The Taste of Conquest

The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice

De: Michael Krondl

Narrado por: Todd McLaren

In this engaging, anecdotal history of food, world conquest, and desire, a chef-turned-journalist tells the story of three legendary cities, Venice, Lisbon, and Amsterdam, that transformed the globe in the quest for spice.

Written in a colorful style that will appeal to fans of Mark Kurlansky and Michael Pollan, this ambitious yet accessible book travels effortlessly from the Crusades to the present day. Michael Krondl explains that it was the desire for spices that got international trade up and running on a scale that had never occurred prior to that time. This explosive growth of the spice trade led to the successive rise and fall of Venice, Lisbon, and Amsterdam.

Krondl, a gifted food writer, travels to each of these great cities and begins his visit with a great meal. Gradually, he merges the menu he's enjoying with the city's colorful past, and listeners are off on a gastronomical tour that teaches them not only about food and spice but also about history and commerce.

©2007 Michael Krondl (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

" The Taste of Conquest is the savory story of the rise and fall of three spice-trading cities. It is filled with rich aromas and piquant tastes from the past that still resonate today. Michael Krondl serves up this aromatic tale with zest and verve. This book isn't just for historians and spice lovers - it's for all who love good writing and great stories." (Andrew F. Smith, editor, The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink)

Lazy narrator

The narrator of this book is fine for the most part, and would be an excellent narrator for an American story with all American names and characters and places.
However, he didn't bother to learn many of the foreign pronunciations in this book, mispronouncing Joao, Felipe, Jan, and a dozen other personal and place names I recognized, and I don't know how many that I don't know any better about. This is a problem for a book about foreign lands and foods.
(Some of his foreign accents were way off, as well, but that's a minor issue.)

Foodies

The book was excellent read and a must for food lovers and/ or foodies. Enjoyed it

Sloppy narrator

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

There were so many food-related mis-pronunciations by the narrator that is was annoying: galangale, confit. Not very good research or practice and his part and sloppy editing!
In general, the book was well written and kept my attention, but I will avoid other works narrated by Todd McLaren.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Todd McLaren?

Someone with food knowledge

Was The Taste of Conquest worth the listening time?

Historical significance

Not bad

Author interview on the radio was more fascinating than book. Was looking for a little more history and a little less spice.

Interesting and informative

I enjoyed listening to this book very much! It's interesting and informative, but also quite entertaining. The Medieval and Renaissance passion for spices is well known, but the fascinating details of the spice trade are less so. Todd McLaren's narration was great, with perfect pacing, a suitable tone (humorous and serious, according to the needs of the text) and an easy conversational style that I personally find extremely engaging in an audiobook narration.