Rice : A Global History - Renee Marton

Rice

A Global History

By: Renee Marton

Hardcover | 1 December 2014

At a Glance

Hardcover


RRP $27.99

$27.90

or 4 interest-free payments of $6.97 with

Aims to ship in 5 to 10 business days

From jambalaya to risotto, curry to nasi kandar, few foods are as ubiquitous in our meals as rice. A dietary staple and indispensable agricultural product from Asia to the Americas, the grain can be found in Michelin restaurants and family kitchens alike. In this engaging culinary history, Renee Marton explores the role rice has played in society and the food economy as it journeyed from its beginnings in Asia and West Africa to global prominence.

Examining the early years of rice's burgeoning popularity, Marton shows that trade of the grain was driven by profit from both high status export rice and the lower-quality versions that fed countless laborers. In addition to urbanization and the increase in marketing and advertising, she reveals that rice's rise to supremacy also came through its consumption by slave, indentured servant, and immigrant communities. She also considers the significance rice has in cultural rituals, literature, music, painting, and poetry. She even shows how the specific rice one consumes can have great importance in distinguishing one's identity within an ethnic group. Chock full of delicious recipes from across the globe, Rice is a fascinating look at how this culinary staple has defined us.
Industry Reviews
"Historical anecdotes and evocative descriptions of meals certainly whet the appetite for cooking up, or ordering in, rice for dinner. In broad brush strokes Marton recounts the movement of rice through the ages. . . . The book does a nice job of illustrating the long global history of rice and the many ways in which cultures have turned rice into a food and a symbol. It is an accessible source on the past 1,000 years or so of rice history, nicely illustrated with colour photographs of rice meals, tools, and historical depictions, from a sixteenth-century Persian sultan receiving rice to an 1866 rice harvest in South Carolina. If you have never really thought much about where the rice you eat comes from, then this book will open your eyes to how global and cross-cultural the story of rice has been and will offer some alternative recipes by which to try a taste of this history." -- "Nature Plants"

A Global History of Food

Doughnut : A Global History - Heather DeLancey Hunwick

RRP $27.99

$27.90

Moonshine : A Global History : Edible - Kevin R. Kosar
Pomegranate : A Global History - Damien Stone

RRP $27.99

$27.90

Edible Flowers : A Global History : The Edible Series - Constance L. Kirker
Pasta and Noodles : A Global History - Kantha Shelke

RRP $27.99

$27.90

Bread : A Global History : The Edible Series - William Rubel
Rum : A Global History : The Edible Series - Richard Foss
Ice Cream : A Global History : The Edible Series - Laura B. Weiss
Dates : A Global History : The Edible Series - Nawal Nasrallah
Potato : A Global History : The Edible Series - Andrew F. Smith
Sandwich :  A Global History : The Edible Series - Bee Wilson
Tea : A Global History : The Edible Series - Helen Saberi
Chocolate : A Global History : The Edible Series - Sarah Moss
Figs : A Global History - David Sutton

RRP $27.99

$27.90

Sausage : A Global History - Gary Allen

RRP $27.99

$27.90

Honey : A Global History - Lucy M. Long

RRP $27.99

$27.90

Melon : A Global History - Sylvia Lovegren

$24.99

Onions and Garlic : A Global History - Martha Jay
Tequila : A Global History - Ian Williams

RRP $27.99

$27.90

Gin : A Global History - Leslie Jacobs Solmonson

RRP $27.99

$27.90

Vodka : A Global History : The Edible Series - Patricia Herlihy