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The Oxford Companion to Food (Hardcover)

by Alan Davidson (Author) "AARDVARK Orycteropus afer, an animal of southern Africa which is truly 'one of a kind': it has no relations, although it can be counted as..." (more)

4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Hardcover: 912 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press (Oct 14 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0192115790
ISBN-13: 978-0192115799
Product Dimensions: 28.4 x 23.4 x 4.8 cm
Shipping Weight: 3.1 Kg

Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #194,906 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in these categories:
#49 in Books > Nonfiction > Education > Reference > Encyclopedias > Cooking
#51 in Books > Reference > Encyclopedias > Cooking

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Product Description

From Amazon.com

Alan Davidson's Oxford Companion to Food has been over 20 years in the assembling, but here it is; and it is superlatively worth the wait. In fact, superlatives fall silent. A huge and authoritative dictionary of 2,650 entries on just about every conceivable foodstuff, seasoning, cuisine, cooking method, historical survey, significant personage, and explication of myth, it is supplemented by some 40 longer articles on key items. Davidson himself (no relation to this reviewer) contributes approximately 80 percent of the 2,650 entries, thereby guaranteeing high levels of erudition, readability, and deadpan feline wit. Since this is a monument intended to last, nothing so frivolous as a recipe is included. A decision taken early in the development of the project to abjure issues whose significance is largely topical has also ensured an agreeable high-mindedness--nothing on those crucial but essentially dreary topics of BSE and GM foods, for example.

If a fault could be found, it would only be that it's often difficult to read to the end of an entry, as the abundant cross-referencing all too easily sends one off to another entry, thence bouncing off to another, and all too soon the original is forgotten. A random alphabet of seductions might include: Aardvark, Botulism, Cup Cake, David (Elizabeth), Enzymes, Fat-Tailed Sheep, Gender/Sex and Food, Hallucinogenic Mushrooms, Ice Cream Sundae, Jewish Dietary Laws, Kangaroos, Lobscouse, Microwave Cooking, Norway, Offal, Puffin, Queen of Puddings, Roti, Scurvy, Termite Heap Mushroom (or Taillevant), Umeboshi, Vegetarianism, Washing up (a very elegant little article), sadly no X, Yin-yang, and Zabaglione. As this might show, Alan Davidson's aim, borrowed from Dumas's great Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine, that his work would appeal not only to persons of "serious character" but also those "of a much lighter disposition," is utterly fulfilled. --Robin Davidson, Amazon.co.uk

From Library Journal

This outstanding culinary reference is destined to become a classic, and Davidson, the book's editor and the author of many of its entries, deserves the eternal gratitude of researchers everywhere. With its 2650 alphabetically arranged entries as well as 39 longer articles on staples such as rice, the range of the work is impressive. Everything from individual ingredients, cooking terms, and prepared dishes to national cuisines and cookbooks and their authors is covered. Each entry is written in a clear, engaging style often seasoned with a dash of wit. The result is a perfect complement to another standard culinary reference work, Larousse Gastronomique (Crown, 1988. reprint), edited by Jennifer H. Lang. While there is some overlap, libraries will need both titles in their reference collections since each has its own strengths. Larousse includes recipes with many of its entries and often provides cooking hints, while Oxford provides more extensive treatment of plants, herbs, and even insects used in cooking and usually has more information on national cuisines. Even when the same topic is featured, such as ancient Greek cooking, there is enough difference in information between these two sources that readers will want to consult both. Highly recommended.AJohn Charles, Scottsdale P.L., AZ
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews

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5.0 out of 5 stars The Pengiun On My Cookshelf, Jun 22 2004

By	Elliot Essman (Larchmont, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Pengiun Companion (in its hardcover original the Oxford Companion to Food) runs more than a thousand pages and contains more than 2500 entries on every plant and animal product, every cooking tradition and technique, of any relevance to the well-schooled cook. It is universal in its scope, yet at the same time, how can I put this, British. A team of eminent culinary scholars put this one together. Now I know you're wondering, before anything else, if the flightless bird of the Antarctic itself is edible. The answer is, with some reservations, yes. The book's 500-word entry on its namesake ingredient shows at once the usual detail and characteristic humor of the Companion's approach. We are told that we are often reminded of the penguin by the paperback edition of a book or by "observing at social functions those few Englishmen who still dress up to look like waiters or penguins-it is never clear which." The problem with the technically edible penguin is that it eats only fish and hence tastes strongly like its diet. The penguin is most important in the food chain for the guano it leaves as waste, an excellent fertilizer. South Africans eat the eggs of some species of penguins.

British foods-"Yorkshire Pudding," "Cheshire Cheese," Scottish Haggis," and scores of others less known to us-get thorough treatments of course, but so do foods from all over the globe. One need only look at the companions to the "Penguin" entry in the Penguin Companion to learn something new about two quintessentially American food traditions. Move one up alphabetically from "Penguin" and you learn the essence of Pennsylvania Dutch cooking: the "interplay of sweet flavors against salty ones," sweet apples, for instance, combined with salty ham. The entry covers the usual explanation that the Pennsylvania Dutch aren't really Dutch at all; "Dutch" was originally a term used in America to refer to people who spoke German, a corruption, perhaps, of "Deutsch." Move one entry down from "Penguin" and you get a thorough entry on "Pemmican," the product of hardened preserved meat associated with native North Americans. The word, it seems, is derived from the Cree pimiy, meaning "grease." I've always known that small berries were added to a dried meat and fat mixture to make pemmican, but the Companion postulates a reason: the berries contain benzoic acid, a natural preservative, which inhibits bacterial growth. Skip up slightly and you get a full page on the important spice "Pepper." Move back a few and you get the full story on "Peking Duck." It's all here in exhaustive detail.

Not everyone is as insane as I was to read every entry, every page, but this masterpiece is truly a good companion. I'm still looking for another book to occupy me so thoroughly, for so long.

Food writer Elliot Essman's other reviews and food articles are available at www.stylegourmet.com

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5.0 out of 5 stars encyclopedic, Aug 1 2002

By	hal lewis (santa barbara, ca USA) - See all my reviews

Not only encyclopedic, but fun to read. Author has a sense of humor.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Foodies alert!, Aug 23 2001

By	Karen Sampson Hudson "Karen Sampson Hudson" (Reno, NV United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a book foodies will greatly savor, and anyone who eats will find it fascinating. Written in erudite, Oxbridge prose, it is not just a book for scholars; it's everything you always wanted to know about food, any kind of food, raised anywhere in the wide world.

The entries are arranged in alphabetical fashion to expedite your research whenever you have a question; you will also enjoy just leafing through this large volume, filled with intriguing food facts. It brings to mind one of my favorite Kipling couplets from childhood days, "The world is so full of a number of things, I think we should all be as happy as kings."

What a feast for the reader! It's well worth the money. My copy has pride of place on my kitchen cookbook shelf.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for every foodie
This is the ultimate guide for foodies -- nearly 900 pages of reference to all things edible (and some not). Read more

Published on Jun 11 2001 by The Webicurean

5.0 out of 5 stars A wildly entertaining dinner guest
The Companion, at some 800-plus pages, could charitably be described as "well fed," and thank goodness for it. Read more

Published on Jun 5 2001 by Christian P. Johnson

5.0 out of 5 stars Oxford Companion to Food
Simply superb, an unending source of pleasure. Consulting this book, leads you from topic to topic. The author communicates the fascination and history of food.

Published on Mar 6 2001 by lebalon

4.0 out of 5 stars looking for pumpkin-oil
first i have to mention that i live in austria (europe) and austria has a long long cooking history we are very proud of. Read more