Lucy M. Long is a folklorist and founder and director of the Center for Food and Culture, Bowling Green, OH. She has published extensively on cultural aspects of food and foodways, including the books Culinary Tourism (2004) and Regional American Food Culture (2009), and has produced documentary videos, museum exhibits, and educational programs and materials on that subject. She is an adjunct assistant professor at Bowling Green State University, where she has taught food studies courses since 1998 in departments of Popular Culture, American Culture Studies, International Studies, and Tourism.
Food is much more than something edible—food encompasses memory,
culture, tradition. This encyclopedia offers an overview of ethnic
and immigrant food cultures found in contemporary mainstream
American society. The entries in this work recognize and honor food
as more than just nourishment for the body. More than 200 nations
and cultures are represented across the two volumes, including
Afghanistan, Amish, Central Asia, Cook Islands, Gypsy, Isle of Man,
Puerto Rico, and Yemen. Each signed entry follows the same format,
which includes the cultural background and brief immigration
history of the associated ethnic group, a description of
traditional 'foodways'—the activities surrounding the food or
eating—and a discussion of the place of those foods in the current
American food scene, including noted restaurants and chefs, as
necessary. Recipes representing iconic foods are given in most
entries. As would be expected, entries range in length (e.g., 1
page for Azerbaijan; 10 pages for Italy) and end with notes and
selections for further reading. Navigational matter includes a list
of nations by continent, a list of maps, and an index. There are no
photographs. This would be an excellent addition to academic and
larger public libraries, especially those where there is an
interest in food and ethnic culture.
*Booklist*
Folklorist Long, founder and director of the Center for Food and
Culture, has edited this two-volume encyclopedia that draws
together approximately 260 essays from 124 contributors who
represent a wide swath of disciplines, professions, and
backgrounds. The work captures the depth and variety of multiethnic
American foodways in a single text, contributing a focused
perspective on the growing body of reference resources that have
lately addressed the cultural connections of US food traditions. .
. .Each volume's front matter includes a listing of entries
arranged alphabetically and by geographic region. Entries are
titled to reveal nationality or cultural identity, and each gives
background information on the group, describes its associated
foodways and place in American culture, and identifies notable
restaurants and further readings (some listing multiple sources).
Sections following discussion of foodways may also offer details on
foodstuffs, procurement and preparation, representative recipes,
meal systems, and holiday feasts. Contributors' treatments vary in
length from a paragraph to multiple pages, reflecting the impact of
a group's influence on American culture and the size of the body of
related literature. This set will be a useful resource for students
and those beginning research on the cultural history of food, not
only those enrolled in culinary programs but also those from a
range of social-science disciplines. Summing Up: Recommended. All
levels of students; general readers.
*CHOICE*
This 700-page set, written by over 120 contributors, explores the
food from scores of countries—its origin, its arrival in America,
its place and importance in today’s culture and society—from simple
dining at home to ceremonial meals (holidays, weddings, etc.). An
interesting element of these accounts is the adaptation of
immigrants’ cooking to a new set of conditions, particularly the
availability of ingredients. Articles range from two to nine pages,
based on the importance of the particular cuisine within the entire
foodways of the United States. Articles range from France and India
to Cornwall and the Comoros Islands. Some entries may include
recipes of typical dishes. Most articles include sources for
further reading…. [T]his is a rich resource for anyone interested
in a broad look at the culinary world in the United States. Public
libraries, high school libraries, and college libraries should
consider it for their collections.
*American Reference Books Annual*
[T]his is a useful and interesting encyclopedia. It will be a joy
to food-lovers and a good starting point for many cultural
researchers. It is suitable for the circulating collections in most
public and many academic libraries.
*s*
Popular and academic audiences alike can use this collection, as
the entries are informative and not encumbered by scholarly jargon.
K-12 and college classrooms can also utilize this encyclopedia as a
resource for research on food and culture, and learn how thoroughly
ethnicity has been woven into American culture. . . . I recommend
this text—it was informative and enjoyable to read. It gave me
another way of looking at diverse narratives in terms of how
traditions and forms of knowledge are produced and perpetuated.
This volume reveals how food traditions are shaped by geography,
culture, and factors such as immigration, colonization, types of
cooking, ingredients, gender, effects of adaptation, and histories
of prejudice and discrimination. Long’s collection is a mirror of
American food culture.
*Western Folklore*
From Albanian rose-scented sherbet recipes to the gamey,
flavorfulness of Ugandan tripe and sweetbreads casserole, Ethnic
American Food Today demonstrates, in powerful detail, how migrant
cuisines have shaped the way contemporary Americans view, prepare,
and consume food and drink. This book is poised to be the
definitive resource for readers interested in contemporary ethnic
foodways in the United States. Capturing shifting American
perspectives on diet and taste, the volume is both the most
authoritative and the most current reference work on American
ethnic cuisine, giving us a much-needed overview of a global world
of food within a national context.
*Tulasi Srinivas, Emerson College; Author of the award winning
Curried Cultures: Globalization, Food and South Asia*
Extraordinarily diverse and comprehensive, this encyclopedia
provides expertly researched facts about the food culture of ethnic
groups that have been well documented, as well as those about which
little has been published previously. Authors of entries hail from
multiple disciplines (history, folkloristics, sociology,
anthropology, cultural studies, and others). They draw upon varied
sources including their own ethnographic research and
collaborations with members of ethnic groups. Authoritative,
interesting, and accessible to experts and the general reader
alike, entries provide background on each group’s immigration and
then delve deeply into its foodways: the staples, resources,
preparation of food with sample recipes, holiday and ritual meals,
and the place of the group’s culinary practices in American culture
evident in cookbooks, the mass media, and notable restaurants and
chefs. This unique compendium is a must-have for anyone interested
in the foods and food related traditions of ethnic groups in
contemporary America.
*Michael Owen Jones, Professor Emeritus, Department of World Arts
and Cultures/Folklore Studies Concentration, University of
California, Los Angeles*
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