Enjoy a survey of how humans have fed themselves, from hunter gatherers to settled agriculturalists to long-distance traders, culminating in the Columbian and Magellan exchanges across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Examine how new feeding patterns have transformed cultures, economies and societies. Trace the transformation of plants and animals into food, cooking into cuisine, ceremony into etiquette and mother’s cooking into tradition. In short, we will examine the social and political implications of food and its consumption on a global scale from pre-history to the 20th century. Discussions will include the rise of a global economy in foodstuffs, including spices, tea and coffee; the emergence of national cuisines; the industrialization of food in the 20th century and the impact of immigration on global culinary tastes. Occasional recipes will be offered and discussed as they relate to the topics covered in the course.
Note: This course is a distillation of the undergraduate survey, HIS 12: Food in World History, taught each winter at UC Davis by professors McKee and Andres Reséndez.