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Title: Chilies to Chocolate: Food the Americas Gave the World by Nelson Foster, Linda S. Cordell ISBN: 0-8165-1324-4 Publisher: University of Arizona Press Pub. Date: September, 1992 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.51 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Packs a Lot Into a Small Volume
Comment: This book is just what it purports to be in the preface: a series of stand-alone articles taken from a program presented at the American Academy of Sciences. Therefore, it is not a comprehensive treatment of all foods from the Americas. What it does cover are in-depth chapters on various American foods that the authors deem to be most important, especially in the future. While I didn't find the book difficult to put down between readings, I was always eager to pick it up again.
I am listing the chapter titles here because I think they are an excellent representation of what is actually covered in the book: Europeans' Wary Encounter with Tomatoes, Potatoes, and Other New World Foods; The Renaissance of Amaranth; Vanilla, the Nectar of the Gods; Maize, the Gift from America's First Peoples; Beans of the Americas; The Chili Pepper, and Diffusion of the Domesticated Capsicums Since Columbus; Forgotten Roots (plant roots) of the Incas; The History and Botany of Cacao; Quinoa's Roundabout Journey to World Use; and the Epilogue: Native Crops of the Americas, Passing Novelties, or Lasting Contributions to Diversity.
The book could have been improved by a short section of color photographs of the plants discussed, showing what they are, and how they grow. I didn't know what amaranth was, and had to look it up elsewhere. Even though I have eaten quinoa, other people might not know what it is. But to be fair, the authors come right out and say that this book is far from a comprehensive treatment, and they assume that interested readers can do supplementary research on their own (very easy with an on-line encyclopaedia).
I began this book with a fair background knowledge of the subject; yet, I learned a lot of new information. Some of the most interesting things I learned were many new facts about vanilla; about the two major pathways by which corn was domesticated, and the naming of various corn stalks; how quinoa came to be first grown in Colorado, as the first place outside of the Andes; why quinoa was difficult to grow in Colorado, in spite of it being a high-altitude crop; and about many other interesting and potentially useful root crops from the Andes, which I had never heard of.
Rating: 3
Summary: Much Needed Contribution
Comment: A book like this is greatly needed by the americas, since Europe still believes that she has given everything to us. Unfortunately, the book is too short. A broader, more profound history of produce, products, etc that America has given the world is still needed.
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Title: The True History of Chocolate by Sophie D. Coe, Michael D. Coe ISBN: 0500282293 Publisher: Thames & Hudson Pub. Date: October, 2000 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: America's First Cuisines by Sophie D. Coe ISBN: 029271159X Publisher: Univ of Texas Press Pub. Date: 1994 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Potato : How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World by Larry Zuckerman ISBN: 0865475784 Publisher: North Point Press Pub. Date: 25 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Plants, People, and Culture: The Science of Ethnobotany by Michael J. Balick, Paul Alan Cox ISBN: 0716760274 Publisher: W H Freeman & Co. Pub. Date: September, 1997 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Latin American Art of the 20th Century (The World of Art) by Edward Lucie-Smith ISBN: 0500202605 Publisher: Thames & Hudson Pub. Date: May, 1993 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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