Penguin Companion to Food; Ultimate Reference
An Encyclopaedia of Ingredients, Dishes, History and Culture of Food
May 26, 2009
The Penguin Companion to Food fills a gap that would otherwise require a library of books. Cookery books do not cover the background to food and dishes. Books on the history of food tend to be narrowly focused on a specific region or cuisine.
Comprehensive Reference to the World of Cooking and Food
The content of The Penguin Companion to Food is comprehensive and covers the world of food from all corners of the globe. From 'Aardvark' to 'Zuppa Inglese' (English Soup - which it is not). It includes:
- Ingredients from Around the World
- Dishes – Ancient and Modern, Global
- Techniques and Equipment
- People – Cooks and Writers
The Penguin Companion to Food consists mainly of short articles arranged in alphabetical order interspersed with longer coverage of an occasional major topic such as ‘Apples’, ‘Maize’ or ‘Olives’. Apart from its value as a reference this format makes it an ideal book to dip into and allow serendipity to guide the browsing – it will while away many a happy hour.
No Recipes but Much Inspiration
Unusually for a book on food it contains no recipes – this was intentional. However the accomplished cook should be able to create reasonable facsimiles of some of the dishes from their description. That is not its purpose but it will inspire the reader to find recipes for dishes described and in doing so it will encourage further research.
The Author
Alan Davidson was a distinguished diplomat including being Ambassador to the USA. After taking early retirement he pursued a successful career as a food historian and writer with a particular interest in fish dishes.
The Companion to Food was originally intended to be a five year project that actually took twenty such is the scale of the work. The author was helped by many people as the extent of the acknowledgements and bibliography testifies. It all contributes to the completeness and range of the final work.
The Ultimate Reference to Food, Ingredients and Culinary History
The Penguin Companion to Food is a multi-purpose book. It starts as a straightforward reference book used like a dictionary or encyclopaedia as a source of answers to specific questions. However the writing and content is so good that it will be browsed for pleasure or inspiration. Anyone with a real interest in food should have this book on their shelves. For food writers and historians it is an essential reference.
Important and Timeless Reference
This is a book that will not age. The content is timeless and all that will be missing will be the latest fads and fashions which tend to come and go. It will only need to be replaced because the current copy has been worn out through constant use.
It would be all too easy to go on about The Penguin Companion to Food but the advice to a reader of this review with any interest in food or cooking is very simple: buy this book.
The Penguin Companion to Food (ISBN: 978-0-141 200163-5) by Alan Davidson was published in 2002 by Penguin priced at $30. It was a Winner of the James Beard Foundation/KitchenAid Book Award.
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