Bite by Bite: American History through Feasts, Foods, and Side Dishes

 This introduction to American food history, targeted at young readers from age 10 and up, begins with pre-European foods and traditions and explores successive transformations, some of them fueled by new immigrant groups and others by technological change. Lead authors Mark Aaronson and Paul Freedman, who have each written extensively about cultural history, are joined by other contributors whose specialized knowledge opens up discussions of subjects such as the domestication and spread of corn, the traditions and ingredients which arrived with enslaved Africans and other immigrant groups, and the changes in the types of foods Americans expect to find on their tables and in their grocery stores. The book does not contain recipes, but each of its twelve chapters is supplemented by brief histories of relevant foods or dishes, from huckleberries and pizza to jambalaya and General Tso’s chicken. Bite by Bite is not intended to be a comprehensive resource; instead it is meant to awaken cur