Choice Review
Mennell's book is a history of changing tastes in food in France and England from the Middle Ages until the present. It examines the sociohistorical contexts of food fads, eating disorders, and changing standards of ``good taste.'' Its approach is developmental, rather than structural, and so it is particularly concerned to show ``how changing structures of social interdependence and changing balances of power within society have been reflected in...food.'' Well written and fun to read. For public and academic libraries, community college level up.-H. Ottenheimer, Kansas State University
Library Journal Review
This stimulating book is a welcome addition to the new academic discipline of food history. The author does not merely describe the differences in the tastes in England and France. Instead, he takes on the more difficult task of trying to explain those national differences, and to understand ``how social groups develop standards of taste.'' His topics include ``Fasting, Gluttony, the Church and the State,'' ``Puritanism and Food,'' ``Male Chefs and Women Cooks,'' ``Women's Magazines,'' and a really masterly discussion of early English cookbooks and manuscripts. This book is well written, scholarly, and provocative; no reader interested in food history could ask for more. Joyce S. Toomre, Russian Research Ctr., Harvard Univ. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
