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REVIEW BY CH
Packed with more than 300 illustrations, this wide-ranging book is as much a feast for the eyes as it is a fascinating exploration of humanity’s relationship with food. Throughout history and across cultures, one thing that unites all of us is that we need to eat to survive – and this drive has also inspired technological innovations, artistic outpourings, and religious rites, leaving deep and diverse marks on the archaeological record.
In this enjoyable overview, food writer Jenny Linford delves into the collections of the British Museum, spanning thousands of years and a vast sweep of geography, in order to discuss not only what past populations ate, but how communities have fed themselves through time, and how necessity and curiosity have shaped cultures and societies across the world. Over the course of around 250 pages, Linford lays before us a truly satisfying smörgåsbord of topics, beginning with the earliest evidence of hunting, foraging, and fishing, and the watershed impact of agriculture and the more settled lifestyles that farming facilitated c.12,000 years ago. Trade, travel, and colonial expansion are also on the menu, demonstrating how culinary interests and the desire to control certain commodities have broadened both our dietary and geographical horizons. (Linford does not ignore the impact of such expeditions on the indigenous populations whose foodstuffs we now take for granted.)
Elsewhere, we examine the many social rules and relationships that are inextricably bound up in food culture, from traditions of hospitality to how what we eat (or do not eat) can define identities – as well as the ways in which shared meals are used to mark major life events and to forge bonds within and between groups. Religious practices represent another key theme, ranging from feasting and fasting to strictures relating to animal-slaughter and food-preparation, and for those with more of a thirst to learn about the past, you can also read about the importance of coffee and tea, and humanity’s long, varied, and sometimes complicated relationship with alcohol. This is more than an absorbing journey through the past, however: ending with a thought-provoking chapter on sustainability, the book has much to say about the present, too.
Repast: the story of food
Jenny Linford
Thames & Hudson, £30
ISBN 978-0500481158
