Sidney Mintz is a consummate academic -- he teaches anthropology at Johns Hopkins -- and reading his new essay collection, Tasting Food, Tasting Freedom , it's easy to poke fun at his dissertation-like chapter titles ("The Conquest of Honey by Sucrose," "Food and Its Relationship to Concepts of Power") and his slightly giddy excitement at how food provides an interdisciplinary thread between the wide worlds of anthropology, semiotics, class and politics. Like a favorite college professor, Mintz can wax enthusiastic on everything from the power of a soft drink to the type of person who prefers Gallo to Lafite Rothschild.
A few rough patches aside, Tasting Food, Tasting Freedom is far more than a dry, tenure-driven exercise. Mintz is particularly effective when he addresses the title topic: the act of choosing what and how one eats. Why, he asks, do some food habits change easily and swiftly -- as in North America's readiness to accept sushi? Why are others enduring, such as Russia's predilection for black bread instead of maize? What did it mean when World War II servicemen wrote home that they were "fighting for the right to drink Coca-Cola?"
Just as interesting are the essays that attempt to define the word "cuisine" (Mintz bravely asserts that there is no such thing as American cuisine), and those that dig into the class ramifications of our tastes. What makes one food -- say, a potato -- less elegant than ginger root? Mintz would believe that history is stepping in, urging us to link "potato" with "famine," and thus, "peasant." Food fads are connected to class as well, he notes. Remember blackened redfish? Mintz disdainfully sniffs: "[the] swift vulgarization of its preparation, substitution of other fish for redfish, cheapening of the recipe. . . another fad soon forgotten."
For some readers, Mintz's book might occasionally seem myopic. Feminists, for example, may be annoyed that he barely glances at the links between food and body image. Yet as Mintz himself would point out, his subject is so all-encompassing that several books of varying lengths could be written on each chapter subject alone.
Inadvertently, Mintz brings up another curious class-related point: What class of person has the time, the money and, most importantly, the freedom to dedicate him or herself to speculations on the multiple meanings of marzipan? If you're in that lucky minority, Mintz's book just may be your cup of tea. -- Salon
In this collection of scholarly essays, some of which have been published previously, Mintz (Sweetness and Power ) examines aspects of the intricate relationship between food and human culture. In several interesting articles, he discusses the symbolic power of food as shown by the case of Africans, who though forcibly transplanted to the Caribbean in colonial times, succeeded in creating a cuisine for themselves and their masters, even under the oppressive conditions of slavery. Mintz traces the complex rivalry between honey and sugar as the primary sweeteners and how the ascendancy of sugar was tied to economic development in Europe. In one controversial piece, Mintz argues that there is no such thing as an American cuisine. According to the author, although patterns of immigration peculiar to the U.S. have resulted in regional diets, a national cuisine that is cooked, eaten and talked about has not evolved (yet). (Aug.)
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Mintz has drawn on his academic training as an anthropologist, his father's interest in food, and his mother's interest in politics to produce this relatively short yet scholarly analysis of "what modern life has meant, in relation to food." His central thesis is that food is an essential fulcrum in the leverage of power. He examines history, eating rituals, cuisine, and cultural behavior, convincingly extracting supporting evidence. Eight eclectic chapters resembling meditations consider slavery, power, sugar and sweets, and the concept of cuisine in general and an American cuisine in particular. Because Mintz wrote each chapter at different times, there is a somewhat patchwork quality to the book, but that is more a matter of style than content; readers curious about food history and anthropology, world hunger, and our own eating habits will find valuable information here.Wendy Miller, Lexington P.L., Ky.
Mintz (anthropology, Johns Hopkins U.) writes provocatively and engagingly about eating as it defines our nature as living creatures--our choices hold enormous significance for us. He shows how eating is influenced by a variety of external forces, including moral judgments and the demands of war. The eight essays include some that have been published before, and some new ones. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
