The Oxford companion to American food and drink - Andrew F. Smith

Offering a panoramic view of the history and culture of food and drink in America with fascinating entries on everything from the smell of asparagus to the history of White Castle, and the origin of Bloody Marys to jambalaya, the Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink provides a concise, authoritative, and exuberant look at this modern American obsession. Ideal for the food scholar and food enthusiast alike, it is equally appetizing for anyonefascinated by Americana, capturing our culture and history through what we love most-food!
Building on the highly praised and deliciously browseable two-volume compendium the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, this new work serves up everything you could ever want to know about American consumables and their impact on popular culture and the culinary world. Within its pages for example, we learn that Lifesavers candy owes its success to the canny marketing idea of placing the original flavor, mint, next to cash registers at bars. Patrons who bought them tomask the smell of alcohol on their breath before heading home soon found they were just as tasty sober and the company began producing other flavors.
Edited by Andrew Smith, a writer and lecturer on culinary history, the Companion serves up more than just trivia however, including hundreds of entries on fast food, celebrity chefs, fish, sandwiches, regional and ethnic cuisine, food science, and historical food traditions. It also dispels a few commonly held myths. Veganism, isn't simply the practice of a few "hippies," but is in fact wide-spread among elite athletic circles. Many of the top competitors in the Ironman andUltramarathon events go even further, avoiding all animal products by following a strictly vegan diet. Anyone hungering to know what our nation has been cooking an eating for the last three centuries should own the Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink.
BL Nearly 1,000 articles on American food and drink, from the curious to the commonplace
BL Beautifully illustrated with hundreds of historical photographs and color images
BL Includes informative lists of food websites, museums, organizations, and festivals

Andrew F. Smith teaches culinary history and professional food writing at The New School University in Manhattan. He serves as a consultant to several food television productions (airing on the History Channel and the Food Network), and is the General Editor for the University of Illinois Press' Food Series. He also edited the highly acclaimed 2-volume Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America and has written several books on food, including The
Tomato in America, Pure Ketchup, Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn in America.

"Unique, fascinating, fun, and indispensable, The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink is a must for anyone interested in the food culture of America, from the professional che to the food writer to the lover of the table."-Jacques Ppin, star of Fast Food My Way, and author of The Apprentice

"Here are the facts. This impressive Oxford Companion presents a complex subject without fuss or frills."-Anne Willan, director of La Varenne at Chteau du Fe, author of La Varenne Pratique and The Good Cook

"I've always wondered what American food and drink was exactly. Now that I've read the Oxford Companion, it's clear and understandable. And what a story! Filled with unusual twists and turns and peopled with ordinary and extraordinary cooks, chefs, farmers, inventors, scientists, restauranteurs, and entrepreneurs, I found it, like good food, quite irresistible."-Burt Wolf