Liquid Bread: Beer and Brewing in Cross-Cultural Perspective(7 Anthropology of Food & Nutrition)

Beer is an ancient alcoholic drink which, although produced through a more complex process than wine, was developed by a wide range of cultures to become internationally popular. This book is the first multidisciplinary, cross-cultural collection about beer. It explores the brewing processes used in antiquity and in traditional societies; the social and symbolic roles of beer-drinking; the beliefs and activities associated with it; the health-promoting effects as well as the health-damaging risks; and analyses the modern role of large multinational companies, which own many of the breweries, and the marketing techniques that they employ.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures List of Tables Preface List of Contributors Introduction Helen Macbeth and Wulf Schiefenhovel Chapter 1. Natural Ingestion of Ethanol by Animals: Why? W.C.McGrew Chapter 2. Healthy or Detrimental? Physiological, Psychiatric and Evolutionary Aspects of Drinking Beer Peter Kaiser, Gerhard Medicus and Martin Brune Chapter 3. Beer: How it's made - the Basics of Brewing Keith Thomas Chapter 4. Interdisciplinary Investigations into the Brewing Technology of the Ancient Near East and the Potential of the Cold Mashing Process Martin Zarnkow, Adelheid Otto and Berthold Einwag Chapter 5. Beer in Prehistoric Europe Hans-Peter Stika Chapter 6. Beer and Beer Culture in Germany Franz Meussdoerffer Chapter 7. Europe North and South, Beer and Wine: Some Reflections about Beer and Mediterranean Food F. Xavier Medina Chapter 8. Living in the Streets: Beer Acceptance in Andalusia during the Twentieth Century Isabel Gonzalez Turmo Chapter 9. The Thirst for Tradition: Beer Production and Consumption in the United Kingdom Paul Collinson and Helen Macbeth Chapter 10. Beer in the Czech Republic Jana Parizkova and Martina Vlkova Chapter 11. Alcohol Consumption and Binge Drinking in German Fraternities: Anthropological and Social Psychological Aspects Gerard Dammann Chapter 12. Rugby, Racing and Beer in New Zealand: Colonising a Consuming Culture Nancy J. Pollock Chapter 13. Beer, Ritual and Conviviality in Northern Cameroon Igor de Garine Chapter 14. The Gender of Beer: Beer Symbolism among the Kapsiki/Higi and the Dogon Walter van Beek Chapter 15. Ritual Use of Beer in South West Tanzania Ruth Kutalek Chapter 16. Brewing Sorghum Beer in Burkina Faso: a Study in Food Technology from the Perspective of Anthropological Linguistics Francois Belliard Chapter 17. Rice Beer and Social Cohesion in the Kelabit Highlands, Sarawak Monica Janowski Chapter 18. Tradition and Change: Beer Consumption in Northeast Luzon, Philippines Dante Aquino and Gerard Persoon Chapter 19. Culture, Market and Beer Consumption Mabel Gracia Arnaiz Chapter 20. Beer and European Media: Global vs. Local Luis Cantarero and Monica Stacconi Glossary Index

About the Author :
Wulf Schiefenhovel is Head of the Human Ethology Group, Max- Planck-Institute, Andechs, Germany; Professor for Medical Psychology and Ethnomedicine at the University of Munich; President of the International Society for Human Ethology; and European deputy chair of the International Commission on the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition (ICAF). He has carried out field studies in Melanesia since 1965. Helen Macbeth is President of the International Commission on the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition (ICAF) and is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Anthropology Department, Oxford Brookes University. Among other books she has edited or coedited are three volumes in this series, Food Preferences and Taste: Continuity and Change, Researching Food Habits: Methods and Problems and Consuming the Inedible: Neglected Dimensions of Food Choice.

Review :
"This important volume sheds new light on the social, political, and economic role of beer in society and greatly increases the depth and breadth of anthropological studies on drinking. Schiefenhovel and Macbeth have compiled a holistic and to some extent comprehensive volume that embraces biological, archaeological, linguistic, and sociocultural perspectives on beer...Highly Recommended." * Choice "This book is both an excellent source of original interdisciplinary research on many aspects of beer and an entertaining read, suitable for both scholars and the educated general public. It contains well written studies of a beverage that has become a staple in many cultures, including those of the German-speaking peoples." * Yearbook of German-American Studies "With contributions from a wide range of disciplines, this book provides an introduction to the social aspects of beer in modern society and how this has evolved over the very many years of its history and development - I found this book to be completely absorbing and thought provoking - an unexpected gem and the perfect book to keep in a travel bag." * Brewer & Distiller International "This impressive volume based on an original interdisciplinary and cross-national approach to the study of beer and brewing ... will not only make an important contribution to our knowledge of beer and brewing, but also of drinking cultures and historical change. It will be of interest to anthropologists, social scientists and the wider public." * Marion Demossier, University of Bath