More H-Net Reviews: Why Popcorn, Ketchup, and Bananas Go So Well Together

Andrew F. Smith. _Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn in
America_. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001. xxi + 264 pp.
Illustrations, recipes, notes, index. $16.95 (paper), ISBN
1-56098-921-1.

Andrew F. Smith. _Pure Ketchup: A History of America's National
Condiment_. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001. xiii + 242
pp. Illustrations, recipes, notes, bibliography, index. $16.95 (paper),
ISBN 1-56098-993-9.

Virginia Scott Jenkins. _Bananas: An American History_. Washington:
Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000. xiii + 210 pp. Illustrations,
recipes, notes, index. $16.95 (paper), ISBN 1-56098-966-1.

Reviewed for H-Amstdy@h-net.msu.edu by Trudy Eden, Department of
History, University of Northern Iowa.


Why Popcorn, Ketchup, and Bananas Go So Well Together

Review of Essence of Japanese Cuisine

H-NET BOOK REVIEW
Cross-posted from H-US-Japan@h-net.msu.edu (August, 2001)

Michael Ashkenazi and Jeanne Jacob. _The Essence of Japanese
Cuisine: An Essay on Food and Culture_. Richmond and Surrey: Curzon
Press, 2000. xiii + 252 pp. Map, photos, bibliographies, glossary
and index. $45.00 (cloth), ISBN 0-7007-1085-X.

Reviewed for H-US-Japan by Jonathan Dresner ,
Department of History, Coe College

Boston University Library: Gastronomy Research Guide

From the Boston University Library:
Gastronomy Research Guide

This guide lists reference sources, bibliographic tools and association pages.

Archaeology and Politics of Food and Feasting in Early States and Empires

The Archaeology and Politics of Food and Feasting in Early States and Empires
Bray, Tamara L. (Ed.)
2003, 304 p., Softcover
ISBN: 978-0-306-47771-3



from publisher...

Food and feasting are increasingly recognized as having played a prominent role in the emergence of social hierarchies and the negotiation of power. Given the culinary nature of feasts, the archaeological visibility of such events is increased by the use of containers for both food preparation and consumption. The papers in this volume examine the commensal politics of early states and empires and offer a comparative perspective on how food and feasting have figured in the political calculus of archaic states in both the Old and New Worlds.
The contributors provide important new insights into the strategies of early statecraft and the role of pots as political tools by focusing on questions such as:

-What was the nature of the relationship between food, power, status, and identity in the context of early states?
-Was feasting a universally important element in the construction of state power?
-How do archaeologically discernible patterns of state feasting compare cross-culturally and through time?