The Taste of Empire : How Britain's Quest for Food Shaped the Modern World

**A history of the British Empire told through twenty meals eaten around the world**In__The Taste of Empire__, acclaimed historian Lizzie Collingham tells the story of how the British Empire's quest for food shaped the modern world. Told through twenty meals over the course of 450 years, from the Far East to the New World, Collingham explains how Africans taught Americans how to grow rice, how the East India Company turned opium into tea, and how Americans became the best-fed people in the world. In__The Taste of Empire__, Collingham masterfully shows that only by examining the history of Great Britain's global food system, from sixteenth-century Newfoundland fisheries to our present-day eating habits, can we fully understand our capitalist economy and its role in making our modern diets. "The glamorous daughter of an African chief shares a pineapple with a slave trader. Rum-drinking Americans raise a toast to liberty in a Boston tavern. Diamond prospectors in Guyana prepare an iguana curry. In twenty meals, The Taste of Empire tells the story of how the British created a global food trade that moved pewople and plants across continents. African slaves taught Americans how to eat maize. The Empire was insatiable: it harnessed the world's edible resources, from cod fish to salt beef, spices, sugar, and tea. By the twentieth century,the British working man's loaf of bread was made of wheat grown on the North American prairies and his Sunday leg of lamb had been fattened on New Zealand's grasslands. Taking us on a wide-ranging culinary journey from the American frontier to the Far East, from sixteenth-century Newfoundland fisheries to present-day celebrations of Thansgiving, Lizzie Collingham uncovers the decisive role of the British Empire in shaping our modern diet."-from Verso page A history of the British Empire told through twenty meals eaten around the world In The Taste of Empire , acclaimed historian Lizzie Collingham tells the story of how the British Empire's quest for food shaped the modern world. Told through twenty meals over the course of 450 years, from the Far East to the New World, Collingham explains how Africans taught Americans how to grow rice, how the East India Company turned opium into tea, and how Americans became the best-fed people in the world. In The Taste of Empire , Collingham masterfully shows that only by examining the history of Great Britain's global food system, from sixteenth-century Newfoundland fisheries to our present-day eating habits, can we fully understand our capitalist economy and its role in making our modern diets. "...in twenty meals, The taste of Empire tells the story of how the British created a global food trade that moved people and plants across countries...Taking us on a wide-ranging culinary journey from the American frontier to the Far East, from sixteenth-century Newfoundland fisheries to present day celebrations of Thanksgiving, Lizzie Collingham uncovers the decisive role of the British Empire in shaping our modern diet."--Dust jacket. " ... in twenty meals, The taste of Empire tells the story of how the British created a global food trade that moved people and plants across continents ... Taking us on a wide-ranging culinary journey from the American frontier to the Far East, from sixteenth-century Newfoundland fisheries to present day celebrations of Thanksgiving, Lizzie Collingham uncovers the decisive role of the British Empire in shaping our modern diet."--Jacket Shows how the British created a global network of commerce and trade in foodstuffs that moved people and plants from one continent to another, re-shaping landscapes and culinary tastes. This book charts the rise of sugar to its dominant position in our diets and locates the origins of the food industry in the imperial trade in provisions. How Britain’s Quest for Food Shaped the Modern World