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Værker af Sylvia Lovegren

Melon : a global history (2016) 20 eksemplarer

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female
Nationalitet
USA
Fødested
Midland Park, NJ

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Unfortunately, my copy was not "delightfully illustrated".

I love food books. I love history of food books. I really love history of American food books.

This book is a quick read, mainly because so much of the book is recipes. I enjoyed Sylvia Lovegren's sense of humor - who can't resist poking fun at Spam and gelatin salads? Poke fun she does. It's a pretty quick history through the decades. Some of this stuff I knew, some I didn't know. I did like that she quoted from quite a few cookbooks that I actually own.

There were a few downsides for me.

1 - It was written in the mid-90's so there is still 20 more years of food history to cover! I'm missing the advent of the internet, of the Food Network, of America's Test Kitchens. She mentions that Tibetan food never caught on in this country. I can think of a few Tibetan restaurants but it could be my location or they could be more recent than this book. She would mention trends that have passed and I'd think - isn't that really IN right now? Maybe I'm wrong, or maybe certain foods have cycled in and out. 20 years is a long time. And with some trends that are decidedly passe (according to the author), I'm just now becoming aware of them. Maybe I'm out of touch?

2 - The first few decades focus on home-cooking and the last few decades focused on eating out. Admittedly, we started eating out more and more as the decades progressed. But I found the last few decades lacking as far as what was really happening in middle class households. I did not run in the circles that ate haute cuisine or nouveau cuisine and although she would mention how some high end fads made their way into home kitchens, I felt it wasn't truly representative of how I ate or how the people I knew ate. We learned about nachos in the early 80's at sporting events. There was Isadora and her avocado plant in the 1970's. There's a lot of little things on how I perceive food that wasn't touched on in this book.

3 - And what's with the hatred of the Baby Boomers? Is Sylvia Lovegren a different generation? I'm not sure. After her statement that the last of the Baby Boomers passed their 30 year milestone by 1980, I think she is a bit off in her dates. The last Boomers hit the big 3-OH about the time she was writing this book! And maybe the selfish, narcissistic, me-first Boomers did strongly influence the food from 1970 on, but the constant haranguing she gave those people was a little tiresome.

Anyway, the book was fun (generally) but it left me wanting so much more. She barely, barely mentioned that women had to go into the work force and food changed because of that. She didn't mention the advent of home freezers and the development of frozen foods, although she does mention frozen foods in her recipes. But I realize she had a lot to cover and she does say she has to skim over a few things.
… (mere)
 
Markeret
Chica3000 | 3 andre anmeldelser | Dec 11, 2020 |
When I wanted to be entertained and learn a bit about American culinary history, Fashionable Food: Seven Decades of Food Fads (1995) was suggested

Beginning in the 1920s, the reader observes the food experience post WWI (the average man to upper crust).
It proceeds on, including domestic innovations that would allow the continual evolution of what Americans put on the dinner place.

Chapters cover decades (the twenties to the nineties) with an occasional exotic interlude chapter.

I found the book to be a culinary journey that is both lively and informative.

4 ★
… (mere)
 
Markeret
pennsylady | 3 andre anmeldelser | Jan 31, 2016 |
A great review of cultural and technological development in the US from the 1920's to the '90's and how this has been reflected in popular foods. Also recipes!
 
Markeret
Meisje | 3 andre anmeldelser | Jan 24, 2009 |
What a treat! I've read this so many times. Lovegren discusses food "fashions" from the 20s to the early 90s (thus missing the enduring coffee shop phenomenon), sharing good "keeper" recipes and scarier ones that didn't last, like some of the 20s weirdo salads and other strange concoctions. It is such fun. A must read for anyone who loves reading about food and food history.
 
Markeret
Ananda | 3 andre anmeldelser | Oct 8, 2006 |

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203
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