William Sitwell

The ingredients, cooks, techniques and tools that have shaped our love of food. We all love to eat and most of us have a favourite ingredient or dish. In today's world we can get the food we want, when we want it, but how many of us really know where our much-loved recipes come from, who invented them and how they were originally cooked? In this book William Sitwell, culinary expert on BBC2's 'A Question of Taste' and editor of Waitrose Kitchen magazine, takes us on a colourful, whirlwind journey as he explores the fascinating history of cuisine. This book is a celebration of the great dishes, techniques and above all brilliant cooks who have, over the centuries, created the culinary landscape we now enjoy. Any lover of fine food who has ever wondered about the origins of the methods and recipes we now take for granted will find A History of Food in 100 Recipes required reading. As well as shining a light on food's glorious past, there are contributions from a glittering array of stars of British cuisine, including Marco Pierre White, Delia Smith, Heston Blumenthal, Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver. In an incisive and humorous narrative, Sitwell enters an Egyptian tomb to reveal the earliest recipe for bread and discovers the greatest party planner of the Middle Ages. He uncovers the extraordinary and poetic roots of the roast dinner and tells the heart-rending story of the forgotten genius who invented the pressure cooker. And much, much more.

Kniha nezůstává nic dlužna svému názvu: autor shromáždil pozoruhodné a význačné recepty, počínaje jednoduchými pokrmy z Bible a klínopisných tabulek a konče haute cuisine moderní doby. Postupuje chronologicky, počínaje chlebem ze starověkého Egypta, putuje po všech kulturách a regionech, všímá si zmínek o jídle v antických pramenech i severských ságách, zmiňuje přelomové i nadčasové kuchařské knihy, jmenuje osobnosti jako Brillat-Savarin nebo Julie Childová. Nejde o kuchařku, nikdo netvrdí, že všechna jídla, o kterých Sitwell píše, si čtenář může i uvařit, ale o zábavné a překvapivé nahlédnutí do dějin člověka a jeho kultury.

Find here the ingredients, cooks, techniques and tools that have shaped our love of food in this lavishly illustrated book. The history of food and cooking is the history of civilisation. In today's world we can get food from just about anywhere, at any time of day, but how many of us know exactly where our much-loved recipes come from, who invented them, and how they were originally prepared? In this richly entertaining book, food writer William Sitwell explores the fascinating history of cuisine from the first cookbook to the first cupcake, from the invention of the sandwich to the rise of food television. His engaging and witty narrative uncovers the earliest recipes tucked within Egyptian tomb walls and medieval manuscripts and shines a light on the many trends and technological innovations that have shaped the way we eat over hundreds of years.

The fascinating story of how we have gone out to eat, from the ancient Romans in Pompeii to the luxurious Michelin-starred restaurants of today. Tracing its earliest incarnations in the city of Pompeii, where Sitwell is stunned by the sophistication of the dining scene, this is a romp through history as we meet the characters and discover the events that shape the way we eat today. Sitwell, restaurant critic for the Daily Telegraph and famous for his acerbic criticisms on the hit BBC show MasterChef, tackles this enormous subject with his typical wit and precision. He spies influences from an ancient traveller of the Muslim world, revels in the unintended consequences for nascent fine dining of the French Revolution, reveals in full hideous glory the post-Second World War dining scene in the UK and fathoms the birth of sensitive gastronomy in the US counterculture of the 1960s. This is a story of the ingenuity of the human race as individuals endeavour to do that most fundamental of things: to feed people. It is a story of art, politics, revolution, desperate need and decadent pleasure. Sitwell, a familiar face in the UK and a figure known for the controversy he attracts, provides anyone who loves to dine out, or who loves history, or who simply loves a good read with an accessible and humorous history. The Restaurant is jam-packed with extraordinary facts; a book to read eagerly from start to finish or to spend glorious moments dipping in to. It may be William Sitwell's History of Eating Out, but it's also the definitive story of one of the cornerstones of our culture. show less