Near a Thousand Tables

A History of Food

F
ELIPE
F
ERNÁNDEZ
-A
RMESTO

FREE PRESS

NEW YORK • LONDON • TORONTO • SYDNEY

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RAISE FOR
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EAR A
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HOUSAND
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ABLES

“An appetizingly provocative book … Who cannot appreciate [a] superb description of the proper way to eat an oyster?”

—
Los Angeles Times

“This survey of gastronomic lore can't be beat.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“
Near a Thousand Tables
belongs to that excellent … genre, the ‘brief history'. … [A] short, lively rundown on the subject. Bright, run, and naughty.”

—
The New Yorker

“Whether you are content with bread or your taste instead runs to snails or human flesh, you will take away from this book a new appreciation of your favorite menu.”

—Jared M. Diamond, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning
Guns, Germs, and Steel

“With gusto and analytical savvy, [Fernández-Armesto] traces the long and complex evolution of food since the Middle Ages. After reading this book, you'll never think of eating the same again. Highly recommended!”

—Douglas Brinkley, director, Eisenhower Center for American Studies

“As interesting to the hungry man in the street as it is to the austere academic.”

—
The Wall Street Journal
(Europe)

“A sparkling ramble through history which scatters countless pointers to new research along the way. It is intellectual history, but not in the least arid: His opinions are strong, but supremely palatable.”

—
Financial Times
(London)

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REE
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Copyright © 2002 by Felipe Fernández-Armesto

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

First Free Press trade paperback edition 2004

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DESIGNED BY KEVIN HANEK

SET IN ADOBE JENSON

Manufactured in the United States of America

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Fernández-Armesto, Felipe

Near a thousand tables: a history of food / Felipe Fernández-Armesto.

p.   cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Food—History. I. Title.

TX353.F437 2002

641.3′009—dc21   2002023318

ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-2740-7 (Pbk)

ISBN-10:   0-7432-2740-9 (Pbk)

eISBN-13: 978-0-743-23415-3

Preface

ONE
The Invention of Cooking
The First Revolution

TWO
The Meaning of Eating
Food as Rite and Magic

THREE
Breeding to Eat
The Herding Revolution: From “Collecting” Food to “Producing” It

FOUR
The Edible Earth
Managing Plant Life for Food