Consider the Fork Lib/E: A History of How We Cook and Eat

Since prehistory, humans have braved the business ends of knives, scrapers, and mashers, all in the name of creating something delicious--or at least edible. In Consider the Fork, award-winning food writer and historian Bee Wilson traces the ancient lineage of our modern culinary tools, revealing the startling history of objects we often take for granted. Charting the evolution of technologies from the knife and fork to the gas range and the sous-vide cooker, Wilson offers unprecedented insights into how we've prepared and consumed food over the centuries--and how those basic acts have changed our societies, our diets, and our very selves.

About the Author :
Bee Wilson is a food writer, historian, and author of three books, including Swindled: The Dark History of Food Fraud, from Poisoned Candy to Counterfeit Coffee and The Hive: The Story of the Honeybee and Us. She has been named BBC Radio's Food Writer of the Year and is a three-time Guild of Food Writers' Food Journalist of the Year. She holds a Ph.D. from Trinity College, Cambridge, and lives in Cambridge, England. Alison Larkin was born in Washington, DC, adopted at six weeks old by British parents, and raised in England and Africa. After graduating from Royal Holloway College, London University, and the Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, she became a playwright and classical actress on the British stage. Then, at twenty-eight, she found her birth mother, who was living in Bald Mountain, Tennessee. The experience turned her into a stand-up comic. She was soon headlining at the Comic Strip in New York and the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, while maintaining her theatrical career. She also spent three years under a studio development contract to star in her own sitcom with ABC, CBS, and Jim Henson Productions. Her unusually wide range of voices can be heard in cartoons and movies, from work by James Cameron and Robert Altman to Pocahontas and The Wonder Pets. The audiobook of The English American, narrated by Alison, won an AudioFile Earphones Award. Alison Larkin was born in Washington, DC, adopted at six weeks old by British parents, and raised in England and Africa. After graduating from Royal Holloway College, London University, and the Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, she became a playwright and classical actress on the British stage. Then, at twenty-eight, she found her birth mother, who was living in Bald Mountain, Tennessee. The experience turned her into a stand-up comic. She was soon headlining at the Comic Strip in New York and the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, while maintaining her theatrical career. She also spent three years under a studio development contract to star in her own sitcom with ABC, CBS, and Jim Henson Productions. Her unusually wide range of voices can be heard in cartoons and movies, from work by James Cameron and Robert Altman to Pocahontas and The Wonder Pets. The audiobook of The English American, narrated by Alison, won an AudioFile Earphones Award.

Review :
Wilson is erudite and whip-smart, but she always grounds her exploration of technological change in the perspective of the eternal harried cook---she's been one---struggling to put a meal on the table. This is mouthwatering history: broad in scope, rich in detail, stuffed with savory food for thought.-- "Publishers Weekly Starred Review" "[A] sparkling...fascinating and entertaining book." -- "Sunday Times (London)" "Delightful...[An] ebulliently written and unobtrusively learned survey." -- "Harper's" "One part science, one part history, and a generous dash of fun." -- "Good Housekeeping" "Reading [Consider the Fork] is like having a long dinner table discussion with a fascinating friend...Leisurely but lively...a pure joy to read." -- "Los Angeles Times" "Wilson is a good tour guide...[A] dizzying, entertaining ride." -- "Wall Street Journal" "Wilson's insouciant scholarship and companionable voice convince you she would be great fun to spend time with in the kitchen...[She is] a congenial kitchen oracle." -- "New York Times Book Review"