A History of Cookbooks: From Kitchen to Page over Seven Centuries

Author(s): Henry Notaker

Cook Books

A History of Cookbooks provides a sweeping literary and historical overview of the cookbook genre, exploring its development as a part of food culture beginning in the Late Middle Ages. Studying cookbooks from various Western cultures and languages, Henry Notaker traces the transformation of recipes from brief notes with ingredients into detailed recipes with a specific structure, grammar, and vocabulary. In addition, he reveals that cookbooks go far beyond offering recipes: they tell us a great deal about nutrition, morals, manners, history, and menus while often providing entertaining reflections and commentaries. This innovative book demonstrates that cookbooks represent an interesting and important branch of nonfiction literature.

General Information

  • : 9780520294004
  • : University of California Press
  • : University of California Press
  • : 05 September 2017
  • : United States
  • : books

Other Specifications

  • : Henry Notaker
  • : Hardback
  • : 1
  • : 641.309
  • : 400
  • : 33 b/w photos

More About The Product

Henry Notaker is a literary historian who taught courses in food culture and history for over a decade. He was a foreign correspondent for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and a TV host of arts and letters shows and documentaries. He is the author of numerous books and articles on European and Latin American contemporary history, food history, and culinary literature.