FOOD!! I love food books, cookbooks, pretty much any book that even mentions food (just kidding!) When I came across Food, Eating and Identity in Early Medieval England over at NetGalley I was intrigued by it and thought it would be a good fit for me. I love learning about different things and the Middles Ages is a time period that I am interested in so why not?
About the Book
Food in the Middle Ages usually evokes images of feasting, speeches, and special occasions, even though most evidence of food culture consists of fragments of ordinary things such as knives, cooking pots, and grinding stones, which are rarely mentioned by contemporary writers. This book puts daily life and its objects at the centre of the food world. It brings together archaeological and textual evidence to show how words and implements associated with food contributed to social identity at all levels of Anglo-Saxon society. It also looks at the networks which connected fields to kitchens and linked rural centres to trading sites. Fasting, redesigned field systems, and the place of fish in the diet are examined in a wide-ranging, interdisciplinary inquiry into the power of food to reveal social complexity.
My Thoughts
I admit that I thought this book would be a little more about food. It is mostly about equipment, context, nomenclature, and practices and is more academic than book.Not that it wasn’t an interesting read I was just hoping to learn a little more about the food. This is the perfect book for the historian r history lover in your life. It is full if information that many will find interesting.
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Based on the title, I would think it would have more to do with food also. I hate when I have a notion of what the book is about and then it doesn’t live up to it. It often makes me disappointed in “good” book. I have to learn not to try to guess what the book is about – just read it!
I thought it was more about food too and that is one of the reasons why I jumped at it. It was a decent book but I really would have loved to know more about food in the Middle Ages
I would have thought with the title it would have been about food, glad to know that it isn’t but I do love history
History wise it is great but the title could use a little work.
I was thinking it would be more about food also, but it looks like a interesting read with lots of things to learn and learning about history is always fun for me.
You are totally right, I was having visions of people eating big turkey legs and drinking from huge silver mugs. Lol I am kind of bummed it wasn’t more about food. I would have found that interesting.