Making Modern Meals: How Americans Cook Today (Volume 66) (California Studies in Food and Culture)

Home Cooking Is Crucial To Our Lives But It Is Not Necessary To Our Survival. Over The Past Century, It Has Become An Everyday Choice Even Though It Is No Longer An Everyday Chore. By Looking Closely At The Stories And Practices Of American Home Cooks--witnessing Them In The Kitchen And At The Table--amy B. Trubek Reveals Our Episodic But Also Engaged Relationship To Making Meals. Making Modern Meals Explores The State Of American Cooking Across All Its Varied Practices, Whether Cooking Is Considered A Chore, A Craft, Or A Creative Process. Trubek Challenges Current Assumptions About Who Cooks, Who Doesn't Cook, And What This Means For Culture, Cuisine, And Health. Contending That Cooking Has Changed In The Past Century, She Locates, Identifies, And Discusses The Myriad Ways Americans Cook In The Modern Age. In Doing So, She Argues That Changes In Making Our Meals--from Shopping To Cooking To Dining--have Created New Cooks, New Cooking Categories, And New Culinary Challenges--provided By Publisher. Introduction : From Cook To Cooks -- Cooking Is A Chore -- Cooking Is An Occupation -- Cooking Is Creative -- Cooking Is A Craft -- Cooking Is For Health. Amy B. Trubek. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "Home cooking is crucial to our lives but it is not necessary to our survival. Over the past century, it has become an everyday choice even though it is no longer an everyday chore. By looking closely at the stories and practices of American home cooks ... witnessing them in the kitchen and at the table ... Amy B. Trubek reveals our episodic but also engaged relationship to making meals. Making Modern Meals explores the state of American cooking across all its varied practices, whether cooking is considered a chore, a craft, or a creative process. Trubek challenges current assumptions about who cooks, who doesn't cook, and what this means for culture, cuisine, and health. Contending that cooking has changed in the past century, she locates, identifies, and discusses the myriad ways Americans cook in the modern age. In doing so, she argues that changes in making our meals ... from shopping to cooking to dining ... have created new cooks, new cooking categories, and new culinary challenges" ... Provided by publisher Home cooking is crucial to our lives, but today we no longer identify it as an obligatory everyday chore. By looking closely at the stories and practices of contemporary American home cooks—witnessing them in the kitchen and at the table—Amy B. Trubek reveals our episodic but also engaged relationship to making meals.
 
Making Modern Meals explores the state of American cooking over the past century and across all its varied practices, whether cooking is considered a chore, a craft, or a creative process. Trubek challenges current assumptions about who cooks, who doesn’t, and what this means for culture, cuisine, and health. She locates, identifies, and discusses the myriad ways Americans cook in the modern age, and in doing so, argues that changes in making our meals—from shopping to cooking to dining—have created new cooks, new cooking categories, and new culinary challenges. Home cooking is crucial to our lives, but today we no longer identify it as an obligatory everyday chore. By looking closely at the stories and practices of contemporary American home cooks—witnessing them in the kitchen and at the table—Amy B. Trubek reveals our episodic but also engaged relationship to making meals. Making Modern Meals explores the state of American cooking over the past century and across all its varied practices, whether cooking is considered a chore, a craft, or a creative process. Trubek challenges current assumptions about who cooks, who doesn’t, and what this means for culture, cuisine, and health. She locates, identifies, and discusses the myriad ways Americans cook in the modern age, and in doing so, argues that changes in making our meals—from shopping to cooking to dining—have created new cooks, new cooking categories, and new culinary challenges.