Encyclopedia of Kitchen History

This encyclopedia provides an overview of the evolution of foods and cooking styles, food storage, utensils, and equipment from pre-history to the present day. The Encyclopedia of Kitchen History presents an A-to-Z overview of some 400 topics ranging from inventors like Alfred Fuller and Nils Dalen and such authors as Isabella Beeton and Charles Elme Francatelli, to baking, convenience foods, vermin, Roman cookery, Bakelite, ramadas, dumas, and genetic modification of food. Enhancing the text are detailed lists, including dyestuffs, herbs, types of faience and enameling, historic batteries de cuisine, and methods of flaking cutlery from chert and obsidian. Following generous cross-references, each entry concludes with a full list of source material from books, journals, newspapers, and online databases and news sources.

A thorough index directs the reader to the people, writings, recipes, inventions, processes, and foodstuffs that have formed the homemaker's history from the

Library Journal

The kitchen is the key to understanding society. At least according to prolific reference author Snodgrass (Historical Encyclopedia of Nursing), who believes that the way in which individuals prepare, consume, and preserve foods reveals much about their cultures. With almost 300 alphabetically arranged entries, which range in length from a paragraph to several pages, Snodgrass covers the historical evolution of the kitchen and its roles in different societies, famous individuals such as cookbook authors and inventors, selected foods and comestibles, kitchen equipment and tools, and methods of food preparation, preservation, and storage. While this work is similar to Scribner's excellent three-volume Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, there are some differences. With its 600 contributions from a wide selection of culinary experts, Encyclopedia of Food and Culture offers detailed information on the cuisines of different countries and more entries on individual foods. Snodgrass focuses more on individuals in the culinary arts, especially those from other European countries and Asia, and includes more separate entries on various types of kitchen tools and equipment. Even when the same topic, such as bread or Eliza Leslie, is covered, there are enough subtle differences in style and content to merit the inclusion of both works in culinary reference collections, where budgets warrant. Bottom Line Public libraries with limited funds can still rely solely on The Oxford Companion to Food and Larousse Gastronomique for general culinary questions, but larger public and academic libraries, especially those with a demand for resources in the culinary arts, will want to consider this work.-John Charles, Scottsdale P.L., AZ Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.