{"id":30444,"date":"2024-08-30T08:00:24","date_gmt":"2024-08-30T08:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=30444"},"modified":"2024-08-29T17:06:02","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T17:06:02","slug":"the-incredible-story-of-cooking-from-prehistory-to-today-500000-years-of-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2024\/08\/30\/the-incredible-story-of-cooking-from-prehistory-to-today-500000-years-of-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"The Incredible Story of Cooking – From Prehistory to Today: 500,000 Years of Adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy St\u00e9phane Douay & Benoist Simmat<\/strong>, with Christian Lerolle<\/strong>, Robin Millet<\/strong> & Joran<\/strong> Tr\u00e9guier<\/strong>, translated by Montana Kane <\/strong>(NBM)
\nISBN: 978-1-68112-340-0 (HB) eISBN: 978-1-68112-341-7<\/p>\n

Usually this bit is about sex or swearing, but here I\u2019m issuing another culinary advisory. If you are vegan, squeamish or can be upset by fish, cetaceans and other really cool animals comedically killed, butchered and consumed, do not buy this book. It\u2019s really not for you.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The purview of graphic novels and illustrated narrative has expanded to mirror every aspect of prose print and even TV broadcasting these days. One of the most engaging for me and many others is historical investigations, breezy documentaries and fact-based investigations and speculations… and even well-researched cookbooks. Here, direct from the continent via those fine folks at NBM, is a graphic treat that combines all of that…<\/p>\n

The history and development of cuisine has fascinated most people and this bold venture agues wittily and quite convincingly that this is the most likely way it all unfolded…<\/p>\n

Author, economics journalist and comic book writer Benoist Simmat is mostly known to us for Wine, A Graphic History<\/strong> which sold over 100,000 copies in France and has been translated into many languages, but if you drink poshly you might also have seen his satirical bande dessin\u00e9e collaboration with Philippe Bercovici – Robert Parker: Les Sept P\u00each\u00e9s capiteux<\/em><\/strong>. The ambitious tome under review here is likely to be just as popular, especially as it is expansively limned by comics veteran St\u00e9phane Douay.<\/p>\n

Born in Le Havre, the picture maker tried assorted jobs – like radio operator and actor\/juggler – before settling into drawing for money. He has illustrated strips for over two decades with Mati\u00e8 re fant\u00f4 me<\/em><\/strong>, Commandant Achab<\/em><\/strong>, Les Ann\u00e9 es rouge & noir<\/em><\/strong>, Ririri<\/em><\/strong>, Don Quichotte dans la Manche<\/em><\/strong>, and strips in several collective albums to his great credit. In 2006, he began the Mati\u00e8re Fant\u00f4me<\/em><\/strong> series. I don\u2019t know if he or Simmat ever worked as cooks or sous chefs…<\/p>\n

The cookery class – extravagantly footnoted throughout – commences with their \u2018Foreword <\/em>– The Oldest Story in the World\u2019<\/em> before carrying us back to Africa and a quick menu of the species that preceded us in Chapter 1 \u2018The Slow Emergence Of Prehistoric Cuisine\u2019<\/em>. Beginning by examining the capture of fire by Homo erectus, the ice ages of 700,000-500,000 years ago and the first recorded\/found recipes found in sites across Asia, the gastro-journey explores with wit, charm and a soupcon of silliness how chucking the latest killed catch onto flames, hot stones and embers not only introduced a whole new range of flavours but also kickstarted the discipline of bacterial control and food hygiene…<\/p>\n

With the addition of plants as comestibles and\/or flavour enhancers and preservatives, and scavenging increasingly supplanted by farming, the science of food had begun, and as neanderthals and homo sapiens spread across the globe, experts and specialists began carving out their own niches in tribes all advancing as cooking and eating together bound families and individuals into nascent societies…<\/p>\n

The second chapter highlights \u2018Dinner Tables Of The First Great Civilizations\u2019<\/em>, sampling moments and menus of Sumer and the origin of beer and trade; Mesopotamia, breadmaking and the invention of status-enhancing banquets; Assyria, the start of gender-specific cooking roles and Egypt\u2019s embracing of salad as well as food for haves and have nots…<\/p>\n

Also visited is proto-imperial China as its founders confirmed the link between food and health and formalised the cuisine that has conquered the modern world: a proud claim also true of its contemporary realms in the Indus valley who propounded a connection between certain edibles and a healthy soul, before the chapter closes with a round-up of the state of play in early African and Mesolithic American nations…<\/p>\n

The combination of anecdotal snippets, hard archaeological fact and speculation all backed up with unearthed recipes continues in the same breezy manner, encompassing \u2018Culinary Passions Of The Ancient Greeks And Romans\u2019<\/em>, \u2018The Trade Routes of the Far East\u2019<\/em>, \u2018Castle Life\u2019<\/em> and \u2018The New Worlds\u2019<\/em> before offering deeper insights into modern eating habits and its politically-charged, commercially ruthless dominance as philosophically demarcated and defined in \u2018Bourgeois Revolutions 1: Gastronomy\u2019<\/em> and \u2018Bourgeois Revolutions 2: Capitalist Cuisine\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

From there it\u2019s a short hop into today\u2019s fashionably foody forum in \u2018The Era Of Light Eating\u2019<\/em> briefing on \u201ctaste activism\u201d, macrobiotics and other fad foodisms, fair trade, fast food vs junk food, biodiversity, compassion in farming, food miles, technological advances (like microwave cookers and air fryers), the power of \u201cBig Food\u201d, foods that harm us, the diet industry and so much more that makes eating a political choice and how staying alive is now a balancing act between health, production, pleasure and authenticity…<\/p>\n

Following a summation asking where it will all end and how will we get there, this fabulous buffet of fact and fun wraps up with \u2018Recipes\u2019<\/em>: detailing 22 significant dishes the reader can make, culled from the historical archive and the entirety of human experience across the planet.<\/p>\n

Graded Easy, Elaborate or Difficult and spanning recent to ancient the list opens with \u2018Anti-waste Velout\u00e9 – Italy\u2019<\/em> and includes \u2018Vegan Hamburger – England\u2019<\/em>; \u2018Chicago Hot Dog – USA\u2019<\/em>; \u2018Chow Mein Noodles – China\u2019<\/em>; \u2018Cincinnati Chili – USA\u2019<\/em>; \u2018Fish Ceviche – Peru\u2019<\/em>; \u2018Homemade Ketchup Sauce – USA\u2019<\/em>; \u2018Herring and Potatoes in Oil (Hareng Pommes \u00c0 L\u2019Huile) – France\u2019<\/em>; \u2018Authentic Paella Valenciana \u201cMixta\u201d – Spain\u2019<\/em>; \u2018Fish & Chips – England\u2019<\/em>; \u2018Woodcock Hash in Beauvilliers-style Croustade – France\u2019<\/em>; \u2018The Aztec Taco – Mexico\u2019<\/em>; \u2018Chicken Marengo – France\u2019<\/em>; \u2018Cassava-Plantain Fufu with Maf\u00e9 Sauce – Ivory Coast\u2019<\/em>; \u2018Pork Vindaloo – India\u2019<\/em>; \u2018Oyakodon Donburi – Japan\u2019<\/em>; \u2018Maestro Martino\u2019s Macaronis – Italy\u2019<\/em>; \u2018Lamprey P\u00e2t\u00e9 – France\u2019<\/em>; \u2018Beef Plov – Uzbekistan\u2019<\/em>; \u2018Maza Bread – Greece\u2019<\/em>; \u2018Roman Garum – Italy\u2019<\/em> before ending at the beginning with \u2018Prehistoric Confit – France\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

The art of food and pleasures of eating have never been better appreciated or shared than in books like these, blending fun and exoticism with the tantalising yet satisfying anticipation of gustatory consumption. Academically robust and steadfast, the book\u2019s \u2018Bibliography\u2019<\/em> and \u2018Acknowledgements\u2019<\/em> sections are huge but fascinating, making this a simply delightful dish: an inviting comics divertissement that absolutely whets the appetite for more… and maybe a snack to accompany the ingestion…<\/p>\n

The Incredible Story of Cooking – From Prehistory to Today<\/strong> \u00a9 Les Ar\u00e8nes, Paris, 2021. \u00a9 2024 NBM for the English translation.<\/p>\n

The Incredible Story of Cooking – From Prehistory to Today: 500,000 Years of Adventure<\/strong> will be published on 10th<\/sup> September. 2024 and is available for pre-order now. NBM books are also available in digital formats.
\nFor more information and other great reads see NBM Graphic Novels<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By St\u00e9phane Douay & Benoist Simmat, with Christian Lerolle, Robin Millet & Joran Tr\u00e9guier, translated by Montana Kane (NBM) ISBN: 978-1-68112-340-0 (HB) eISBN: 978-1-68112-341-7 Usually this bit is about sex or swearing, but here I\u2019m issuing another culinary advisory. If you are vegan, squeamish or can be upset by fish, cetaceans and other really cool … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Incredible Story of Cooking – From Prehistory to Today: 500,000 Years of Adventure”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[109,119,358,166,214,122,125,216,170,230],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-to-books","category-comicsacademic","category-cooking-cuisine","category-educational","category-european","category-historical","category-humour","category-lifestyle","category-non-fiction","category-travelogue"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7V2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30444"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30446,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30444\/revisions\/30446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}