The Carrot Purple and other Curious Stories of the Food We Eat (Rowman & Littlefield Studies in Food and Gastronomy)

Synopsis

How many otherwise well-educated readers know that the familiar orange carrot was once a novelty? It is a little more than 400 years old. Domesticated in Afghanistan in 900 AD, the purple carrot, in fact, was the dominant variety until Dutch gardeners bred the young upstart in the seventeenth century. After surveying paintings from this era in the Louvre and other museums, Dutch agronomist Otto Banga discovered this stunning transformation.

The story of the carrot is just one of the hidden tales this book recounts. Through portraits of a wide range of foods we eat and love, from artichokes to strawberries, The Carrot Purple traces the path of foods from obscurity to familiarity. Joel Denker explores how these edible plants were, in diverse settings, invested with new meaning. They acquired not only culinary significance but also ceremonial, medicinal, and economic importance. Foods were variously savored, revered, and reviled.

This entertaining history will enhance the reader’s appreciation of a wide array of foods we take for granted. From the carrot to the cabbage, from cinnamon to coffee, from the peanut to the pistachio, the plants, beans, nuts, and spices we eat have little-known stories that are unearthed and served here with relish.

Copyright:

2015

Book Details

Book Quality:

Excellent

Book Size:

325 Pages

ISBN-13:

9781442248854

Publisher:

Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Incorporated

Date of Addition:

02/22/24

Copyrighted By:

© 2015 by Rowman & Littlefield

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Nonfiction, Cooking, Food and Wine, Technology, Earth Sciences

Submitted By:

170

Proofread By:

170

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.