Onions and Garlic

A Global History

Nonfiction, Food & Drink
Cover of the book Onions and Garlic by Martha Jay, Reaktion Books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Martha Jay ISBN: 9781780236209
Publisher: Reaktion Books Publication: June 15, 2016
Imprint: Reaktion Books Language: English
Author: Martha Jay
ISBN: 9781780236209
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Publication: June 15, 2016
Imprint: Reaktion Books
Language: English

Look at any recipe for a savory dish and chances are it will start with this step: fry onions in a pan over medium heat. Onions—and their allium family relatives, shallots, garlic, chives, and leeks—are one of the most heavily used ingredients in cuisines all over the world. You’ll rarely find them in the spotlight, though—except for when they are fried into rings or used to repel vampires. In this book, Martha Jay gives alliums their due, offering an illuminating history of these cherished plants that follows the trail of their aromas to every corner of the globe and from ancient times up to today.
           
Going back to the earliest recipes from ancient Mesopotamia, Jay traces the spread of alliums along trade routes through Central Asia and into ancient Greece and Rome. Likewise she follows their spread in East Asia, where they have become indispensable, and of course into Europe and the Americas, where the onion—and its odor—gave rise to the name “Chicago” and the leek became the national symbol of Wales. Celebrated, denigrated, prescribed, and proscribed, onions, garlic, and their relatives can be found—as Jay lavishly demonstrates—in the histories of peasants and kings, in cuisine and art, in tales of colonization and those of resistance, and in medicinal cures and magical potions alike. Her book is a welcome celebration of some of the most important ingredients in the world. 

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Look at any recipe for a savory dish and chances are it will start with this step: fry onions in a pan over medium heat. Onions—and their allium family relatives, shallots, garlic, chives, and leeks—are one of the most heavily used ingredients in cuisines all over the world. You’ll rarely find them in the spotlight, though—except for when they are fried into rings or used to repel vampires. In this book, Martha Jay gives alliums their due, offering an illuminating history of these cherished plants that follows the trail of their aromas to every corner of the globe and from ancient times up to today.
           
Going back to the earliest recipes from ancient Mesopotamia, Jay traces the spread of alliums along trade routes through Central Asia and into ancient Greece and Rome. Likewise she follows their spread in East Asia, where they have become indispensable, and of course into Europe and the Americas, where the onion—and its odor—gave rise to the name “Chicago” and the leek became the national symbol of Wales. Celebrated, denigrated, prescribed, and proscribed, onions, garlic, and their relatives can be found—as Jay lavishly demonstrates—in the histories of peasants and kings, in cuisine and art, in tales of colonization and those of resistance, and in medicinal cures and magical potions alike. Her book is a welcome celebration of some of the most important ingredients in the world. 

More books from Reaktion Books

Cover of the book Making the Cut by Martha Jay
Cover of the book Zombies by Martha Jay
Cover of the book Gold by Martha Jay
Cover of the book Cultures of Collecting by Martha Jay
Cover of the book Unintended Consequences by Martha Jay
Cover of the book Joseph Cornell's Vision of Spiritual Order by Martha Jay
Cover of the book Boxing by Martha Jay
Cover of the book Brandy by Martha Jay
Cover of the book Japan's Cuisines by Martha Jay
Cover of the book The Mafia by Martha Jay
Cover of the book A Philosophy of Emptiness by Martha Jay
Cover of the book Playing at Home by Martha Jay
Cover of the book Offal by Martha Jay
Cover of the book Marcel Duchamp by Martha Jay
Cover of the book Pictures and Visuality in Early Modern China by Martha Jay
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy