About the Author

Andrew F. Smith teaches culinary history and professional food writing at The New School University in Manhattan. He serves as a consultant to several food television productions (airing on the History Channel and the Food Network), and is the General Editor for the University of Illinois Press' Food Series. He also edited the highly acclaimed 2-volume Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America and has written several books on food,
including The Tomato in America, Pure Ketchup, and Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn in America.

Reviews

Dive in anywhere in this smorgasbord and come up with a tasty morsel. The Washington Post Unique, fascinating, fun and indispensable, The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink is a must for anyone interested in the food culture of America, from the professional chef to the food writer to the lover of the table. Jacques Pepin, star of Fast Food My Way and author of The Apprentice

Dive in anywhere in this smorgasbord and come up with a tasty morsel. The Washington Post Unique, fascinating, fun and indispensable, The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink is a must for anyone interested in the food culture of America, from the professional chef to the food writer to the lover of the table. Jacques Pepin, star of Fast Food My Way and author of The Apprentice

Gr 9 Up-This encyclopedic work is a shorter version of Smith's acclaimed two-volume The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America (2004), in terms of breadth of coverage and article length. More than 200 professional food writers, chefs, and professors contributed nearly 1000 alphabetically arranged, signed entries that each include a bibliography, and range from "Chuck E. Cheese Pizza" to "Nestle" and "Irradiation" to "Reese's Peanut Butter Cups" (with a sidebar on "Reese's Pieces" and E. T.). Most articles are briefer rewrites of those in the Encyclopedia, while others have been included as is. Longer entries include pieces that give historical overviews of specific eras ("Colonial Period to the Revolutionary War," "World War II"). Entries devoted to name brands and franchises abound. Briefly captioned archival reproductions (most previously published in the Encyclopedia) appear throughout. Two eight-page sections of color plates inserted for visual appeal contain no direct references to or from corresponding entries. Historical and cultural context is addressed within individual entries and reinforced through an opening topical outline that assigns them to one or more of 17 subject categories ("Ethnic and Cultural Cuisines," "Food and Society"). Appendixes include food and drink bibliographies and lists of food-related festivals, museums, periodicals, organizations, and Web sites. Clearly written and concisely presented, this volume will be an affordable multidisciplinary resource for large collections that do not own The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America (2004).-Joyce Adams Burner, Hillcrest Library, Prairie Village, KS Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.