About this item
A sweet tooth is a powerful thing. Babies everywhere seem to smile when tasting sweetness for the first time, a trait inherited, perhaps, from our ancestors who foraged for sweet foods that were generally safer to eat than their bitter counterparts. But the "science of sweet" is only the beginning of a fascinating story, because it is not basic human need or simple biological impulse that prompts us to decorate elaborate wedding cakes, scoop ice cream into a cone, or drop sugar cubes into coffee. These are matters of culture and aesthetics, of history and society, and we might ask many other questions. Why do sweets feature so prominently in children's literature? When was sugar called a spice? And how did chocolate evolve from an ancient drink to a modern candy bar? The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets explores these questions and more through the collective knowledge of 265 expert contributors, from food historians to chemists, restaurateurs to cookbook writers, neuroscientists to pastry chefs.
About the Author
Darra Goldstein is the Willcox B. and Harriet M. Adsit Professor of Russian at Williams College and Founding Editor of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture, named the 2012 Publication of the Year by the James Beard Foundation. She has published numerous books and articles on literature, culture, art, and cuisine, and has organized several exhibitions, including Feeding Desire: Design and the Tools of the Table, 1500-2005, at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. She is also the author of four cookbooks: A Taste of Russia, The Georgian Feast (the 1994 IACP Julia Child Cookbook of the Year) , The Winter Vegetarian, and Baking Boot Camp at the CIA. Goldstein has consulted for the Council of Europe as part of an international group exploring ways in which food can be used to promote tolerance and diversity, and under her editorship the volume Culinary Cultures of Europe: Identity, Diversity and Dialogue was published in 2005. Goldstein has also consulted for the Russian Tea Room and Firebird restaurants in New York City and served on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. She is currently Food Editor of Russian Life magazine and Series Editor of California Studies in Food and Culture (University of California Press) . In 2013 she was named Distinguished Fellow in Food Studies at the Jackman Humanities Institute, University of Toronto. Goldstein is Editor in Chief of The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, and her new cookbook, Fire and Ice: Classic Nordic Cooking, will appear from Ten Speed Press in October 2015.
