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The Secret History of Food
- Strange but True Stories About the Origins of Everything We Eat
- Narrated by: Roger Wayne
- Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins
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Publisher's Summary
An irreverent, surprising, and entirely entertaining look at the little-known history surrounding the foods we know and love.
Is Italian olive oil really Italian, or are we dipping our bread in lamp oil? Why are we masochistically drawn to foods that can hurt us, like hot peppers? Far from being a classic American dish, is apple pie actually...English?
“As a species, we’re hardwired to obsess over food”, Matt Siegel explains as he sets out “to uncover the hidden side of everything we put in our mouths”. Siegel also probes subjects ranging from the myths - and realities - of food as aphrodisiac, to how one of the rarest and most exotic spices in all the world (vanilla) became a synonym for uninspired sexual proclivities, to the role of food in fairy and morality tales. He even makes a well-argued case for how ice cream helped defeat the Nazis.
The Secret History of Food is a rich and satisfying exploration of the historical, cultural, scientific, sexual, and, yes, culinary subcultures of this most essential realm. Siegel is an armchair Anthony Bourdain, armed not with a chef’s knife but with knowledge derived from medieval food-related manuscripts, ancient Chinese scrolls, and obscure culinary journals. Funny and fascinating, The Secret History of Food is essential listening for all foodies.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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What listeners say about The Secret History of Food
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Performance
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- Not Public
- 09-11-21
Really interesting! Little darker than I thought…
I enjoyed this book. Nice little “snack” book, a quick listen. The narration was fantastic! It was really engaging and I loved how the narrator used voices/characters/impressions on the quotes! That was really fun! The book was interesting & engaging but I must admit it was a little darker than I thought it would be. It was still good but a lot of the info was hard to swallow (pun intended).
5 people found this helpful
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- Becca Crouch
- 06-01-22
Good, but could be edited to be more appropriate
The facts of the history of food is interesting and even eye opening in some places. It does leave me reconsidering some foods I consume, and wondering who to trust. But the author uses language that is unnecessary. Swearing just shows a lack of intelligence. Sex is brought up quite a bit, so the book is not family friendly, though it does show the depravity of humans from the beginning of time. I find it interesting that the author references to Christian faith quite a few times in the book, but yet seems to hold a personal view that is the opposite.
2 people found this helpful
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- MGV
- 01-24-22
Entertaining but expected more
This was a fun book on a long road trip, but I expected more educational value from it. I was entertained though and it was easy to listen to.
2 people found this helpful
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- Kelly Hetherington
- 01-22-22
If you’re a foodie, it’s dull
I’ve been fascinated by food anthropology and food history for a long time. MFK Fisher, Michael Pollan, many others have written on food and world evolution. This book seemed a repeat, and not so much secret to me. Maybe I’m a good history geek but I wouldn’t recommend this unless you’re looking for a good nap.
2 people found this helpful
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- Jennifer C.
- 11-07-21
Entertaining and Informative
The history of American food told in a non-dried out manner that will keep you listening and rethink your grocery list.
2 people found this helpful
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- George Young
- 10-19-22
Listen before or long after dinner
This is a delightful listen! I love the various stories and it's nice to see corn and honey getting their due as dreadful to human life!
I, unfortunately, was eating lunch as listened to the section on honey. Quaffing honey from a container found in an Egyptian grave might be silly to start with, then being unfamiliar with their practice of coating body parts in it for preservation can only lead to, well, vomiting: for the participant and the listener!!! Yikes!
Roger Wayne brilliantly delivers this material with charm and, well, gusto, as required.
George Young
Montreal, Canada
1 person found this helpful
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- andre
- 08-29-22
no content
pop fear trivia. without deep research or any real content. great foe cocktail party did-ya-knows and not much dept aside from surface level Wikipedia style researched trivia. lack of effort from the author
1 person found this helpful
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- R. Klein
- 06-25-22
Tasty Treat
I enjoyed listening to this book. Nothing profound, really, but an enjoyable, meandering romp through some history of food, and how people think about (digest?) food. There are interesting, and frankly, entertaining peeks into some historical perceptions of now-common foods. What, for example, was deemed poison even though it isn't; examples of fantasies some cultures have whipped up about food; some insight into the abundance of food now available, and why, despite having foods once reserved for the royalty available at the corner store, people aren't particularly enchanted or impressed with their options.
The narration is terrific. Some little side comments come off well, instigating an out loud laugh here and there. Some of the points are thought provoking - such as why almost unlimited choices aren't always a good thing.
The section on olive oil is a little disheartening, because it quantifies the amount of fraud and adulteration that goes on in that "healthy" business.
The book probably won't change your life. It might not even impact your shopping or eating habits. But I found a lot of interesting facts and stories "within its covers." Roger Wayne made it even more interesting as narrator (and tour guide).
The pdf file that comes with the book is merely a list of citations/references.
1 person found this helpful
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- Florinette
- 06-14-22
Interesting information, wish it was longer
I wish there were more chapters on different foods, but it’s a pretty good book. Some of the information is depressing (in regards to quality of food today), but the author does a good job of keeping things lighthearted. Some topics interested me more than others but I guess that’s a good thing since it means there’s variety - Some of the focus on food is of it’s history and how it was cultivated while other times it talks more about the culture around it.
Anyway, this is a fun, easy listen if you want to learn about a few random foods as well as food culture of the past and of today.
1 person found this helpful
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- KellysHero718
- 06-08-22
Interesting
Interesting and surprisingly entertaining. It’s hard to beat good research and good writing, with a topic so common to us all.
1 person found this helpful
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- By Dulce on 02-15-23
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Food: A Cultural Culinary History
- By: Ken Albala, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Ken Albala
- Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins
- Original Recording
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Eating is an indispensable human activity. As a result, whether we realize it or not, the drive to obtain food has been a major catalyst across all of history, from prehistoric times to the present. Epicure Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin said it best: "Gastronomy governs the whole life of man."
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One of my top 3 favorite courses!
- By Jessica on 12-28-13
By: Ken Albala, and others
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An Edible History of Humanity
- By: Tom Standage
- Narrated by: George K. Wilson
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Throughout history, food has acted as a catalyst of social change, political organization, geopolitical competition, industrial development, military conflict, and economic expansion. An Edible History of Humanity is a pithy, entertaining account of how a series of changes---caused, enabled, or influenced by food---has helped to shape and transform societies around the world.
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Flawed, but worthwhile
- By Ary Shalizi on 12-28-17
By: Tom Standage
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The Taste of Empire
- How Britain's Quest for Food Shaped the Modern World
- By: Lizzie Collingham
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Taste of Empire, acclaimed historian Lizzie Collingham tells the story of how the British Empire's quest for food shaped the modern world. Told through 20 meals over the course of 450 years, from the Far East to the New World, Collingham explains how Africans taught Americans how to grow rice, how the East India Company turned opium into tea, and how Americans became the best-fed people in the world.
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Overall really interesting and informative
- By Amazon Customer on 01-01-21
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Consider the Fork
- A History of How We Cook and Eat
- By: Bee Wilson
- Narrated by: Alison Larkin
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Since prehistory, humans have braved the business ends of knives, scrapers, and mashers, all in the name of creating something delicious - or at least edible. In Consider the Fork, award-winning food writer and historian Bee Wilson traces the ancient lineage of our modern culinary tools, revealing the startling history of objects we often take for granted. Charting the evolution of technologies from the knife and fork to the gas range and the sous-vide cooker, Wilson offers unprecedented insights.
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For the foodie/science geek/history buff in you
- By Nothing really matters on 08-30-14
By: Bee Wilson
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Food Americana
- The Remarkable People and Incredible Stories behind America's Favorite Dishes
- By: David Page
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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America is more than just a fast food nation. Food Americana is the inside story of how generations of Americans have formed a national cuisine with tastes from all over the world. Fried chicken was a distinctly Southern dish - now it's the Sunday night special at the Chateau Marmont Hotel in Hollywood. A Utah restaurant won Maine's annual Best Lobster Roll competition. And perhaps the ultimate all-American dish, pizza, is served up in 30 different styles, a total of three billion pies a year, an average of 23 pounds for each of us.
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Will induce hunger
- By Amanda on 04-15-21
By: David Page
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On Spice
- Advice, Wisdom, and History with a Grain of Saltiness
- By: Caitlin PenzeyMoog
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Every home cook has thoughts on the right and wrong ways to use spices. These beliefs are passed down in family recipes and pronounced by television chefs, but where do such ideas come from? Many are little better than superstition, and most serve only to reinforce a cook's sense of superiority or cover for their insecurities. It doesn't have to be this way. These notes On Spice come from three generations of a family in the spice trade, and dozens upon dozens of their collected spice guides and stories.
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Super informative!
- By Dulce on 02-15-23
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Science and Cooking
- Physics Meets Food, from Homemade to Haute Cuisine
- By: Michael Brenner, Pia Sörensen, David Weitz
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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The spectacular culinary creations of modern cuisine are the stuff of countless articles and social media feeds. But to a scientist they are also perfect pedagogical explorations into the basic scientific principles of cooking. In Science and Cooking, Harvard professors Michael Brenner, Pia Sörensen, and David Weitz bring the classroom to your kitchen to teach the physics and chemistry underlying every recipe.
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A good book - with some winning points
- By Chris L. on 07-17-21
By: Michael Brenner, and others
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Animal, Vegetable, Junk
- A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal
- By: Mark Bittman
- Narrated by: Mark Bittman
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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The story of humankind is usually told as one of technological innovation and economic influence—of arrowheads and atomic bombs, settlers and stock markets. But behind it all, there is an even more fundamental driver: Food. In Animal, Vegetable, Junk, trusted food authority Mark Bittman offers a panoramic view of how the frenzy for food has driven human history to some of its most catastrophic moments.
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Mostly Junk
- By Daniel Ducat on 05-22-21
By: Mark Bittman
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American Cuisine
- And How It Got This Way
- By: Paul Freedman
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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For centuries, skeptical foreigners - and even millions of Americans - have believed there was no such thing as American cuisine. In recent decades, hamburgers, hot dogs, and pizza have been thought to define the nation's palate. Not so, says food historian Paul Freedman, who demonstrates that there is an exuberant and diverse, if not always coherent, American cuisine that reflects the history of the nation itself.
By: Paul Freedman
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Chop Suey
- A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States
- By: Andrew Coe
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1784, passengers on the ship Empress of China became the first Americans to land in China and the first to eat Chinese food. Today there are over 40,000 Chinese restaurants across the United States - by far the most plentiful among all our ethnic eateries. Now, in Chop Suey, Andrew Coe provides the authoritative history of the American infatuation with Chinese food, telling its fascinating story for the first time.
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Wanted to like this
- By Irene on 02-13-21
By: Andrew Coe
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The Way We Eat Now
- How the Food Revolution Has Transformed Our Lives, Our Bodies, and Our World
- By: Bee Wilson
- Narrated by: Bee Wilson
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Food is one of life's great joys. So why has eating become such a source of anxiety and confusion? Bee Wilson shows that in two generations the world has undergone a massive shift from traditional, limited diets to more globalized ways of eating, from bubble tea to quinoa, from Soylent to meal kits. Paradoxically, our diets are getting healthier and less healthy at the same time. For some, there has never been a happier food era than today: a time of unusual herbs, farmers' markets, and internet recipe swaps.
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Slow, doesn't get to the point-20% info, 80% fluff
- By DrSarah on 11-13-19
By: Bee Wilson
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Herbs and Spices
- The Top 100 Best Herbs and Spices from Around the World
- By: Susan Hollister
- Narrated by: Jodi Stapler
- Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Herbs and spices are amazing healers, and they are delicious as well. They have been used to flavor food and heal the body for centuries. Spices and herbs work well together in order to make food taste better and keep the body in good health. They can relieve the symptoms of a cold or help to stop cholesterol from forming in your arteries. They are antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, and they contain all kinds of vitamins and minerals that can help your immune system work better.
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Enjoyed learning about herbs and spices
- By coffeem8zzz on 03-10-20
By: Susan Hollister