, political intrigue, colonization, and serendipity—describing how these vegetables and their travels have become embedded in our food cultures.
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Fascinating and relevant
- By Valerie Loo on 03-04-23
By: Adam Alexander, and others
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National Dish
- Around the World in Search of Food, History, and the Meaning of Home
- By: Anya von Bremzen
- Narrated by: Kathleen Gati
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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In this engrossing and timely journey to the crossroads of food and identity, award-winning writer Anya von Bremzen explores six of the world’s most fascinating and iconic culinary cultures—France, Italy, Japan, Spain, Mexico, and Turkey—brilliantly weaving cuisine, history, and politics into a work of scintillating connoisseurship and charm.
By: Anya von Bremzen
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The Food Book, New Edition
- The Stories, Science, and History of What We Eat
- By: DK
- Narrated by: Charles Armstrong
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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A true celebration of food in all its forms, The Food Book follows the human quest for sustenance through the stories of individual ingredients and examines our millenia-long relationship with nearly 200 foods—with the help of tales from all over the world. Food is the cornerstone of daily life, culture, and even religion. Staples like bread, beans, and cereal crops are part of our culinary history, and used in many ways around the world. This fascinating reference covers all food groups, providing information on every aspect of their history, and their place in world cuisine.
By: DK
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The Food Explorer
- The True Adventures of the Globe-Trotting Botanist Who Transformed What America Eats
- By: Daniel Stone
- Narrated by: Daniel Stone
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 19th century, American meals were about subsistence, not enjoyment. But as a new century approached, appetites broadened, and David Fairchild, a young botanist with an insatiable lust to explore and experience the world, set out in search of foods that would enrich the American farmer and enchant the American eater. Kale from Croatia, mangoes from India, and hops from Bavaria. Peaches from China, avocados from Chile, and pomegranates from Malta. But Fairchild's finds weren't just limited to food.
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Good book, but would like more detail.
- By Robert Brummett on 02-25-18
By: Daniel Stone
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A History of the World in 6 Glasses
- By: Tom Standage
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Throughout human history, certain drinks have done much more than just quench thirst. As Tom Standage relates with authority and charm, six of them have had a surprisingly pervasive influence on the course of history, becoming the defining drink during a pivotal historical period. A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the 21st century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola.
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Fun and Informative
- By Stoker on 09-09-11
By: Tom Standage
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Evolution Gone Wrong
- The Curious Reasons Why Our Bodies Work (Or Don't)
- By: Alex Bezzerides
- Narrated by: Joe Knezevich
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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From blurry vision to crooked teeth, ACLs that tear at alarming rates and spines that seem to spend a lifetime falling apart, it's a curious thing that human beings have beaten the odds as a species. After all, we're the only survivors on our branch of the tree of life. Why is it that human mothers have such a life-endangering experience giving birth? And why are there entire medical specialties for teeth and feet? In this funny, wide-ranging and often surprising book, biologist Alex Bezzerides tells us just where we inherited our achy, brilliant bodies in the process of evolution.
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Answers questions you haven't thought of yet!
- By Mike on 05-25-21
By: Alex Bezzerides
Seems we are being cheated or are food is trying to kill us. Even vitamins are suspect.
Food not as labeled
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Entertaining and Informative
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Interesting
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I, unfortunately, was eating lunch as listened to the section on honey. Quaffing honey from a container found in an Egyptian grave might be silly to start with, then being unfamiliar with their practice of coating body parts in it for preservation can only lead to, well, vomiting: for the participant and the listener!!! Yikes!
Roger Wayne brilliantly delivers this material with charm and, well, gusto, as required.
George Young
Montreal, Canada
Listen before or long after dinner
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If you’re a foodie, it’s dull
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Anyway, this is a fun, easy listen if you want to learn about a few random foods as well as food culture of the past and of today.
Interesting information, wish it was longer
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The narration is terrific. Some little side comments come off well, instigating an out loud laugh here and there. Some of the points are thought provoking - such as why almost unlimited choices aren't always a good thing.
The section on olive oil is a little disheartening, because it quantifies the amount of fraud and adulteration that goes on in that "healthy" business.
The book probably won't change your life. It might not even impact your shopping or eating habits. But I found a lot of interesting facts and stories "within its covers." Roger Wayne made it even more interesting as narrator (and tour guide).
The pdf file that comes with the book is merely a list of citations/references.
Tasty Treat
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Seigel's book is Brain Food
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Not quite what I was expecting, but a good listen nonetheless
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Really interesting! Little darker than I thought…
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