BITE BY BITE

A history of American food, from traditional Native American salmon feasts to oat milk.

Rightly calling out the fallacy of regarding apple pie or any other food as quintessentially “American,” the authors have enlisted feedback from a squad of food historians to highlight dishes and cuisines that have earned significant places in this country’s story. Along the way, they clearly demonstrate how much of what we eat has been influenced by the cultures of immigrants, as well as how national borders have proved little if any barrier to free exchanges of culinary practices and components. Backed up by a hefty load of discursive source notes but generally free of recipes, photos, or even evocative sensory impressions, the discourse has a cerebral cast. Still, it’s loaded with fascinating facts about regional types of pizza, the origins of nachos and General Tso’s chicken, the histories of the Automat and of the renowned New York eatery Mamma Leone’s, how Howard Johnson’s pioneered the idea of franchising, and the recent rebirth of urban farmers markets, among other topics. The book includes nods to major foodstuffs such as corn and rice, plus side dishes from camas and jambalaya to maraschino cherries. Better yet, readers will come away with a food-forward overview of the “waves of prejudice and progress” that have characterized our multicultural history, not dating from 1492 or 1619 but from thousands of years ago. Final art not seen.

More appealing to the brain than to the stomach, but nutritious nonetheless.